Dancing on the pavement

The Syracuse Swing Dance Society (SSDS), Central New York’s premiere organization dedicated to promoting dances such as the jitterbug, lindy hop and hustle, recently started their summer series by setting up shop in Hanover Square.

These photographs, taken on a Friday in June, represent my best attempts to keep up with the precise and often snappy footwork of the East Coast Swing, while the organization and it’s volunteers turned the usually intimate downtown enclave into an open-air ballroom.

The crowd of mostly dance aficionados moved and hustled to the sounds of Big Caddy and the Eldorados. The flamboyant band started with slower, milder tunes, but quickly progressed to staccato sounds that whipped the dancers into frenzied jitterbug session that lasted until the sun went down. 

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