Hannah Block USO Building celebrates 4th of July with swing dance performance

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — In downtown Wilmington, some people gathered at the Hannah Block Historic USO and Cultural Arts Building to celebrate the 4th of July on Thursday.

The Cape Fear Swing Dance Society demonstrated a variety of 1940’s era dances at the USO club.

Members of the society primarily demonstrated the lindy hop, a type of swing dance popular at the time.

Kelly Kenoyer is the chair of the society.

She said events like this help to showcase different types of dances from that period.

“It’s a type of swing dance, sometimes it’s called east coast when you’re doing what we call six-count,” Kenoyer said. “We also do things like the Charleston, especially 1940s Charleston, which is different from 1920s Charleston. There’s a lot of different types of steps that we do in lindy hop, which is what makes it so dynamic and why so many of us think its fun.”

The Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center is one of three Type A USO buildings still standing and serves as a major cultural resource in downtown Wilmington.