Duke Ellington penned the catch phrase, "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing."
The Utahns latching onto the current swing music/dance phenomenon can do nothing but grab their two-tone shoes and fedora hats and move. Swing, that is. Cut a rug. Boogie. Get jiggy with it '40s style.To reward enthusiasts for all their hard work at perfecting what they do on a mostly "just-for-fun" basis, four featured couples have been chosen to dance onstage in a number with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at the Red Hot 4th Celebration. (Which will actually be held on Monday, July 5.)
Those couples will join the band during its performance of the song "Go Daddy-O," while an estimated 50-75 couples swing their dance partners the length of Rice Stadium Monday.
Jamie Crowley of Salt Lake City, who got turned onto swing after taking a social dance class at Salt Lake Community College, has been honing her skills since September. She and her partner will be one of the featured couples to perform, though it was by default -- or luck, take your pick -- she ended up there.
A friend of Bryson Daich, her dancing partner, won a competition at Woods Cross allowing him to advance to the Red Hot 4th Celebration tryouts without paying an entry fee. The only problem was he couldn't make it. He gave the tickets to Daich instead.
"I was like, oh my gosh, because I didn't think I'd ever be good enough to dance at the Red Hot 4th," Crowley said.
Attributing their being chosen to having a lot of movement when they dance, Crowley admits having fun with it gave them an edge over the other competitors. But it also had a lot to do with her partner's having been a dancer his entire life.
"He used to film his parents dancing, and he thought to himself, 'Hey, girls like to dance,' so he got more into it."
Jason Neubert of American Fork didn't even have to try out to become one of the featured couples: His students referred him, and he was asked if he'd do it.
Not only has Neubert danced for the past four years, but he has also been teaching for the past three. He expects at least 50 of his students to be performing at the celebration. He dances for reasons other than having fun.
"It's something I can always grow and improve at," Neubert said. He used to dance five or six times a week but, since getting married to his "permanent partner," Karen, they usually go once or twice a week.
Teaching is more of a hobby for Neubert since he is still a student, though he has had as many as 36 couples show up to one of his dance workshops.