by Daniel Huberman
Daily Lobo
Before Kyle Tuffli became a swing dancer, he was hardly a swinger.
"I was a socially awkward junior high kid, and it was the best way to meet girls," Tuffli said. "I never had a single girlfriend before I started swing dancing, but once I started swing dancing, everything changed."
Tuffli, a UNM student, has attended swing dances for more than six years. He swing dances at the Heights Community Center, located on Central New Mexico Community College's campus. Every Tuesday, Primordial Swing Dance provides a lesson followed by a social dance. Everyone who makes an appearance is encouraged to give a $3 donation to help fund the event.
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Tuffli said $3 is a small price to pay.
"It is fun, and all the chill people swing dance - tons of hot women always do it," Tuffli said.
UNM student Millie Hilgart said potential dates are not the only people you will meet at the swing dance.
"There are so many different people," Hilgart said. "There are 14-year-olds and 70-year-olds."
Hilgart is a new member of the swing dance community.
"I have not been doing it very long, and I do not do it nearly enough, but I love it," she said.
UNM student Rebecca Lucero said the lessons cater to all levels of swingers, and the event is a great place for beginners as well as experienced swing dancers.
"There is a really easy form of swing dancing called the Jitterbug," Lucero said. "It is the most basic and easy to learn. You can learn that from 7 to 8 o'clock. After you learn that (Jitterbug), you can learn the Lindy, which is an eight count - more of an intermediate form of swing."
Lucero said swing dancing is good for the soul.
"When you feel the music, it is throughout the whole body," she said. "So when you dance, you are feeling everything that is going on with the music."
Lucero said the majority of swing dancers are young adults from Albuquerque and around the state.
"My friends told me about it," Lucero said. "I was still living at home in Santa Fe, but we would carpool down to Albuquerque every Tuesday night just to go swing dancing." She said with lessons for the beginners and a dance for everybody, it isn't hard to learn. Plus, it is a lot of fun, she said.
"Every time I move around, I am totally at peace with everything," Lucero said. "You do not have to think about any problems, just letting loose and being with other people doing the same thing."
Primordial Swing Dance
Heights Community Center
7 p.m., Tuesdays
Free
