The most scandalous dance of the 1940s is staging a comeback. Students, beware: It’s energetic, fun, vigorous ­— and quite possibly recession-immune.

Swing Kids at UW, a registered student organization originally founded in 1997 and revived in 2003 after a brief hiatus, is a swing dance club that appeals to those who shun modern dancing or want to jitterbug back in time to a classier era.

“I’ve heard people describe it as being the opposite from when it started,” said club technical officer Elizabeth Korsmo. “Now, it’s all the people who want to go back to the ’40s.”

Swing Kids offers lessons for all skill levels and hosts “hep” (an old-time term for “cool”) movie nights, quarterly dances and weekly jams in Red Square — even amid torrential downpours.

Freshman Caitlin Bannan joined the group at Dawg Daze, pleased by its welcoming social atmosphere.

“I was looking into a lot of dance clubs,” Bannan said. “Swing Kids was really into having new people.”

Lessons are free for beginners and cover the basics of East Coast swing, Charleston and Lindy Hop in five-week cycles.

The lessons are taught by Swing Kids members and dance instructors who are active in the local community.

“It’s going to be hard at first, but once you’ve mastered the basics, it becomes really fun and really easy,” said Meranda Tuttle, Swing Kids president.

After five weeks of beginner lessons, students are eligible to become members of the club, which requires quarterly dues of $15. Member lessons take place at the same time as beginner lessons, though the curriculum is more advanced.

“You expand on the basics and get to learn cool tricks,” Tuttle said. “They try to help you improve your musicality.”

Members acknowledged that social swing dancing is often daunting for beginners.

“I’m a very shy person,” Korsmo said, “so the hardest thing is to go out dancing and ask people to dance.”

Once those heebie-jeebies disappear, dancing becomes a lot more enjoyable.

“A lot of people are self-conscious because when they start, they aren’t that good,” said Swing Kids member Max McCall, who has been dancing since February 2007. “Once you stop worrying about how you look, you become much better.”

Unlike a lot of modern dancing, etiquette is crucial. Korsmo explained the most important, though unwritten, rule of swing dancing: Treat people with respect. It’s considered rude to turn someone down for a dance, then dance the song with someone else. While saying “no” is, of course, allowed, be polite and sit out the song before finding a new partner.

Another matter of consequence is personal hygiene, a lack of which is noticeable by your partner during even the shortest of songs.

“Know that you might need to change your shirt — be prepared for that,” Korsmo said.

Overall, the members emphasized that swing dancing is a great way to socialize and meet new people, especially while dancing face-to-face — another seemingly ancient phenomenon absent much of the time from today’s contemporary dance clubs.

“I really like meeting new dancers and having the social contact,” Bannan said. “There’s a lot more talking going on. I feel like it’s a lot harder to talk while grinding.”

Tuttle spoke about how swing dancing requires more talent than the dancing you might observe at a club or frat party.

“It involves more technique and style,” Tuttle said. “It’s a whole lot more fun to watch; the atmosphere is entirely different.”

Swing dancing is also a bargain, with most venues charging $5 for up to four hours of dancing.

That’s far less expensive than a night at clubs Fusion or Starbar — which can run up to $20 — or even a trip to the movies.

“During the recession, it’s a good deal,” Tuttle said.

The members of Swing Kids enjoy the camaraderie of the group, often getting together outside of dances to bake, study or just hang out.

“Especially when I joined Swing Kids, it was a very strong community in itself,” Korsmo said. “Like when you join a sorority, only a bit more fun because there are guys, too.”

If you want a chance to strut your moves with these cats, the spring dance, festively entitled the Bunny Hop Ball, is being held this Saturday in the HUB West Ballroom. A live band will be playing tunes, and a beginner lesson will be offered to fine-tune steps before the music starts.

Getting started truly is the toughest obstacle, but once you’re out on that dance floor, it isn’t likely you’ll be stopping anytime soon.

“At one point in time, I hated the Lindy basic,” Tuttle said, referring to a swing step that is difficult for beginners to master. “Now, I can’t think of life without it.”

Reach reporter Rachel Solomon at features@dailyuw.com.