About the Club
The Swing Dance Club was started seven years ago by a small group of students who expressed a need for this kind of dancing on the Bemidji State University campus. Since then, the club has boomed and enjoys a growing membership with expanded club activities, including road trips, social dances and other events. Our members are also responsible for the production of the graduation dance and play a major part in the Funtastic Dance Follies each spring.

History of Swing
The swing movement that exploded in the mid-1990's gave birth to a whole new generation of zoot-suited hepcats and seamed-stocking'ed pinup kittens dressing in the finest retro fashions, learning the dances of their grandparents' era and creating a nightlife scene right out of 1944. Whether you're talking to a smooth Savoy-style lindy hopper, a Hollywood scene'ster sporting white bucs and gabardine, or a rockabilly greaser, you're talking to someone who has this music and dance in their veins.
Swing began with the African-American dancers in the flourishing Harlem scene of the 30's. On the dance floor at the legendary Savoy Ballroom, black and white dancers mixed for the first time and the original Whitey's Lindy Hoppers set the stage for the dance craze that would sweep the nation during World War II. Swing grew to encompass a variety of musical styles, including big-band, boogie-woogie, rockabilly and early 50's era rock and roll, and gave rise to a number of dance styles.