My dress swings around me as I am being twirled to the tune of some up-beat, jazzy 20’s song that blares through the speakers in JC’s upper gym. I can’t help but laugh as, for a moment, I pretend to be living in a different era, an era in which dancing actually involved being in an upright position as well as being face to face with your partner.

 Even with the “no grinding rule” implemented by JC this year and Opinion Editor and senior Kaley Martin’s super helpful dancing advice article, some JC students still don’t know how to dance like civilized human beings. The first JC swing dance did a great job with giving students some alternative dance moves to try out.

The dance, organized by Enrollment Office Manager Jennifer Falcone,  raised $235 for the senior class, in addition to providing them with some sweet swing moves to break out at prom.

I’ll admit, the dance itself was a bit awkward at first.  Our instructor first gave us some background information on how swing dancing originated.  Then he made the “leaders” get in one line and the “followers” get in another. The leader is supposed to be the boy, who leads the girl, during a dance.  However, there were more girls than boys present, forcing some girls to become leaders.

Despite this, the dance got much better as time went on.  After rotating through some awkward and not so great dance partners, I was finally able to test out my newly learned moves with my friends. Prancing and parading around the gym with them was just how I wanted to spend my evening.

The best part of all was probably the carefree atmosphere of the whole thing.  No one was afraid to be embarrassed because, quite frankly, no one cared.  We all knew we looked ridiculous, but isn’t that what a dance is supposed to be like? Why hide in a dark corner getting all weird and intimate with someone when you can be out on the dance floor, actually making memories?

Even though not that many students showed up, we made the most of it, and it turned out to be a really great night.  Perhaps it’s just me and my love for ultra-embarrassing dance moves, but I think this is something that should definitely happen again and something that every student JC could benefit from.

Caitlin Wolfarth is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.