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Collected from rec.arts.dance, and from a 1993 newsletter by
Bob Thomas, a dance teacher in Boston.
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A style of Shag with a 6 count flavor. This can been seen in an old Arthur Murray video that occasionally shows up when somebody like Ernie Smith shows his old film clips. This is done in Santa Barbara and Ventura. The steps described in the St. Louis Shag, which are indeed part of this dance, are also described as Shag variations in the East Coast Swing (ECS) part of Buddy Schwimmer's book on Swing dancing.
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Very fast, 8-count, partners basically glued together, all footwork. The Balboa was created in, and named for, the Balboa Park Club, an enormous wood-frame building, home of the Naval Officer's Club in San Diego during WWII (Lowell Gosser, several-time WCS champion, *was* here in San Diego during the war, and backs up this story.). The floor is about 13,000 square feet. The Balboa has lots of fast footwork but not much whole-body movement, and was developed as an answer to the question, "what do you dance when the band plays Dixieland jazz?" (The Balboa uses a "shuffle" basic, with short foot movements and overall "look" optimized for really fast swing music, such as Dixieland.) It goes 1-2-3 kick. Skippy Blair says that the Balboa is *not* a swing dance since it has no 6 count patterns, only 4's and 8's --Skippy said that all swing dances have a 6 count basic pattern.
According to _SylviaSykes (who, along with _JonathanBixby, has made Santa Barbara the Balboa capitol of the world), the Balboa really isn't a style of swing at all. It is danced almost exclusively in closed dance position and most closely resembles a dance the natives of 1930's Chicago called the "Shag". The Balboa has an eight count basic but the rhythm pattern isn't like traditional single swing's "slow, slow, quick, quick". "It looks like cartoon dancing, close together, with lots of footwork, although the feet hardly leave the floor. The upper body remains still and the dance doesn't travel much around the room. You could dance to very fast music - 190 to 250 beats per minute! while being dressed up. At one time it was popular up and down the west coast, from Seattle to southern California."
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Version of Lindy Hop done in the 50's
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Swedish bug, the number one dance in Sweden, originates from the Lindy Hop, but has developed into a new dance. It resembles the Lindy, the fellow lets the lady perform different turns. The starting position is about the same. In contrast to the Lindy, Swedish bug is an upright dance, no swinging dance, and forget the twisting! Also, the basic steps are simpler, instead of having kicks, triples etc. you mostly just walk on every beat. A special form of Swedish bug is the double bug, invented during the early eighties, when there were lots of ladies dancing, and not as many guys. Here the fellow dances with two ladies simultaneously.
see also Double Bug
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6-count, slotted, mostly footwork and a few simple turns. Traditionally the man showing off and the woman doing basics, but there are mirrored patterns (often unleadable so verbally cued) and nowadays women are allowed to shine too. Very laid back, 120bpm shuffle music (beach music). Carolina Shag is a spot dance, with the man doing most of the fancy moves and the woman either mirroring what he is doing or marking time. There is very little motion (if any) in the upper body. Most of the motion is in the footwork (which can get *very* fancy!). Its style developed from being danced in crowded tiny dance floors commonly found in bars. It is a street dance, but it does have it's own competitions, is taught in a bunch of studios in the South East U.S. and at least one Arthur Murray near Myrtle Beach S.C. There are a number of videos available also. Note that the Carolina shag basic is 6 counts and if you watch carefully (it took me a while) you can see a sort of 'restricted' East Coast Swing basic. Rather than go left and right as in EC, in Shag the partners go forward and back with respect to one another. If you like Shag and want to meet some like minded individuals, every year there are two gatherings in Myrtle Beach (one in April, one in September) and one gathering in Memphis. Each gathering consists of about 10,000 people from all over, who just want to dance. (There is a video tape, The Best of Charlie and Jackie, that has competition performances of CharlieWomble and JackieMcGee. Incredible stuff, and interesting to see how their style evolved over the last ten years.)
It is largely a Southeastern dance. The style is based upon foot movement, with arm motion being largely disguised. Most of the action is done by the male, although that is changing. The music is similar to, but slightly faster than West Coast Swing music. It was created to be easy to do on the beach with a beer in one hand and "a lady" in the other.
Carolina Shag is far more akin to West Coast Swing (WCS) than to these other Shag's. It is generally a slotted dance done to beach music and old R&B. The tempo is usually more like a slow to medium speed WCS tempo. The look is relaxed, as if you're too cool to admit you're having a great time. It moved in a slot but the in and out motion differs from West Coast Swing and you never have the "hanging back" look that WCS dancers have. It offers fancy footwork, historically more by the male, and occasional revolving patterns such as the Pivot, which can be used to establish a new slot on a croded club floor.
