East Coast and West Coast Swing Dancing
Swing Dance Lessons are offered in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa AZ by Gainey Dance Studio.
The swing dances are often requested by new ballroom dance students. Many people have seen swing in movies or have heard that there are many places to go swing dancing, some just like the music. However, many people know little about the origins of swing or the different styles of swing dancing.
History of Swing Dancing
The swing stems from the popular dances of the 1920's, 30's, and 40's, the lindy and the jitterbug. Like many other dances, the lindy and the jitterbug came into existence in the hustle and bustle of New York City, specifically, Harlem. The combination of two factors, a ban on the dance "the Charleston” and the popularity of big band jazz music caused dancers to create a new version of the Charleston called the "Running Charleston” which eventually evolved into the lindy. The lindy or lindy hop also became known as the jitterbug after the moral guardians of the country referred to the young dancers as "jitterbugging youth.” Arthur Murray, one of the leading pioneers in the business of ballroom dancing at the time, took the jitterbug and gave structure to it, renaming it the swing. We still often hear the terms jitterbug or lindy hop today but more commonly we hear the terms "single time swing", "triple time swing", "east coast swing", or "west coast swing". Single time swing is the closest swing style to the jitterbug of the past, all though most social dancers do not perform the lifts or jumps that often characterizes the swing in movies like "Swingers."
While swing has had rise and falls of popularity in the media, it is consistently an extremely useful dance. One can dance at least one form of swing to many different genres of music, big band, rock n' roll, oldies, 80's, blues, country and even pop.
East Coast vs. West Coast Swing
EC swing and WC swing are very popular and despite their names, both are danced coast to coast. East coast swing, otherwise referred to triple time swing, is faster than its west coast cousin and is part of the professional five dances in the ballroom dance category American Rhythm. The basic step consists of two chasse steps and a rock step and is either counted as a six or eight count. The technique calls for a swing of the hips from side to side in a pendulum like motion, while having a certain amount of spring in the knee and ball of the foot.
West coast swing follows the same six or eight count as east coast and has some similar turns and patterns, often allowing the competitive or advanced dancer to intermix the two. However, the basic and west coast technique is a bit different. While east coast travels side to side and rotates, west coast stays in a "track" or a "slot", traveling down a line, with the man traveling backwards while connecting to the lady with one hand. When danced slowly west coast swing is an elastic, slinky, sometimes even sexy dance, most often danced to slow blues or jazz music. There are west coast dancers who would claim that west coast can be danced to any song at any speed and because the west coast is often danced more socially than competitively in the ballroom world, it tends to be less regulated and more often than not, open to interpretation.
What is the Jive?
Most people have heard of the term jive or "jivin'. Coined as jazz slang in the 20's and 30's, the jive today has become more than a slang term, the jive has become its own dance under the International Latin Category. Jive has the same basic as east coast swing ( aka. triple time swing) but danced at a much higher speed and as such has a different technique. Because of the fast speed of the music, there is no time to swing the hips from side to the side. Instead the hips and legs remain under the body, while the the knees are raised up on every step. Competitive jive is most often recognized by a series of fast kicks.
Learning to Dance Swing
Many people are partial to one dance style versus another but all styles of swing are usaful in today's social dance scene. It is important to not limit yourself to one style, as you will not only learn to be adaptable in your body but also to the dance floor. At Gainey Dance we recommend that you start with single time swing, as it is the most simple version of swing, and then later on move on to east coast, west coast, or both!
Places to Dance Swing in Scottsdale and Phoenix, AZ
Rhythm Room: East Coast, West Coast, and single time swing. Jazz and Blues music played. (602)265-4842 1019 E. Indian School Road Phoenix, Arizona 85014
VFW Hall: West Coast Only. Variety of music played. Greater Phoenix Swing Dance Club VFW Post 720. 4853 E. Thomas Road, Phoenix (602)-952-9646
Graham Central Station: West Coast and East Coast Swing. Variety of music. 7850 South Priest Drive
Tempe, AZ 85284 (480) 496-4336
