Tripping the Light Fantastic

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
—Bob Dylan

For some reason I have always preferred classic Rock and Roll. Even at the peak of the 70’s Hard Rock craze while all my friends were rockin’ out I listened to “Oldies” radio stations and liked the Beach Boys, Bill Haley & the Comets, Buddy Holly, and Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids (to name just a few). American Graffiti was (and still is?) my favorite album. I use a question mark because Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, The Beach Boys’ Endless Summer, and Billy Joel’s Stranger are right up there as well. Now I prefer Folk music—not sure why.

Back in the mid-70’s we used to have dance competitions between the wards in the stake we lived in in New Jersey. I think LDS stakes all over the country did the same thing. The first year I can remember the youth in our ward learned to Swing. Our Scoutmaster, Joe McNall, was our teacher and we saw a whole new side of his personality. He was always a pretty easy going guy but when the music started to play he really came alive. We had been on plenty of hikes and canoe trips with him but we had never seen how he could jump and jive. Under Joe’s direction all of us got pretty good at the basic steps and moves of the Swing and, if I remember correctly, we won the competition that first year (1974?). If we didn’t, we should have!

The next year the entire stake learned how to Swing and Joe taught us a full choreographed swing routine to Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood.” For weeks we practiced in the church gym after MIA/Mutual meetings. We all had a great time and we learned many flips, slides, turns, and tricks. Joe taught us everything we learned. I’m sure he had some help but I cannot remember who it was or who they were. Joe also taught us other dances like the Twist, Loco Motion, and Polka, but for us it was all about the Swing.

Debbie McNall (Joe’s daughter) was, of course, my favorite partner. (She was my girlfriend, on-and-off, all through high school.) Shalynn Murphy and I were technically better dance partners and I always enjoyed dancing with Sandy Johnstone and Susan Eckersley as well, but Debbie was my best girl. Our group later went on to compete in several community dance competitions and marathon dance contests. We always did very well and even won a few.

When Nancy and I started dancing together it took some time to adjust to each other. While I had learned to Swing she had learned the West Coast Swing and Lindy Hop and the footwork was slightly different. Over the years we have become pretty good dance partners but she has never been as daring as my high school dance partners with all the flips and slides. While in college we took a few dance classes together and learned Latin dances; Cha-cha, Rumba, Samba, and other classic dance steps; Waltz, Foxtrot, Box-step, Viennese Waltz, and Polka. We taught all our kids to dance and our son Daniel became an excellent ballroom dancer and even worked as a professional dance instructor for a few years. It must have been genetic.

Nancy and I have been chaperoning church dances for many years and I thought we had seen it all. Last Saturday night we chaperoned a four-stake dance. We usually dance to all the slow dances—and of course any Swing songs. We like to dance together and it shows the kids that they can do something more than the Deacon Shuffle; standing in one spot, holding each other awkwardly at arm’s length, and sliding your feet while rocking from side to side. While we dance together we can also monitor the dance floor and intervene if we see a couple dancing too close. (“You have to leave room for the Book of Mormon!” is the typical Mormon standard of proper dance measurement. They typical youth response is, “We’re using the CD version.”) While we were out 'cutting the rug' we saw a couple in a very tight bear hug. A few other kids were watching them with big smiles as we danced over. All I saw was a small petite blonde’s head buried in the chest of a burley athletic looking kid—and there wasn’t even room for a CD between them! When we moved beside them I leaned over and said, "Hey, break it up." They quickly did, and as they separated I saw it was two boys. Nancy thinks they were just goofing around. I think "the times they are a changin'."