In Atlanta the Carolina Shag dominates the swing dance scene. According to Ace Asip of the North Atlanta Beach Club, Atlantans used to do mostly beach bop. Now they mostly do the Carolina Shag. As Ace mentioned, Carolina Shag originated in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It is a smooth dance done to medium and slow music. The upper body and hips hardly move as the legs do convoluted kicks and fancy footwork. The man is the center of attention (sometimes lending the appellate "peacock dancing" to the Shag) and the woman's steps are either mirror steps of the man's or a sort of marking time while he does spins and other wildness. Traditionally the music was rhythm and blues, mostly from the 1950's. But some Shag dancers have branched out into music from the 1960's to the present.
Shag has the same basic as ECS, except back/forward instead of sideways. And I think they start with the rockstep.
The Carolina Shag group is wrestling with the influences of WCS on their dance. Charlie and Jackie have started a trend of a much more "balanced" dance than traditional Shag. Like any community, there is a split between those who want to preserve the traditional look and feel of an artform, and those who are attempting to evolve the artform. I'm not quite sure myself how whip/push-style wraps would change the fantastic way the leaders in Shag can move.
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Country & Western variants of both East Coast Swing and West Coast Swing are very energetic, have little or no footwork, but extremely intricate turns and wraps. (Watch Club Dance on TNN cable) Country East Coast Swing is typically a triple step, with some social single steps. Seldom seen as double. Lots of high speed wraps. If you have the opportunity, try to see BarryDurrand and Dawn Blorstad dance. They are nationally recognized experts in country competition.
Recently my husband and I had our swing teacher (of the straight swing community) choreograph us a west coast routine to do in country western competition. We did not request or desire any particular country western styling (since we knew there was none). After doing this routine twice so far in competition, when we receive our judging score sheets, there is a part that asks of each judge to rate each routine: "country western styling?" (Meaning does the routine fit in with country dancing, as opposed to ballroomy looking dancing or whatever.) Well, all eight judges always put "yes" for our swing routine, thus indicating that it conforms with the styling they want. So, apparently country-western judges see no differences between "country" and "straight-swing" dancing. It should be one
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DC Hand Dancing? You could think of it as West Coast Swing except that there are no 8-count moves and the woman does not move in a slot. Instead she moves in a counterclockwise circle (a circular slot?) around the man who scarcely travels from the spot where he starts. Normally he does his footwork in one place slowly turning to stay facing the woman as she circles around him. Actually, the woman does sometimes move in a normal slot because a West Coast Swing Push Break is one of the basic steps. You do a lot of pushes. To move from doing pushes to a closed position, you do a figure that starts off like a whip right - after walk walk (1,2) the woman has made a half turn right and the man has his right arm on her back - but then on counts 4-6 she moves back to the end of the slot from where she started the figure, turning 1/2 left with the man following - an exception to his not travelling - to maintain the closed position. From there the woman could start circling left, doing a tuck or just about any pass left figure from West Coast Swing. Going around in a circle most of these figures can end in closed or open position with just slight adjustments.
Ok, that's what I got from the workshop taught by Bonnie Richardson, who teaches from her house in a Maryland suburbs of Washington. When I look at a tape of a demo given at the Virginia State Swing Championships in 1992, by Mike Ramey, I don't see much of this circling. Instead I see many variations of the push with a few pass-rights and a lot of smooth footwork that reminds me of Carolina Shag. Mike Ramey teaches at Teddy's, in the Ramada Inn in Fallls Church, Virginia Wednesday nights from 7:30 to 8:30.
D.C. Hand Dancing is a variant of WCS. While it maintains the basic 6 & 8 count patterns of WCS, it allows the man to break the slot and reestablish it in another direction to provide flexibility on a crouded dance floor. Also, it is a man's dance, in that the man is the one who does most of the playing vs the woman. The dance can be done anywhere WCS is done because it uses basically the same music (Blues/R&B).
