"Girls
just want to have fun." may have been Cyndi Lauper's
battle cry, but the ever-smiling John Lindo its "Everybody
is supposed to have fun ... when the Swing." If Lindo
insists on nothing else from himself and his students, it's
that fun and the love of the dance be your motivation. "Swing
is about dancing and having fun and if you don't have it in
your heart that you want to enjoy it, but rather that you
want to take lessons because you want to beat somebody, then
you are dancing for the wrong reason."
If ever there was a million-dollar smile,
John Lindo has it. Not only does he have it but also he puts
it to good use both on and off the dance floor. He is one
of those people that you just want to meet and share a story
with. The smile is real and so is he. Now, to top that off,
this boy can really dance. Somehow, we always feel the good
dancers were born that way but the reality is, everyone starts
at the bottom and John’s story is, if not typical, at
least recognizable in some respects to others we have heard
as editors of the magazine.
John made his start
due to his mom’s urging in May 1992. She asked him to
join her and some friends at a local dance. As it turned out,
it was a Country Western dance. His first experience was with
line dancing and he enjoyed it so much he decided right then
and there to attend the weekly classes offered by the establishment.
It wasn’t too long after his start into the dance world
that he started taking lessons in 2-step, Waltz, cha-cha and
East Coast Swing. He was, as they say in the business, as
STAR STUDENT and within a year he not only was proficient
but also skilled enough to start teaching classes.
In July of 19,
he relocated to Dallas, Texas. He found places to Country-Dance
immediately. Because of his love of the dance, he found a
partner to dance with for competition and joined a Country
and Western Dance Team. With hard work and additional training,
he started to attend competitions around the country circuit.
It was there that he firs saw West Coast Swing and completely
fell in LOVE with it. At first, he was frustrated with West
Coast Swing because it was so difficult, but when you fall
in love with something, you just don’t give up because
it’s difficult, you work even harder. Encouragement
from others enabled him to continue and take more lessons
an finally he got up enough nerve to enter a few local competitions,
In November of
1998, he was once again relocated, this time to New Jersey.
He met a few people from New York throughout his travels and
heard of a swinging’ place called North River Bar. A
gentleman by the name of John Festa held a swing dance there
every Tuesday night. The first time he attended the dance
he had the pleasure of watching John Dance. He turned to the
person standing next to him and said, "Man, do I have
a lot to learn". The North River Bar is unique from many
other places not only does the music touch your soul, but
also the atmosphere itself is incredible.
John Lindo has
traveled quite a bit in the last two years and has had the
opportunity to make great friends and meet many wonderful
people in the dance world. He thanks his mom to this very
day for bringing him to that very first dance. He often wonders
what he did with his life before dancing. John says, "All
I know is that I will continue to dance for as long as God
lets me." |
