BLUES & LINDY IN THE PANHANDLE: 7:30 p.m. at CityArts Cooperative, 318 Luvern Ave., Panama City. $5 fee. Details: CityArtsCooperative.com.

PANAMA CITY

If you're looking to cut a rug on a Friday night, swing on down to CityArts Cooperative and kick up your heels with the guys and dolls of Blues and Lindy in the Panhandle. "We try to keep the material relatively fresh on the one hand because we do have a lot of people who come week after week," dance teacher Andrew Bouchard said. "We also try to keep it beginner-friendly so people who walk in and have never seen this before aren't completely overwhelmed and can at least somewhat follow along."

Blues and Lindy in the Panhandle meets at 7:30 p.m. every Friday at CityArts, 318 Luverne Ave. Newbies can learn the basics of Lindy hop, swing and blues dancing. Cost is $5 cover, with a free beginner lesson, followed by hours of social dancing and fun. No experience or partner is needed. No outside shoes are allowed on dance floor, so bring dance shoes or socks. Bouchard, with Sera Russell, teaches the beginners' class at the start of each week's session. He said Lindy hop grew out of the Charleston and is traced back to Harlem in the 1920s and '30s.

"Legend has it that a guy named Shorty George was doing the Charleston, and back then you did the Charleston with two hands, facing your partner so that you had control of one another," Bouchard said. "All of a sudden, he dropped the one arm and everybody goes 'Ohhhhh!' It was a big deal: That was not how you danced the Charleston. Essentially, by dropping that hand, he opened up a whole new way of dancing that allowed different kinds of movements, different kinds of variations -- and that's what became the Lindy hop."

"It's still innovative, it's still amazing, and it's so open to interpretation," Russell said. "As long as you just keep your frame and keep up with your partner, it just pops."

The Panama City BLIP includes about 10 to 15 "core members," according to group member Candace Pate, but they hope to grow as more people become aware of their gatherings.

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