Getting into the Swing

By Cristina Aguirre

Since the late 1920s, swing dancing has swung couples across the dance floor. Now, with the popularity of television shows like “Dancing with the stars,” swing dancing is back in the lime light and you can find it here in Chicago.

Studios like Big City Swing, 1012 W Randolph St., offers group classes, workshops, and private lessons for those interesting in swing and Lindy Hop dance lessons.

Dave Rentauskas, senior dance instructor at Big City Swing, said having been in the scene for the last 10 years, he has seen waves of people interested in the dance.

“The scene is still not quite as big when I started, which was kind of in during the crazy Gap ads, where everybody started to do it, ” Rentauskas said.

“It was the big fad back in the late 90s. It started to take a dive and then it kind of definitely had a resurgence after all the tv shows started coming out, people wanted to learn how to dance.”

Big City Swing also teaches Charleston, Balboa, and Blues dance lessons. They also offer a wedding dance program for brides and grooms to prepare them for their first dance.

For more information on how you can swing into action, visit their website at BigCitySwing.com