8 Reason I Swing Dance For Over 1.5 Years And not going to stop any time soon

Introduction I have been swing dancing (especially Lindy Hopping) for 1 year and 8 months exactly. To celebrate my achievement and desire to dance more, I decided to share the reasons why I dance … a lot. So here they are, 8 reasons I lindy hop for over 1.5 years and not going to stop any time soon.

1. Keeps me fit and healthy You probably already know that I lost around 20 KGs within the first 8 months since I started dancing. I am not saying I am very fit but I still maintain my 75 KGs or so. I must admit that it definitely helps with balance. My posture has improved like crazy. I was not a big humpback but my back was not straight mostly due to my work environment. I used to work 10 hours in my home office … now I work about 2-3 hours as I am so busy with dancing …

2. Expands my social network Believe me or not but I have many more friends now than I had 2 years ago. When you start meeting people at events, you meet likeminded people and some of them work in the same industry you do. I know there are a lot of lindy hoppers working in marketing industry … not necessarily in digital marketing but still … quite related … although I don’t think I ever talked about marketing with anyone from lindy hop scene … You do not make just friends while you are at the events. Friendships expand into “real life” friends. I mean, people start meeting for BBQs (I’ve done that a few times now), at pubs for a few drinks … and I am sure some business partnerships have started … like opening own dancing school or something. However, there are cons with making many friends as well. God forbid a friend passes away or a friend leaves your local area. Sad but that’s life right?

3. A new world opened before my eyes I remember when I started dancing I thought it was like dancing lessons back in school … except that they weren’t forced … and I used to dodge dancing classes in school anyway. I remember my first social in London … or my first social in general where I had 2 dances in the whole evening. It was couple of weeks before my first local and themed (Gt. Gatsby) fidgety feet in Hertfordshire. Then I realised how big lindy hop was back that day … and now it has grown tremendiously. My point is not about the size of lindy hop though. That day I learned about camps and stuff. Then over the next few coming weeks or months as I immersed with lindy hop to a deeper level (started attending more classes and became regular social dancer in London) I learned more and more about camps and more socials. In November 2013 I booked my first camp – DJAM Now I realise that there are camps and weekenders every weekend. You do not need to go somewhere abroad either – there are plenty of them in UK as well. Then you become aware of who is authority in the community.

4. Lindy hop is a lifestyle You know there are 4 types of people – those who are leaders, those who are followers, those who do both and those who do not dance … sorry, I couldn’t resist putting that in which is probably unrelated but anyway, I realise that lindy hop is a lifestyle. If you do not see it that way that means you may not be yet into lindy hop as much as I am. When you become a lindy hopper, shortly, you realise that 80% of facebook friends are lindy hoppers from all over the world, not just your local area or country. You start prioritising dancing friends or dancing in general over your other non-dancing friends which is OK … you dance … right (I mean, it’s fine by me ;) )? :D

5. Great work/entertainment balance I remember I used to work 10 hours a day. That was roughly hours a week (and yeah, I worked on weekends as well). Now I have a very good work/dancing balance where sometimes I dance for 30 hours over a week and work like … maybe, 15 hours … but then again, digital marketing is my passion, I hardly see it as work … :D but if you are working in the office, social dancing is really great way to blow the steam off.

6. Overcoming shyness I have to admit that I was quite … shy … my shyness was on such a massive level that was crazy. I could hardly talk while giving a presentation in fron of class, I could not talk in a group of 3 people or so. Now I can do all those things and my confidence has improved like crazy. I have competed in several competitions which also helps a lot in gaining confidence.

7. Sightseeing and stuff When you become international or even nation dancer and you start travelling around the country or continent or world for dancing, you sure get a chance to see other cities right? I mean if you go to Budapest for Lindy Shock, why not take a look around that beautiful city since you are there already? It does not have to apply to international camps. You may go to DJam and decide to explore the Durham … because … why not?

8. Having fun … Oh did I mention that I always have fun? You know it’s probably the best reason to dance … you have fun. I used to dance nervously when I started but now I am more relaxed and enjoy dancing. It does not matte who I dance with, I will find awesomeness and fun in every dance … I may not please you with my not-so-fancy or proessional moves or musicality but hey, are you dancing to have fun or to get impressed or to impress your partner? :D

THANK YOU! Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed and want more, please visit my blog where I blog about my dancing adventures. I normally blog about live band events and dance camps and anything lindy hop related.