Do you ever find yourself wishing there was a way you could dance as well as the contestants on “So You Think You Can Dance” or “Dancing With the Stars”?

It takes years of practice and hard work to become a professional ballroom dancer, but the Cyclone Swing Society is looking to make swing dance easier and more accessible to students.

“This [Swing Society] is a great way to meet people and learn about swing dancing,” said Paul DonLevy, senior in food science and microbiology, and president of the club.

Swing-style dancing is characterized by “smooth movements and small steps” DonLevy said, and the foot movements are “slow, slow, quick, quick.”

One of the dancers who leads, typically the male, while the other follows. There are several styles of swing dance, including the East and West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop and the Charleston.

According to www.centralhome.com, swing dance reaches back as far as the 1920s, where the black community “discovered the Charleston and the Lindy Hop.” Swing dancing spread like fire and began appearing in New York-area clubs like the Savoy Ballroom; shortly thereafter, dance styles such as the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug and Charleston began to develop.

By the 1930s, swing dancing was taking the United States by storm; however, not everyone thought the ballroom dance was going to last. Many critics of the dance style thought it was simply a fad and did not teach it in dance classes or schools.

Nevertheless, swing dancing stuck and is now primarily taught in the styles of East and West Coast Swing to dancers across the United States.

The Cyclone Swing Society has been teaching students how to swing dance since fall 2003. DonLevy, who has been a member since 2003, became interested in joining the club after seeing a large public performance.

“I wanted to join, but I wasn’t very good at first,” DonLevy said. “But I stayed with it.”

There are 10 regular members that meet each week, and any student is able to join.

“There are a lot of men right now,” DonLevy said, referencing the high number of men without partners in the club. “And very few single girls.”

In a typical meeting, the group usually practices two or three new moves and breaks them down by lead and follower. Because the group is smaller, they are able to work at a slower pace and review old steps. It is not required to come with a partner, so the Swing Society members switch partners often.

The club had its first performance last semester, working in conjunction with Orchesis II. DonLevy choreographed the entire dance to the song “How Grand You Are;” he worked on it “every week for a couple months,” DonLevy said.

This semester, the Swing Society will be performing a Shim-sham style dance to Star Wars’ “Imperial March.”

The Cyclone Swing Society does not really interact with the other dance groups, partly because they only work on one style of ballroom dance. “If you really like swing dancing, join my club,” DonLevy said. “We’re a specific ballroom club; we don’t do everything.”

One advantage of being in the Swing Society, DonLevy said, is that members can network with different groups around Iowa to attend workshops and swing lessons. The University of Iowa holds an event called the “Hawkeye Swing Festival” where people can take lessons, attend workshops and compete in swing competitions.

“The best part about being a member of the Cyclone Swing Society is that we can keep [students] in touch with the swing dance opportunities all throughout Iowa,” DonLevy said.

The Swing Society is also hosting a dance as a way to recruit more members to the club. The event will be held on Saturday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union. DonLevy will be giving free swing lessons, and there will be open dancing offered after the lessons. The event starts at 8 p.m.

“I recommend that everyone try swing dancing, they could really like it,” DonLevy said. “Our attendance is growing, and I have met a ton of people.”

The Cyclone Swing Society meets from 6-7 p.m. Monday nights in 213 Forker.