Wednesday nights at the Wellness Center are now filled with country music
Two USD students have transformed the Wellness Center into a barn booming with country music.
Sophomores Anna McAuliffe and John Bowar, who started the club at the beginning of the spring semester, wanted to bring a country swing dance club to USD’s campus after having to drive roughly two hours to attend similar events at South Dakota State University (SDSU).
“We had a big turnout from the beginning,” McAuliffe said. “We have a pretty big group of people at our church that dance, and we were like ‘hey if we start a swing dance club would you guys come?’ We’ve also had quite a few other students come and join, whether it’s to our meetings or just coming to our dances.”
McAuliffe and Bowar host instructional meetings every other Wednesday in the Wellness Center where students can come and learn how to properly swing dance.
“(The meetings are) mostly just a lot of teaching and construction. We let them go out on their own too, and if they want to try something, we will help them out,” McAuliffe said. “It’s pretty self-paced, I’d say.”
Both Bowar and McAuliffe who act as the president and vice president of the club, respectively, said they began this club because swing dancing was something they were passionate about and they have loved watching others enjoy the dancing as well.
“It’s just nice to see people enjoy (swing dancing) and understand the steps. Then when you see them go teach other people and you’re like ‘Yes, there we go.’ That’s the best feeling,” Bowar said.
After a few weeks of meetings, the swing dance club organizes a dance for everyone to show off their newly learned skills. The club recently hosted a dance at the Armory at the end of February and are planning another one at the end of March.
“Anybody can learn to dance,” Bowar said. “You don’t have to be great at rhythm or even have rhythm at all. You don’t need a partner. There’s plenty of people there that show up and need a dancing partner.”
Bowar and McAuliffe said they encourage everyone to come and try out the swing dance club. To learn more about how to join the Country Swing Dance Club, students are encouraged to email either Bowar or McAuliffe at [email protected] and [email protected] or follow them on Instagram @usd_swingdanceclub. The next meeting is March 9 at 8 p.m.
“You can show up and enter into it with no skill at all,” McAuliffe said. “No matter what, you will eventually learn something.”
