Bessie Smith, Louie Armstrong, T-Bone Walker and Halsey. One of these things is not like the other but that does not matter so much to the Wyoming Blues Dancing club.
The club will be hosting their annual Bootlegger’s Ball this Saturday, March 25, which will feature music specifically from the blues era but also include some more modern artists.
“We have traditional blues music but it’s also what we would classify as ‘fusion,’ which is basically music that you can blues-dance to but is not blues music,” Padara Thomas, president of the club, said.
Thomas said using modern music could usually bring more people into the blues-dancing scene. Thomas herself got involved in the club from one of the previous times they hosted the Bootlegger’s Ball. She is also the vice president of the Billiard’s Club at the university and said they work together on most events.
Although the Bootlegger’s Ball has only existed for roughly five years it has experienced good turnout at the previous ones.
“I went one spring and enjoyed it and then started going to meetings,” Thomas said. “We blues-dance, which is just really awesome,”
The dance will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Union Gardens with a beginner’s lesson in blues-dancing done by Thomas.
She has been blues-dancing for about two years with the club and is excited to introduce other people to the style.
“Blues-dancing is very slow, it’s grounded, it’s improvisational,” Thomas said. “I would compare it to jazz because it’s improvisational.”
Thomas said it is very easy to learn because it is slower than other dances, such as country swing.
“I did country swing and I was like, ‘no, that’s way too fast.’ This is a lot slower,” Thomas said.
The basic steps of the dance include a “pulse” which Thomas described as a weight change back and forth on the beat, and a “hold.” Typically, dancing is done with a partner but can also be performed solo, which Thomas said is good for practicing.
“Basically if you know that [the pulse] and the hold you can go and do an entire song,” Thomas said.
After the beginner’s lesson the social dancing will begin. The ball will be based off a 1920’s theme and dancers are asked to wear their best 1920’s themed outfit for the festivities. The Bootlegger’s Ball is completely free, but donations will be accepted for the club.
Thomas said she is not sure how the club began but believes it started after someone decided they wanted to bring the blues-dancing scene to Wyoming.
“There’s a big blues-dancing scene in Colorado and so there’s dancing almost every night of the week down there,” Thomas said.
The club is small right now but is always looking for new members. They meet every Monday from 5-7 p.m. and more information can be found online or through contact of Thomas and other members. The group hopes that the Bootlegger’s Ball will bring new interest and excitement for the blues-dancing scene in Wyoming.
“With blues, when you’re dancing it’s a lot of feeling a connection to the music and tailoring your movements to it. With swing dancing, you’re just doing a row of moves together but with blues you’re actually feeling the music, feeling how you want to dance to it,” Thomas said, “It’s also more of a communication between partners with lead and follow.”
The Bootlegger’s Ball will be open to the whole community and welcomes people of all ages to come experience a traditional form of dance.
