The Rebound Indiana is a new initiative from WRTV to help you navigate the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are your source to find all of the information you need on the help that’s available and how to access those resources. We are focused on helping you find employment, make ends meet, manage the pressure of these unprecedented times, and ensure these programs work as promised. Visit theINDYchannel.com/rebound for more information.
INDIANAPOLIS — Many of us are feeling pent up at this point of the state's stay-at-home order. It's a good time to take on and learn something new.
One way to relieve some stress and let loose is to dance and Naptown Stomp brings a vintage dance right into your home.
You may have heard of the Jitterbug or a jive. Maybe a Carolina shag or the most popular — Lindy hop.
Naptown Stomp has spent the last two decades thriving in the Circle City helping students through these swing dances.
"It is something that you can put a lot of voice into the moves," Katelyn Griffith, president of Naptown Stomp, said. "We teach you the basics and then a lot of it is just you being silly, letting your personality shine. So it is a way to converse with each other that isn't using your voice."
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, you could find dancers with the finest quick steps and dancers who are just getting their feet wet out on the floor at McGowan Hall in downtown Indianapolis.
"Swing dancing is a happy dance, just a way to express yourself," Griffith said.
But with the dance floor sitting empty, Naptown Stomp's organizers are bringing the joy of dance to anyone who wants to pick up the steps with free beginner lessons offered online.
LEARN MORE | Naptown Stomp
"It is just fun," Griffith said. "It is a way to get out of your head, forget about work and life, especially now that everything is very confusing."
At Naptown Stomp, no dance experience is necessary. Just as if you were joining in on the Thursday night lessons in the hall, the online classes will guide you from the start with solo jazz moves that can be used with a partner.
"It is such a fun experience, especially dancing with a partner," Griffith said. "But dancing solo also gets you to focus on more body awareness. It is not about being perfect, it is about being silly. This dance was done in the streets of Harlem when it first began so coming from that it is not meant to be perfect. It is just meant to be expressive."
It's a way to let loose and get in the groove so you can join in on the fun once this dance floor is open once again.
