Goth swings into Tuesday

May 28, 11:24 AMSF Budget Nightlife ExaminerHeather Zemansky

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Swing Goth's upcoming Bowie Ball

Wallflowers don’t exist, cliques are unheard of, styles of attire run the gamut, and laughter fills the air. It’s Tuesday night at the El Rio and Brian Gardner, founder and teacher of Swing Goth, has just brought his popular weekly dance class to order. "What we do is probably not ‘swing’ and who we are is probably not ‘Goth,’ explains Gardner. “Rather we’re a collection of individuals who’ve updated partner dancing for the modern era and who don’t care about boundaries.”

Each week the El Rio is transformed into a self-proclaimed, “80’s styled Goth club.” Explains Gardner, “Back then nobody knew what they were doing. The music wasn’t so nailed into one location and the people weren’t nailed into one genre. That’s the kind of club we are. Everybody comes as whoever they are. We’re a collection of individuals.”

Doors open at 6:45 p.m. and Gardner teaches traditional swing moves to the music of Franz Ferdinand and the Killers. Lessons for intermediates begin at 7 p.m., 7:45 p.m. for beginners. An open dance follows going on until the club kicks out the revilers. The entire evening is a great bargain at just five dollars. “I wanted punk rock people to come,” says Gardner. “So I had to charge punk rock prices. I’m not in it to make money. I’m in it to get more people dancing.”

Gardner also has a unique approach for teaching those who might have tried and failed more conventional classes. “I’m not saying my way’s better, but it just seems to work for people for whom regular dance lessons don’t,” says Gardner.

He believes dancing begins in your hands and the first half hour of the lesson focuses on the motions to lead and follow. Your first dance is taught without any footwork. “Dancing is not about where your feet are,” says Gardner. “Dancing is about connecting with your partner to the music. That doesn’t happen in your feet, unless you’re doing it wrong and you step on each other.”

Gardner first started experimenting with his own swing dance style in the clubs in the mid 1990’s. “Exotic dancers would come in on their nights off because we wouldn’t hit on them,” laughs Gardner. “I would dance with them and play around with lifts.”

When swing dancing became all the rage, Gardner thought, “This is great, I get to dance with 20 different people in a night, have fun and flirt.” He began taking swing dancing lessons and after two months realized he was, “The worst dancer in the world.”
Gardner was bound and determined to tackle partner dancing and three months later something finally clicked. “I started dancing everywhere,” says Gardner. “If a danceable song came on at a club I’d ask someone to partner with me. Eventually there were other people who decided that they would start learning how to swing dance too.” He and his friends soon formed a group and in 1998 Gardner coined the term “Swing Goth.”

After moving to San Francisco, Gardner learned of other established swing Goth groups, such as the band, Lee Presson and the Nails. Excited, he decided to build a Web site for his Swing Goth dancing, hoping it would create more awareness to this apparently rising trend. After receiving an overwhelming response from the site, Gardner eventually partnered with various nightclubs to begin his own weekly instructional dance classes.

Since 2005, Swing Goth has successfully grown to more than 300 members. This year, Swing Goth celebrates its achievements on June 5th with its first themed dance, The Bowie Ball, at the Great American Music Hall. “David Bowie epitomizes exactly what we’ve been through and what we try to do,” explains Gardner. “He’s been a lot of things but he’s always been himself.”

The night will feature live performances by 5 Cent Coffee and Barry Syska’s Fantasy Orchestra, thematic DJs, as well as include dance instructions.

So whether you’re looking to put a little swing into your Roger Rabbit or a little twist into your Electric Slide, Swing Goth welcomes you. “We don’t have any pretentious people or people who are judgmental,” says Gardner. “Everybody is included and that’s a beautiful thing.”

For more info on the Bowie Ball visit www.swinggoth.com/bowieball09. To purchase tickets visit www.gamh.com/artist_pages/bowie_ball_060509.htm. $15 advance/$20 general admission. Doors open at 8 p.m.