The group photo from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Scott Cupit is in the bear hat. I am at the back being lifted up by Trix. I was not aware that this was going to happen until I was suddenly three feet off the ground.

That summer, DUSS was invited to about three of four college balls, including to Castle June Ball. Aimee and Umberto went along and I am forever bitter that I missed it. I think they were booked for about four am, so don't let anyone tell you that only blues happens after midnight. Live music nights also started to run in conjunction with the college bands every fortnight in the Riverside Cafe. DUSS also ran a slogan contest that summer and 'Well Swung' was forever enshrined into the fabric of DUSS. Literally, it was printed on the tshirts.

The first DUSS taster of the year in 2012. Rhian and Aimee can be seen in all of their non-dancing newbee-ness. I was there as well, but out of shot. Honest.

Here is a mysterious photo from the early days of DUSS. Can you identify anyone..?

In the year 2012-2013, DUSS fought for the Sunday evening slot in the Fonteyn ballroom, after it became clear that Vane Tempest was a teeny tiny room that was incapable of holding legions of swing dancers. There were even a couple of nights where we held classes in what is now called "The Library" on the Bailey, but I forget it's old name. There were many tea dances held jointly with Lindy Jazz, as well as an outrageous amount of cake throughout the whole year. This may have been what hooked me on swing dancing.

On a particularly memorable occasion around about Easter, Joo-Lee managed to get Scott Cupit (Head of Swing Patrol London) to come and teach a 30's Charleston routine and DUSS sent a big group along. This was followed by a Mad Hatter's Tea Party, with crazy hats and tea, but mostly cake, so to be honest, it really it should have been advertised as the Mad Baker's Cake party (with hats).

2012-2013

The most recent incarnation of DUSS was established in 2012 by the first committee featured on this website! (check out our hall of DUSS exec) There was a lot of cake and a lot of enthusiasm and many amazing dancers and teachers. DUSS is especially grateful to Chris, Lucy, Rob, James and Marisa (our first volunteer teachers!), who put student swing dancing in Durham back on its feet after a brief hiatus.

by J. K. Humphries

2012 - 2015: Jack and the Keen Bean Stalk

A group photo on top of the hills behind Dufton.

DUSS at DJam 2014. From left to right, back row: Jorgen, Bryan, Tom. Front row: Hazel, Rhian, Ryan, Davina, Siobhan and Tasha.

That year was the year of the student societies, with DUSS attending student organised workshops in York, Edinburgh, Leeds and St Andrews (Sort of, I think only Lewis went in the end). To top this off, Summer Swing came back at it was gigantic, at least for DUSS. We had about 180 attendees from all across the North East, including big groups from Edinburgh, York, Manchester and Newcastle. The teachers were Simon, Robyn, Judith and Kibble from London, as well as Matt Lane and Jenny Clapp, who had made their teaching debut at the first ever Summer Swing the year before. That year, Summer Swing was combined with the Blues Boat, and it was the largest event we had run so far. Rhian was the lead organiser and was the busiest person in Durham for several months.

DUSS dancers having too much fun posing at DJam 2015. From left to right, back row: Rhian, Niffi, Istvan, Joey, Lewis, Ignasi and Nick. Front row: Luna, Emma, Naomi and Greg.

2013-2014

The next year, I was on the exec! We organised a Big Apple workshop, where Chris used several slowed down versions of the song and a huge list of all 50+ moves to try and teach it in just one afternoon. That year, we travelled to Easington a couple of times for Tony and Paula's charity dance night and also to the Swung 8 evenings held in Newcastle by Swing Tyne. The first ever weekend away was also that November, about 35 intrepid DUSS members travelled out to the youth at Dufton in Cumbria. There was much walking and playing of games and making of friends. Credit to Lucy Moorcraft for helping out so much with the organisation! The trip won 'Best Student Led Trip/Event' that year at the Student Union Awards.

The Blues Boat at Summer Swing 2015. From left to right, Istvan, Me, Hugo, Bryan, Rhian, Sofie and Sarah.

And now it is 2015 and a new exec are taking over the best student society in Durham. Not that I am biased or anything.

DUSS sent a large group along to DJam 2014, which was held by Lindy Jazz at the Radisson Blu Hotel. Our very own Ryan, Davina and Rhian placed highly in the newbie competition! I think Ryan and Davina came first even? There was also an amazing pancake party on a Tuesday evening, with Blues afterwards. This came about because that Spring, the Union decided to close on Sunday evenings. After a lengthy campaign led by Purple Radio (with a little help from Swing and other affected soceities), they changed back to the old ways, but not until we had a whole term of Tuesday evening DUSS classes. That Easter, about 15 DUSS dancers travelled to Swing Revolution in Leeds and it was epic.

In the summer of 2014, we held the first ever Summer Swing! It was a little tiny thing with about 60 attendees. There was a Blues opening party, a Collegiate Shag Workshop run by Sharon and Dai from Wales, a trip to Swung 8 and a summer ball, along with Lindy Hop teaching from Matt Lane, Lucy Moorcraft, Glenn and Clare from Sixth Street Swing in Darlington and Jenny Clapp. The blues dance scene exploded that year within DUSS, Blues Bar started running irregularly on Fridays at The Empty Shop, and the first Blues Boat in Durham (on the Prince Bishop) was organised by Konrad.

2014-2015 saw the introduction of teaching masterclasses for our intermediates, the second weekend away trip to Malham YHA (organised by Naomi and Umberto) and another large trip to DJam 2015. For the second year running, society membership was huge. Lessons for the first few months were packed, with people dancing on the stage in the Fonteyn ballroom due to lack of space on the main floor. By the end, we had over 180 members, which was more than 1% of the whole University. DUSS (mainly Rhian) also organised a wildly successful aerials class with Bruce and Jane from Hull, which packed out the Fonteyn ballroom.