By Brett Fisher
Carson City isn’t particularly known for its night or dance clubs. But one local non-profit group caters to the needs of some residents who like to cut a rug or bust a groove for a good time.
The High Sierra Swing Dance Club delivers dancing to people in Carson City and surrounding areas, because sometimes you’ve just got to dance.
“One of the nicest things about our club is that we are such a friendly group,” said Rika Rich, a long-time club member and its former activities director. “We’re social, and we all just dance together.”
Whether single or a couple, the club is open to any and everyone who just wants to move to the music. Membership isn’t required, either, to join in the fun.
“You don’t have to be a member to dance with us,” Rika said. “You can come to all of our events.”
Of course, membership does have its privileges and is encouraged among current and new participants.
Members receive admission discounts at dances and for dance lessons. They also enjoy free catered events provided by the club throughout the year.
“We do a lot of fun things for our members,” Rika said.
These include a summer picnic and dance usually at a Lake Tahoe retreat and a holiday dance in December, said current High Sierra Swing Dance Club President Idie Zaman, both of which are member appreciation events and free to members.
There’s also a large Spring Ball event the club hosts at the Carson Nugget, Zaman said. This year’s Spring Ball, the club’s 11th in its 12-year history in Carson City, is scheduled for April 21 in the Nugget’s upstairs ballroom.
“The ball has evolved through the years,” she said. “It used to be two days long with lots of workshops, but it has morphed into just a one-night event with lots of entertainment.”
The Spring Ball is not a free member event, Zaman said. Admission is $30. However, the club still takes about a $500 hit in costs for its preparation and production.
Non-members are always welcome, Zaman said, even at member appreciation events. But they do have to pay for some events that would be free to them if they were members.
“It’s amazing what we do for our members, because we don’t have a lot of money,” Zaman said. “All of our money goes back into the club.”
Membership into the High Sierra Swing Dance Club is $25 per year, she said. Currently there are about 75 active, dues-paying members and a total of about 150 people who regularly participate in club activities.
Those annual dues don’t just help pay for a good time, either. They also go toward a good local cause, Zaman said.
“In October, we donate all of our profits to Advocates to End Domestic Violence,” she said.
A locally-based 501(c)3 registered non-profit, Advocates to End Domestic Violence helps victims of domestic violence rebuild their lives while also working to eliminate domestic violence crimes in the community.
Dancing, though, is a fun and recreational endeavor enjoyed by many people around the world.
Carson City is no exception, so the High Sierra Swing Dance Club ensures local venues for those who care to indulge in a wholesome good time.
“It’s a fun group, all about dance, friendship and fun,” Zaman said. “These are healthy and active people. It’s a clean way to meet people and have fun.”
Singles, couples, and even married people whose spouses don’t share their love of dancing can all participate in a safe, supportive environment that promotes healthy social engagement.
“It’s a safe way to meet people, because although you’re in a free environment, it’s controlled in a sense,” Rich said. “If you want to dance, you don’t have to have your partner come, too.”
This helps married individuals feel less insecure about socializing and engaging stangers absent their spouses.
“Quite a lot of married couples come without their spouses,” Zaman said. “It’s a safe way to get out and do something your spouse doesn’t want to do, but you get to socialize.”
Zaman credits the club with helping her assimilate into Carson City after she and her husband had relocated from out of state.
“When I joined the club, my husband was a flight attendant and gone half of every month,” she said. “We had just moved here. I had no friends in Nevada. I knew nothing, and I made all of my friends through this dance club.”
Zaman and Rich both agreed that what often sets the High Sierra Swing Dance Club apart from others in the region is that it nurtures a no-pressure social environment based solely around the fun of dancing.
“There’s no social pressure,” Zaman said. “You’re not making commitments, and you are getting to socialize and be together without there being anything else.”
She said keeping the atmosphere low key and about casual, wholesome fun focused on music and dancing is a comfort for many who may be apprehensive about stepping out onto the dance floor, perhaps for the very first time in many years.
