By Lilly Sibel
A swing dance instructor welcomed students Thursday, Feb. 27 to the third week of the Swing Dance Club at the University of Maryland.
Charlie Wieprecht drives to the University of Maryland every week to instruct swing dancers in the Lindy Hop Swing Dance, which is a type of swing dance derived from 1920s Harlem. Students at the Swing Dance Club were eager to begin the class.
The Swing Dance Club has been around for about a year since Mara Flores and John Collini co-founded the club in 2019. Flores graduated with a degree in civil and environmental engineering from this university while Collini received a degree in physics from Rochester Institute of Technology.
Flores said she is most passionate about swing dance although she has taken part in ballroom dancing and tango. As a co-founder of the Swing Dance Club, Flores wants students to accept other forms of dancing and encourage the idea that all dances are important, not just swing dance. However, Flores stated her love for swing dance, specifically West Coast Swing.
“West Coast Swing is so unique,” she said. “While other dances are set in other times, West Coast Swing is always changing.”
West Coast Swing is special to Flores because the form of dance can be paired with any song, including pop songs from today.
Gavin Harrison, a junior majoring in atmospheric and oceanic science, was one of many students who said the Lindy Hop dance is their favorite form of swing dancing.
I’ve been doing Lindy Hop for the past three years,” he said.
Mara Wolfe, a freshman ornamental horticulture major has been a member of the Swing Dance Club since last semester.
“The social part is my favorite part, and everyone has been really welcoming,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe met her friend Kaylie Bergeson, a freshman double majoring in government and politics and history at the Swing Dance Club. Like Wolfe, Bergeson said she also likes the social aspect of the club.
“It doesn’t require as much performance or competition,” Bergeson said in regards to the dancing, “It’s just fun to do whenever, wherever.”
Bergeson said that with swing dancing, “the fact that everyone can learn and know it” keeps this dance alive even though it is decades-old.
“It’s pretty much the same all over the country. It evolves constantly,” she said.
Freshman undeclared major, Jason Kearney, was attending the club for his second time. He said that after seeing a flyer for the club at the Second Look Fair on Feb. 6, he became interested in joining the club.
“I wanted to join at least one club and try something new. I’ve never tried dancing before and it looked fun,” Kearney said.
The Swing Dance Club at UMD meets every Tuesday and Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Stamp Student Union Atrium. The West Coast Swing is taught on Tuesdays while the Lindy Hop is taught on Thursdays.
Featured photo: Students paired up to practice the Lindy Hop. Photo by Lilly Sibel.