Rocktober

So, this was a week ago now that I went to Rocktober, which is a swing dance event in Columbus.  I didn’t feel the need to pay the money for the lessons, but I went to the dance on Friday and Saturday night and I had a lot of fun.  I’ve been to a few of these dances before – none of them so blissfully close – and it’s been an interesting progression from too shy to ask people to dance to barely dancing because I’m talking to other people.  Other than really enjoying swing dance by itself, I find the swing dance culture very interesting.  There are a decent number of people who are willing to drive hours and hours away for a few hours of dancing.  This creates a dedicated and (often) talented group of travelers who only know each other from dances.  And when you think about it, they are spending most of their time dancing, not talking with other people.  So these travelers only really have a vague understanding of each other.  But I believe dances are about the dancers just as much as they are about the dance and if you don’t create friends easily, you will spend a lot of time staring at the ceiling.  Therefore, most of these people do create friends, of a sort, easily.  So, the culture manages to be very close and oddly distant at the same time.  Anyway, Rocktober was enjoyable, even if I was tired, and I enjoyed what swing and blues dancing I did and enjoyed talking with people just as much.

--Sarah Barringer