Lana Turner spreads the joy of swing dancing, from its roots in Harlem all the way to Perth
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Video: Lana Turner was a guest at a Perth swing dance group during her visit to the city.
(ABC News)
New York swing dance aficionado Lana Turner has brought her passion for getting people onto the dance floor to the Perth International Arts Festival.
An archivist and real estate agent by day, by night Turner is well known in the Big Apple for swinging; she is a regular at outdoor dance floors and pop-up jazz concerts in the city's parks across summer.
She stands out among the crowd, dressed in the prized vintage dresses and hats from her vast collection.
While she is swaying and moving to the music of Ella Fitzgerald or Count Basie, she always sneaks a peek at those watching on.
"You can see the joy in their faces watching the dancers and you know that they want to get up and do the same thing.
"One of the things I do is try to get people who don't dance to dance.
"I just go and get them and say, 'it's OK if you don't know the steps, it's alright'.
"The idea is to understand the joy and the exuberance of dance."
It's all about the music
Many people get swept away by Turner's enthusiasm and reassurance that it is not necessary to know any of the steps.
"What you need to do is hear the music and have a great time."
In Perth she'll be staging a series of workshops and performances; this weekend she will appear alongside famed Harlem drummer Evan Sherman and the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra at the Festival Gardens.
Turner said she was certain she would not be the only person dancing by the end of the night.
"Don't worry about the steps, you will get it later."
While in Perth, Turner has also taken up the opportunity to attend swing dance classes — but she said she was not there to teach.
"I just want to thank them for having me come and loving the art of dancing," she said of the participants.
"Knowing that something that started in Harlem has found its way all over the world — and Perth is one of them — is wonderful."
No formal training
Turner never studied dance in any formal way; she started by standing on her father's feet as child and just went from there.
She also does not stick to a set routine when she dances.
Instead, she improvises with her dance partners — a practice she likens to how musicians play jazz.
"I've never done any choreography, it's not me.
"My model really was my daddy and it was not about performing, it was simply about enjoying that music of Count Basie or Duke Ellington.
"Really, dancing is hearing it and being able to react to it. That's where I fit in."
Topics: dance, carnivals-and-festivals, people, community-and-multicultural-festivals, human-interest, perth-6000
