Sammi: So, just introduce yourself and tell me a little bit about yourself.
Chelsea: I am Chelsea Maupin, I studied horticulture at Purdue and have since graduated, I taught English in Vietnam for a year and I’m applying for a master’s degree, I work at a farm and a bakery, and I want to do more swing dancing! I’ve done it super sporadically and on and off, but it’s super fun.
S: So amidst all of that insanity, how did you find swing dancing?
Chelsea: From being an undergrad at Purdue, but I did a little bit of ballroom in highschool, and I wanted a really fun dance community – and especially going into a new place and being so overwhelmed with the newness of it all – swing was such an awesome community and stress relief.
S: I definitely agree with that. Aside from the community, what keeps you coming back to dance every week?
Chelsea: I think it’s the community, and it does change really quickly, especially at University scenes just because of people moving on and graduating, but it’s not just a community in one place anymore. It’s also a thing you can take to other places. I’ve danced in several different countries, and it’s also something that I can work on personally. I dance at home in my kitchen, I’m just more – I’m more comfortable. I think it’s kind of a little confidence booster too where it’s just a fun, zany skill.
S: Yeah! You mentioned dancing with other people elsewhere vs. yourself, so what’s your favorite thing about dancing by yourself vs. dancing with a partner?
Chelsea: That’s a good question. I think dancing by myself, I can just focus in and really listen to the music. I think it’s really fun to partner dance and to respond to the energy from a lead, because I usually follow, but dancing by yourself you can just think about the music and do whatever feels good.
S: Cool. You talk about the music and the rhythm – what does that mean to you when you dance?
Chelsea: For the rhythm and the feeling of the music? It kinda depends on my mood, like how I’m feeling coming into dance will then kind of effect how the music influences me – it goes both ways a bit. So a fast song, if I’m high energy, will be the right energy. But if I’m tired, I’ll just sit out. It sort of depends on what’s going on.
S: What’s your favorite thing that you really like to dig into when you’re dancing?
Chelsea: When I’m dancing – just with partner dancing because I mainly do partner dancing – I love it when things just kind of click well. Like the lead and I have the same energy level, we’re both listening, we know where the breaks are gonna be in the song, and if it’s a well-known song then you can definitely get creative with musicality. There’s certain dances where even if it’s a total stranger, you come away and you’re laughing and smiling ‘cause you just clicked really well, and that’s great.
S: I agree. Random last question – if you had to describe what dance is to you in five words or less, how would you do it?
Chelsea: Uhhhh… that’s on the spot!
S: Uh-huh!
Chelsea: Five or less?
S: Yeah! TL;DR!
Chelsea: Well, we did lessons today talking about energy and connection, so it probably would be, lets make it a sentence: Connected energy with friends and fun. Excluding conjunction words, of course.