The UAB dances to the rhythm of Swing

Lindy hop, Balboa, Collegiate shag, Boogie woogie and Lindy Charleston: these are all styles of the new rhythm that is lately flooding Barcelona, swing dance. With 3.5 events per day, around 5000 regular dancers, and the opening of new specialized schools, it is obvious that this dance is becoming more and more popular. And it is no surprise that the UAB joins this trend and, for the first time, Swing UAB, a student society registered in elDirectori, organizes The Swing Party. This festival will take place on 19 April during all day. Swing UAB usually participates in the events that take place on campus, livening up the events with workshops and performances.

Swing has roots in the late 1920s, in years of economic crisis, and just like the university, it is known for its diversity, because it was born out of the mixing of European and African cultures that settled in the south of the US. It is also transgressor, since jazz music and swing dance were a weapon to fight segregation, because it allowed black people on the stage. It was also a symbol of disobedience during the rise of Nazism: it is worth noting the Swing Kids, who were a group of swing lovers hunted down and massacred in concentration camps.

For the Swing dance itself, the dancers need to take up different roles: leader and follower. It is true that traditionally the woman is the follower, but nowadays it is each time more common to switch roles, because dancing is also a mirror of social changes. The queer version of Swing does not intend to eliminate these roles, because they are necessary, but they challenge the direct relation between gender and roles. The traditional dynamics are broken so that any gender identity and gender expression can take any role. That is why Swing is a driving force for change, not only during the 20^th century, but also nowadays.