Skirts fluttered and flew with the turns as couples young and old glided across the wood floors of the Thelma A. Boltin Center to a range of music from Elvis Presley's "Return To Sender" to Frank Sinatra's "The Tender Trap."
The dancing was part of the third annual Larry G. Shahboz Memorial Summer Swing Dance, which took place Saturday night at the center, 516 NE Second Ave. The event benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.
About 130 guests attended, including 30 Florida Swing Dancing Club members. The dance generated $1,300 for the charities. Donations are still trickling in, said event coordinator Marc Shahboz, who started the event with his wife, Joyce.
He said the idea came to him after his wife threw him a surprise swing-dance-themed birthday party about four years ago. Both are UF alumni.
The couple decided to turn the party into a memorial for Marc's father, Larry Shahboz, who died of multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, in 2005. Larry spent most of his life swing dancing.
"It's a celebration," Marc Shahboz said. "It's a way to memorialize my dad and honor my aunt."
Marc Shahboz's aunt has overcome blood cancer and been in remission for 15 years.
Before Saturday, Shahboz said they had raised $5,000 from previous events.
Chairs lined either side of the hall, where hopefuls waited to be asked to dance. As soon as women sat to rest, they stood again rapidly to join a new partner. It appeared as if they were playing a game of musical chairs.
The hall was decorated modestly, and refreshments and finger foods were served.
Guests sat at white collapsible party tables. The plastic chairs squeaked as people got up to show off their moves on the dance floor.
Frank and Shari Duncan, 62 and 53, respectively, sat at a table with their own mini box fan. The couple has attended the dance all three years. They swing dance not only for the fun of it but also because it is great exercise.
"This type of dance," he said, "will never die."
