Club hosts swing dancing competition in Steubenville
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STEUBENVILLE -- Music rang through the streets of Steubenville on Oct. 27, emanating from a lively swing dancing competition being held in the third-floor ballroom of Leonardo's Coffeehouse.
Hosted by the club Steubenville Swing, an arm of the Harmonium Project, the competition challenged new and experienced dancers in two categories: Dance until you drop and choreographed dance.
Although the club hosted a pilot dance-until-you-drop event in May, this was the first event of its caliber for Steubenville Swing, which hosts bimonthly swing dancing events at Leonardo's on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., said organizer Joseph Palmer.
Palmer, a volunteer with the Harmonium Project, said he began swing dancing at 18 and became more experienced during his time at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He moved back to the area after he graduated but found a lack of community events centered around swing dancing.
"There wasn't really a lot around here as far as quality swing dance events," Palmer said. "After volunteering with Harmonium, I was like, 'I want to create my own quality event' because I didn't see what I wanted around.
"I knew I had the skill to swing dance, to teach how to swing dance and to teach other people how to teach. ... I knew how to do all these things, so I was like, 'Well, if nobody's going to do anything about it, (then) I should."
The club's monthly events typically offer an open dance floor and teaching opportunities, Palmer said. The club's final event of the season will take place at 7 p.m. today, featuring live music. Events will resume in January, Palmer said, adding information can be found on the club's Facebook and Instagram pages.
Beginning the night was the dance-until-you-drop competition, for which couples took to the dance floor to try and last the longest. Palmer noted that the criteria of the three judges for what counts as dancing increases over time, resulting in couples being eliminated if they cannot keep up with the tempo or lack variety of moves.
Contestants started strong, pulling off flips and dips, but beads of sweat had begun appearing on their faces by the beginning of the third round. Couples were tapped out one by one until only Alejandro Aguilera and Sofia Burgher were left.
"I thought I was going to drop," Burgher recalled afterward, "(but) I don't give up easily in a competition."
Aguilera added, "I was getting tired, but I was like, 'Let's just see what else I can give.'"
Other competitors included James Marvin and Mary Elizabeth Savage. Though unable to persevere enough to nab the victory, Marvin said, the two had a "good run."
"It's a challenge on the mind to remember all the moves, especially when you're pressured, because you have to keep variety in it. It's like composing a song -- you use different musical elements."
A university student who has been swing dancing for three years, Marvin said he appreciates Leonardo's providing the space for swing dancing, which he said allows people to "slow down and appreciate life more." Communal swing dancing is not common in his home state of Arizona, Marvin said.
In between competitions, attendees were permitted on the open dance floor. Among them were university students Anthony Buenrostro and Olivia Graziano.
Buenrostro said of swing dancing: "I find it quite enjoyable because you can see your progress very visibly (compared to) when you're freestyling. ... At Leonardo's it's nice to have a more open space and more advanced dancers who offer to teach you."
Graziano said swing dancing is "very retro" and makes one feel as if he or she is "connecting with people in the past."
Barbara Tunanidas of New Cumberland came to watch the competition, although she fit in some dancing for herself in between the rounds. Tunanidas is originally from Florida, where she was part of a ballroom dancing club, but she moved to West Virginia six years ago with her son.
"There's life over here," said Tunanidas. "It's nice to come out and see that there are people in this ballroom ... (and) see the city come to life, even if it's just a few nights a month."
Afterward came the choreographed competition, in which couples performed pre-planned dance routines set to a song of their choice. Among the contestants were Naedia McCann and Peter Wingerter, who said their routine took 24 hours of practice, having been created the day before.
Other contestants were Sean Deaton and Mary Grace Urbanczyk, who danced to "Turn to Stone" by the Electric Light Orchestra. At the words "turn to stone" in the song, Deaton would freeze as if morphed into a statue.
Also dancing in the competition were university students Will Hennigan and Emily Salerno-Oswald. The latter, a senior who started swing dancing while at Franciscan, said she was excited to participate in the choreographed competition before she graduated.
The judges' scores returned, and Palmer announced that the winner was decided based on the difference of a half-point. The finalists were Hennigan and Salerno-Oswald vs. Deaton and Urbanczyk -- "both phenomenal," Palmer said. Ultimately, Deaton and Urbanczyk took the title of the night's winners.