The Swing Club is bringing back the ’40s with their Christmas extravaganza: The Holly Hop.
The event will take place on Dec. 6 from 8 p.m. until midnight in the old snack bar.
After Swing Club Officer junior Emily Peterson discovered pictures of a dance known as the Holly Hop in Collegian Archives, they decided to recreate the event with an exciting end-of-the-year dance.
“I’m excited for the dance competitions and to see the performances,” senior Katherine Helmick said. “It’s a great opportunity to bring together the music honoraries on campus, and all of the freshmen have been learning to Lindy Hop all semester.”
It will feature dance performances by students of every class, musical performances by the music fraternities, two competitions, a raffle, and plenty of open dancing.
“We’ve done larger events at Christmas time, and someone happened upon this as something done historically. We thought we would revitalize it and make it traditional,” senior Wes Wright said.
Two dance performers, a male and female, will represent each class. The music fraternities Mu Alpha and Sigma Alpha Iota will also perform. There is a strong likelihood Christmas music will be included, Wright said.
“Last year, they did Christmas carols a cappella, which were fantastic,” Helmick said.
The first of the two competitions, the Jack and Jill Competition, is only open to students who have been dancing two years or fewer. Though it is a partner dance, the partners are chosen randomly. Each round, people will be eliminated until there is one male and one female remain. They will be awarded Best Leader and Best Follower.
The judges for the competition will be members of the Swing Club Board. Vice President of Swing Club junior Haley O’Brien said tension in dancing is one of the most important skills of a winning dancer.
“[Tension is] how you signal to your partner what’s going to happen, or what moves you’re trying to get across. If you’re really loose and floppy, you’re not going to know what to do, but if you’re too hard and rigid, the dance is really kind of painful. It’s finding that kind of a balance where there’s this…flow of tension, kind of like a rubber band,” O’Brien said.
Last year’s winners were junior Eleanor Smith and sophomore Noah Diekemper. Private lessons may be given out as awards, but the greatest award for winning this competition is “class and renown,” according to Wright.
The second competition is called “No, I’m Aaron Kilgore!” Open to anyone who has seen Aaron Kilgore dance, competitors will attempt to replicate Kilgore’s unique style of dancing. Kilgore himself will judge the competition.
They will also have a raffle. Prizes may include private lessons, swing music, or even potentially a “Dinner Dance” for a select group of people, featuring prepared dinner and dance performances. The officers are excited for the event, because of their love for swing dance.
“I found [swing dance] and stuck with it and just fell in love,” O’Brien said.
