One, two, rock back, step.
One, two, rock back, step.
Just that simple, Marc Levine, 24, and Luba Aginsky, 25, both of Des Moines, had the basic swing step down.
Then, they decide to try a spin.
They pause. Discuss. Change their hand positions.
The Thursday Night Swing Social at Java Joe's in downtown Des Moines was only their second time on the dance floor together and their inexperience showed. But like so many others in the dance's approximately 80-year history, Levine and Aginsky watched some of the more experienced couples swinging confidently across the dance floor and thought: That could be us.
"Having to lead and figure out what to do on the spot. If I screw up, it could offend my partner."
More than a dozen dancers took turns practicing, performing and watching on the large swath of hardwood floor. Some came with a date, some with a dance partner, some alone. The pairings change, and so does the music, which ranges from upbeat tunes to sentimental slow dances.
Rae and Larry Mullica, who run these swing nights, performed a soft, sophisticated shuffle called the Balboa, then cut in on Levine and Aginsky and spent a song giving the couple a lesson in swing.
"If you can walk, you can dance," Rae said. "It's just a rhythm like walking. You want to listen to the music, and we take it step by step.
"We can teach anybody to dance."
The Mullicas added these Thursday night free social dances to their already-busy schedule last fall. They took a break for the holidays, then the swinging started again in January. In addition to the socials, the Mullicas run three dance troupes, teach classes, organize workshops and travel frequently to learn from other swing experts.
When they first started dating, the Mullicas both liked to strut their moves in discos, but they stopped dancing for many years.
"We decided, when our son got married, we wanted to dance," she said. "We started doing lessons, then saw this couple doing a dance and said, 'We want to learn that.' It was the Lindy Hop. We started taking lessons."
They found places to dance all over the state, from ballrooms to wineries to the healthy swing scene in Omaha and dance groups at Iowa colleges.
"There's always places to go dance," Rae said.
And always new people drawn to swing's bouncy music and red lipstick-and-suspenders vibe.
Courtney "Smurf" McPherren, 21, of West Des Moines started swing dancing two years ago and now performs with one of the Mullicas' dance groups.
"Someone said, 'There's a dance going on in Valley Junction,' and I thought, 'I'll give it a try,' and I had a blast," McPherren said of how she got her start.
Everything about the dance captivated her - the old music, the energy, the different styles of swing to learn about.
"There's still a lot for me to learn," she said.
Right now, her goal is a flashy move called the cherry bomb.
Swing periodically comes into fashion. The last explosion of saddle shoes and Big Band music occurred in the 1990s, kicked off by the success of the independent film "Swingers." That was when Michael Brafford, 28, of Johnston first discovered swing. He has continued with the dance, even as the craze died down to a few die-hards, performing with the University of Iowa Flying Lindy Hawks.
"I traveled to bigger cities with larger scenes," he said. "It was inspiring to see these rooms jumping up and down."
His partner, Erin Taylor, a 21-year-old from Knoxville, learned from Brafford.
"It's difficult because you have a connection with a partner and it relies so much on improvisation," she said.
"Swing makes that connection with the other person and music and creativity."
Reporter Erin Crawford can be reached at (515) 284-8438 or ecrawford@dmreg.com
