New classes teach students to swing

Swinging to the music and tapping this way is a new venue on campus for students this semester. For the first time ever, a swing dance class is being offered in the Morris Recreation Center. The cost of the course is $25 for singles and $35 for couples.

With the new addition there will be three sets of classes this semester that all students are eligible to participate in, and one class already underway is set to end Oct. 8. The others run Oct. 13-29 and Nov. 3-20, with classes starting at 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday nights.

"I was looking for possible opportunities to teach a class and heard the recreation center would be interested in something like this, so I came out and offered my services," said instructor Nien Lee. "They were very excited about it."

Lee and Kelsey Britt are instructors for the class. Both have previous teaching experience before coming to campus, and they have been instructing swing dance for a year and a half now.

"I was instructing out in Dallas and Kaufman before I came here, and I was also giving some private lessons outside of class as well," Lee said.

Lee and Britt provide a relaxed, fun environment for students taking the course, breaking down every step and in turn making it easier to pick up.

"We have had some difficult students in the past that were hard to instruct, but we have never found anyone that we couldn't teach," Lee said. "We work with them and practice hard."

"Rock step, step, bounce, step, bounce, rock step" are the basic steps of swing dance and are what the student learns first by applying dancing with a partner. With the basic steps they begin to learn new moves and techniques such as basic turns, reverse turns and the triple step. They will bring all the moves together and apply them in a dance.

Learning the steps is not the hardest part. There are many other challenges the students face.

"Guys, the hardest part of the dance is asking the girl," Lee said. "It takes a lot of guts to walk up to her. How you approach her will determine if she wants to dance with you."

Male students are taught the proper etiquette of asking a woman to dance and are also given some useful tips on how to make her look good on the dance floor.

"Guys, she is always right; you are always wrong," Lee said. "If you guys want to be right, then give her no place else to go when dancing. Then you will be right."

A majority of students who are participating in the class say they do not have previous dance experience.

"I don't know how to dance, and I think this is the best way for me to learn," Trey Crag, a student in the class said. "I will probably be back to learn more."

To find out more information about signing up for swing dance, contact the Morris Recreation Center at (903) 468-3170.

Lee is hoping to gain enough student involvement that eventually the school will sponsor the class and take care of the fees for the students, instead of having students pay out of their own pockets.

"Our fingers are crossed," said Lee.