From downtown to Germantown, the Lindy Hop has swung into Memphis.
Freshman psychology major Emory Erickson said swing dancing is awesome.
"Lindy Hop is the mosh pit of dancing," Erickson said. "It breaks all barriers."
Erickson said he got hooked on swing dancing four years ago in Colorado. He reluctantly tagged along with a roommate, but said he was surprised by what he found on the dance floor.
"The energy of a live band and everybody dressed up -- it was almost magical," Erickson said.
Developed in Harlem in the 1920s and made popular in the 30s and 40s, today's Lindy Hop is part of an East Coast swing craze that's finally found its way to Memphis.
"Today's swing is slower," Erickson said. "In the 1930s and 1940s, they had ultra-fast songs. They danced every song just fast as hell."
Swing began its comeback when the band Royal Crown Review hit the dance scene in 1989, according to Erickson. The band was a driving force of the San Francisco and Los Angeles dance scenes on the West Coast.
Swing then spread east, arriving in larger cities like Chicago and New York first, then spreading to smaller cities like Memphis.
Currently in New York eight dance studios and more than 25 dance clubs specialize in swing, according to the New York Swing Dance Society.
Swing, though, is apparently even more popular in Chicago, where more than 65 dance clubs specialize in swing.
Erickson said swing is just catching on in Memphis. There are fewer than ten places where swing dancing takes place.
"We are doing our best to create a swing scene in Memphis," Erickson said.
Erickson teaches the Lindy Hop as well as other swing dances in the aerobics room at the Larry Finch Student Recreation and Fitness Center.
"It's something anyone can literally do," said Erickson. "You do not have to be a good dancer."
Although, not everyone who has tried swing has found it so easy.
Jon Sherr, a White Station High School freshman said swing was difficult for him at first, but got easier.
"Every day it is a new challenge with something new to learn," Sherr said.
Erickson's fellow teacher Melenni Harris said it takes skill to swing, but recommends everyone try it at least once. Harris, who works at the chemical company W M Barr, has been dancing for two years.
"Everybody is accepted," Harris said. "I think that's why it has grown."
According to Harris, swing always has been rebellious in nature and challenging.
"Swing breaks through barriers and allows people to come together and interact," Erickson said.
