"You're Too Young to Dance Like That!"

Swing Dancing has been my favorite form of dance ever since I was three-years-old. My swing partner, Andre, and I have been dancing together since the first day Swing dancing was introduced in our small pre-school. Our parents saw that we took a strong liking to the music and the form of dance so they enrolled the both of us in a program that aimed to teach small children the art of swing. At the age of ten, we were already competing against older, much older, people and shockingly, we were coming in very high rankings. However, our love for the dance did not come because we enjoyed winning competitions; in fact, we hated practicing the same moves repeatedly, which was a process that we had to go through several months before each of our competitions. Overwhelmed by the stress of practicing and unsure of why we even began swing dancing in the first place, we decided to quit and follow different paths. Andre started playing football and began saxophone lessons while I became a cheerleader and began ballet dancing.

Our new paths were not as fun or cool as we expected them to be. Cheerleading bored me just as football bored Andre. Although Andre loved playing the saxophone, he began to realize that playing the instrument just wasn't as fun as dancing to it. To me, ballet was too structured. From day one, were told to dance a certain way, to do certain moves, and dress in specific clothing. Where was the freedom? My mind constantly drifted back to my first love, swing dancing, and all the freedom that came with it. We were only forced to wear specific outfits when we were in competitions or recitals. Furthermore, we were taught certain moves, basic moves; however, we were permitted to dance outside of these moves as often as we desired to.

Swing dancing is the dance for me! When Andre and I were fourteen, we started to dance together again. This time, we decided that ti was better not to compete. We enjoyed small swing dance gatherings in the park and we attended several jazz-big band parties with our parents and the kind people that we met during our competitions. We would often hear older people comment, "Those two are too young to dance like that." or "Wow, the look ten but they have the soul of people in their thirties!" To me, the thought of being too young for this dance was rediculous! After all, it is just a form of dance.

This dance is not as easy as some poeple may think it to be. To be able to flip, dip, spin, and step takes devotion and much practice. My hardest obstacle in swing dance came when I had to establish trust in Andre. When we were fourteen, we started to incorporate lifts and airsteps into our routines. The thought of one day being dropped was too scary for me so for a while, I avoided these moves. The first time that I attempted to spin during a lift was fun and exciting and I completely forgot that I was once afraid.

The upbeat, vivacious music and the elegant, unpredictable moves of swing dancing have been embedded in my mind, heart, and rhythm at an early age and regardless of the activities that I am doing, swing dancing will always be number one.