The sweet tunes of “Knock me a Kiss” by Louis Jorden fill the room as people learn the 6-count swing dance.

Friday Swing Dance took place this last Friday in the Women’s Building where students and people from the community joined together for a little rhythm and blues. Starting out with a lesson, folks made a circle around instructors Zach Wallace and Annie Mitev, both OSU students.

Zach Wallace is getting his masters in oceanography, and has been swing dancing for four years now.

“I always wanted to be a good dancer, as long as I could remember that’s what I wanted to do.   I tried a bunch of different types of dancing,” Wallace said. “A friend suggested that I take Intro to Swing Dancing with Marc Green and I took it and fell in love with the music and the movement was awesome.”

Not only does swing dance offer a good time, but it encourages new people to get outside their comfort zone, according to Lindsey Almarode, West Coast Swing Club member.  

“It’s fun, it’s a way to express myself and move my body to the music,” Almarode said. “You get to meet lots of people.”

After graduating from OSU, Lindsey Almarode, has stayed in the Corvallis swing community.

Tristan Beecher Gomez, president of Swing Club ,has been swing dancing now for eight months and has been to other swing dance communities outside of Corvallis, such as Seattle and Idaho, where he experienced other swing dance styles that were new to him.  

“Sometimes as a beginner you have a few painful dances, and you might not think you’re that good,” Gomez said.  “Not being good at something is totally the first step at getting good at something. Sometimes you have to get through that initial first few dances of not really knowing what you’re doing, but then everything just falls into place and you learn something beautiful.”

According to Gomez, most people assume rhythm and blues is the only genre used by swing dancers, however that is not the case. Gomez has danced to some modern day songs himself. One song in particular was “My House” by Flo Rida.  

“Trying to figure out how to swing dance to that was super fun,” Gomez said.

The Corvallis Swing Dance Club opens its doors not just to OSU students, but to anyone who wants to have a good time. Gomez encourages all community members to come check out the club.

“Come out and try it; it’s an absolutely a great experience,” Gomez said. “I fell in love with it”.

For more information about upcoming swing dance events or learn more about the club, go to their Facebook page or website.