Club
History
In the Beginning
Or: How the Rocky Mountain Swing Club Was Formed
by Bev Thomas and Karen Dovel-Parker
In The Beginning…..
…………many
dancers in Denver went to places like the bar that was in the Sheridan
at the Tech Center, called Lily's. It had a DJ that played top 40
music, a small dance floor and they had a strong dislike for dancers
because they were cheap. (Not many bought drinks other than water and
soft drinks). There was also Apples on Orchard, and many other places
that had music and a dance floor, and with a few people making phone
calls, a decent crowd of dancers (somewhere around 20) would show up
and dance. When there was a shortage of male dancers, Jean Smith, who
was one of our dance instructors, would lead a few of us to the disco
music being played. It wasn't perfect, but it was what we had and we
had a blast.
In the summer
of 1989, a small group of swing dancers from Denver went to their first
national swing dance convention, which was held in Phoenix, Arizona,
and was hosted by “The Greater Phoenix Swing Dance Club”. The dancers
from Colorado who attended that infamous weekend were Mike and Amber
Cross, Andrea Deaton, Anita Deaton, Harry Lester and Kathy Lorenz.
These dancers gained a totally new insight into the world of dance,
including new music (rhythm & blues), Jack & Jill contests and
more fun dancing than they could ever imagine. You might say they
thought they had died and gone to ‘dance heaven'. With the help of
Ramiro Gonzales from Dallas and Wayne Bott, who had just moved to
Phoenix from Denver, they became inspired to bring the message back to
Denver that dancers here needed a club for swing dancing. This handful
of people embarked on a mission to go about forming a club, enlisting
the help of Robert and Connie Bryant of Phoenix, who provided their
experience with the Phoenix club and who educated us about the meaning
of ‘by-laws'. They also generated excitement to the many swing dancers
who were hammering for a place to do their stuff. A wonderful friend in
the dance community, Judy Girard, had a party at her house and invited
everyone from Carter's dance studio and, after Mike and Amber and
Andrea showed videos from Phoenix (we were simply stunned into silence
at the sight of those amazing dancers from all over the country),
people signed a list, showing their support for starting a club.
The
club that was formed in the fall of 1989 is now known as “The Rocky
Mountain Swing Dance Club,” with some of that very first group that
went to Phoenix, becoming board members. Mike Cross was to be our first
President, Harry Lester the Vice President, Bev Thomas was the
Secretary, Anita Deaton the Treasurer, Amber Cross was the Dance &
Entertainment Committee, Sara Steckler was the Fund Raising Committee,
Judy Girard was the Historian and photographer, JoAnn Marrs was the
Hospitality Committee, and Andrea Deaton was the Publicity &
Newsletter Committee. Shelly Austin designed our great RMSC logo. Harry
Lester knew of a place called “Ollies Round Up” on Morrison Road and
eventually arranged for the new club to meet there on Sundays. (Here's
to Linda Carr, Jackie and Monique, who knew us all by name and by drink
preference). On October 15, 1989 with more than 50 people attending
(and joining) the club, we held our first official club dance at
Ollie's, rockin' to the new R&B sounds they heard in Phoenix, and
the rest, my friends, is history.
You can find pictures from the early days of the RMSDC here.
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