About
Whether you've lived in Abilene your whole life or you're just swinging through, come check out Tuesday nights with the ACU Swing Cats!
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ACU Swing Cats was chartered in 2003, after about 25 students responded to an interest group meeting organized by Cole Bennett. Several of these students had taken some lessons, but many were just interested in swing music and dance, having no experience in either. We were given permission to exist as a school-sponsored "performance troupe," but we had to abide by the following rules:
1. Membership was closed, except for a brief joining period at the beginning of each semester;
2. Meetings were held in a controlled environment, behind a locked door, monitored so that non-members could not wander in;
3. Under no circumstances could we "throw a dance." We could practice and learn during our meetings, then perform in Ethnos, Sing Song, etc., but not sponsor a campus-wide dance;
4. A faculty sponsor had to be present at all meetings.
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We operated under these parameters for several years until the dance rules relaxed on campus. At first, Freshmen were not allowed to join; only sophomores and beyond. This changed after three or four years.
Our original meeting place was Gym D, the un-air-conditioned basketball gym across from the racquetball courts. We met there for years, on Sunday nights; it was hot!!
Our membership numbers have waxed and waned from about 15 members to about 150. One semester, in the hot gym, we'd regularly have three large lessons happening simultaneously--a beginner, an intermediate, and an advanced. It was busy!
We've had award-winning dancers come out of Swing Cats--Baron Smith and Megan Dooley are immediate examples. They began with no experience and quickly rose to the top.
Much has changed from our humble beginnings. We meet in an air-conditioned dance studio on campus, we perform all over town, and we attend workshops all over the state.