“You don’t have to be a good dancer,” Zaman said. “Just that little touch to a widow who hasn’t had a husband for 20 years, or a widowed man who is afraid to get up off his feet can make a difference.”
In fact, most members and participants tend to be new dancers, past club president Mike Rich said.
“We’re mostly new dancers here,” he said. “The average is about 3-4 years. If you are a seasoned dancer, we’re talking about ten years.”
His wife, Rika, said club members bring a wide range of experience to the dance floor, which is a benefit to all who participate in the dances.
“We’re all over the board, from one year to 15-20 years experience,” she said. “This is a way to really connect with another human being.”
Besides it’s recreational benefits, Rika said dancing can also be therapeutic and help people build or rebuild their interpersonal communication skills.
“The more high-tech we get, the less communication we have with other human beings,” she said. “Dancing is a way to actually touch another human being and communicate, and it’s okay.”
“It’s three minutes,” Mike said. “Three minutes and then you can go sit down or go to the next person.”
In those three minutes, though, people can learn a lot about one another and end up building healthy relationships with strangers around a common interest.
“No matter what professional you have, you tend to hang around with people in your profession. That’s your reality,” Mike said. “But when you come here, we’re massage therapists, cops, doctors, construction workers. It’s a whole spectrum of different people with different backgrounds. It gets you out socially to meet different people.”
The High Sierra Swing Dance Club specializes in West Coast Swing Dancing, a series of slot-style dance moves where partners are constantly connected.
“We dance in a slot,” Mike said. “We’re always connected. We go up and down the slot with a variety of moves.”
The style has evolved over the years, Rika said, from fast-paced like its East Coast Swing Dance cousin to incorporating slower, more fluid movements that give it more of an appeal to newer dancers.
“It’s not ballroom dancing where a waltz is a waltz and a foxtrot is a foxtrot. It has evolved,” she said. “It used to be really fast music, like East Coast Swing. But it changes, and is constantly evolving and alive.”
There’s also an element of freestyle dancing present in West Coast Swing that doesn’t typically exist within other dancing styles.
“You get to freestyle more, as opposed to ballroom dances where you only do what you’re supposed to do,” Zaman said. “In this one, the lady can freestyle. You can add your own flavor to it.”
“You will learn this dance forever,” Rika said. “You can learn it immediately and dance it. The variations, you never stop learning it.”
About eighty percent of the music played at club dances is West Coast Swing Music, Mike said. But it isn’t the only type of dancing that the club introduces to its members.
“We don’t just do West Coast,” he said. “We also do country two-step, because we are in Nevada, and you better be playing country two-step.”
Mike said tempo changes can also change the style of dancing during an event.
“Sometimes you want a slow song, so we’ll put a nightclub two-step in,” he said. “Or we’ll do a waltz, the Cha-Cha or the Hustle.”
High Sierra Swing Dance Club meets one Saturday each month in the upstairs ballroom of the historic Brewery Arts Center (BAC), located at 449 West King Street in downtown Carson City.
Dancing is preceded by dance lessons led by dance instructors for new dancers, or those seeking to learn new moves or styles of dance, Zaman said, typically from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Open dance with a disc-jockey runs from 8 to 10 p.m.
Saturday’s open dances at the BAC costs $7 for members and $10 for non-members. Instructor-led lessons prior to the dance cost $7 for members and $10 for non members.
Weekly dance lessons are also held every Monday night inside the 11th Frame at Carson Lanes Family Center in South Carson City.
“The bowling alley is very relaxed,” Zaman said. “You can sit back and watch it without partaking. It’s more of a nightclub feeling.”
Beginner lessons start at 5:30 p.m., followed by intermediate lessons at 6:30 p.m. Open dance starts at 7:30 p.m.
Like the High Sierra Swing Dance Club on Facebook, or visit its web site online for more information and a calendar of upcoming events.
