Sophomore architecture student Brandon Gassaway has been swing dancing for three years. A swing course at UNM piqued his interest and he decided to pursue it as a hobby in 2009. He now performs and competes with a group of six local swing dancers called “Project Sin Nombre.”
“The type of dance we do is the Lindy Hop,” Gassaway explains. It is a particular genre of swing dance originating in the mid ‘30s during the Harlem Renaissance. The dance was developed by African Americans as a refuge from the issues of that time. Gassaway finds it both ironic and frustrating that even though the dance style was developed by African Americans, he is one of the few who dance this style nationally.
Gassaway had recently held a swing dance workshop and hopes that eventually other African Americans will become influenced by his involvement.
