Erika Buchholz stands in front of five dance students on the stage of Ryan Auditorium in the Technological Institute, demonstrating the best posture for their part in Lindy dancing.

“You want to think like you’re a boxer,” Buchholz says. “Get low to the ground, knees bent, heels off the ground.”

Buchholz’s instruction was part of the Northwestern Social Dance Club’s Lindy 1 class, held every Monday afternoon. Buchholz, a Music sophomore, and Chris Rebacz, a Weinberg graduate student, teach the 10-person class.

“Even people who dance don’t really know what Lindy is,” said Brady Muller, the Social Dance Club’s communications director. The Lindy hop originated in the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in the 1930s. Named for Charles Lindbergh’s “solo hop” across the Atlantic, the Lindy is the only partner dance you can also do solo.

Although Muller, a Weinberg sophomore, said she preferred the Lindy, the club also offers lessons in swing, salsa, tango and waltz.

The club is open to undergraduates, graduates, professors and Evanston residents. All classes are held once a week and each four-week cycle costs $25 for students.

The inspiration for the Social Dance Club came when Anthony Matlis, president of USwingers, and Galina Smushkin, president of NU’s Ballroom Dance Club, started to go to salsa dancing together.

When the dance club was in danger of folding, the two presidents opted to combine their groups.

The Social Dance Club’s swing and Lindy classes all are taught by NU students, while the ballroom dance classes are taught by professionals the club hires. The club also has an open swing dance Wednesday nights at Kendall College.

“We become a tight group here; everyone gets to know everyone else,” Muller said during one of the Swing 2 classes. About 15 students spent that Wednesday learning how to promenade, a position in which two people dance side-by-side.

The club has been successful in attracting other members of the NU and Evanston community besides undergraduates.

Tom Soper, a retired member of the NU faculty, said taking the class was “a chance to not act my age.”

While the club has gained a following since its inception, it is still hoping to make itself more known and to continue to attract interest.

“I didn’t even know this was here until three weeks ago,” said Speech graduate student Julie Farquharson, who is taking swing lessons.