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Double Bug is no more a Bug dances with two ladies. In 1987 the dance developed from Bug with two ladies to a small formation dance. One is allowed to dance Lindy Hop, Boogie Woogie, Rock'n Roll , Bug or similar dances. As our rules are written I must say that every dance you listed from the Arthur Murray Shag to the Whip is allowed. In finals you dance to your own music, often mixed from different songs, with a flashing intro. The final dances are choreographed into every little detail in the music. Achrobatics, or if you prefer air-steps, is allowed for adults. You are allowed to use dances like jazz ballet, characteristic folk dances and so on if you do in small parts. We are having Swedish championships in Double Bug since 1987, although the dance have been into competition since 1975, and during 1996 the dance will be introduced to World Rock'n Roll Confederation. As a former swedish champion of 1987 and 1988 I am pleased to see the developing from Bug with two ladies to a highly performing show-dance.
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A descendant of Lindy Hop -> Jitterbug -> Swing. A combination of 6 and 8 count rhythms. Can be done SSQQ like jitterbug, or triple step, 1-a-2, 3-a-4, 5, 6 (or 1, 2, 3-a-4, 5-a-6). The jitterbug style is usually done to fast music; the ballroom version uses triple step rhythm and hip action to use up time in slower music.
Eastern swing is a spot dance (more or less) with lots of turning, which can take up an arbitrary amount of space. In ballroom competitions, it is danced to music at 32-40 measures per minute. Most American swing dancers begin figures with the first triple (or "chasse") step, although some begin with the rock step -- as do dancers of Jive, the international style version of eastern swing. The character of the dance often is fairly excited and rarely rock step -- as do dancers of Jive, the international style version of eastern swing. The character of the dance often is fairly excited and rarely is sexual.
East Coast Swing is kind of a subset of Lindy. East Coast is about 90% 6-count figures and Lindy is about 35% 6-count figures (the rest in both cases being 8-count figures).is kind of a subset of Lindy. East Coast is about 90% 6-count figures and Lindy is about 35% 6-count figures (the rest in both cases being 8-count figures). In ECS the rock back is more of an instantaneous weight change. The shoulders and the hips arrive together. The weight never settles towards the heel.
In ECS the triple steps are equal length steps: side- together-side. Swing music gives a dancer an 'Up' feeling. Swing (and Rock freestyle) dancers dance with a 'Up and Up' step. Latin (and Disco freestyle) is more into the floor, the steps are 'Down and Down'. Taught in studios as a social dance and as a competitive American style dance. Triple swing would be one of the basic dances taught to beginners at general ballroom dances. ECS revolves around a spot on the floor. Most ECS dancers also dance other ballroom dances. Virtually all patterns are 6 count. Danced to fast music (30-60). Double then Single swing is used as the music gets faster.
The basic is typically taught *non* rotating. Yes, ECS is typically a rotating dance, but basic moves are typically taught using a non- rotating basic. Usually, even after a few classes, most beginners start to have rotation in their dancing - without it specifically being stressed - simply because of the turns. Usually, however, their basic will not rotate - unless specifically encourage to do so by the instructor. It is perfectly acceptable to do an open position basic both rotating and non-rotating. As int/adv dancers you probably don't spend half the dance doing basics and you should be able to do them both ways and lead/follow moves either rotating or not. ECS doesn't look like Jive. Jive is very hoppy and bouncy, lots of arms and legs. ECS is smooth and flows from move to move. In New York, there has been a frustration among some of us that ECS, or what used to be called triple or double or single step Lindy, has been perceived as a "bouncy" dance. In fact to those of us who have worked with Teddy Kern or the Savoy Dancer George Lloyd the essence of good Lindy "social dancing" is smooth. The smoother the better. Well, in the Double Lindy the tap step can be flexed for a small bounce, but the body should remain smooth. There are certain performance styles in Savoy that are theatrical, These styles were developed by Frankie Manning and his Whitey Lindy Hopper associates for performance and SHOW ME competitions (jams). It's great stuff, but I've seen many new dancers try to imitate the look of these steps with not-so-smooth results. Unfortunately good smooth Lindy does not look too exciting and there is not the legion of great dancers out there, as there is in WCS, so exposure to smooth Lindy might be weak.
Jive is suppose to emphasize and thus rise on 2, 4 of 1-ah-2, 3-ah-4, rock-step and Swing does not emphasize the 2 & 4. In ECS one stays down till the rock step and "swings" the hips except during the rock- step.
From: Danceman@mail.utexas.edu (Richard Fowler) Subject: Re: ECS bouncy ??? Date: 20 Dec 1994 06:05:27 GMT
True American ECS has a vertical component, as does jive, but the ECS movement
is downward from standing, whereas the jive is a rise. This is why footwork
for jive is given as
What's different about West coast and East coast (Lindy) Swing? 1) Lindy
and Lindy Hop follow the primary lead of pattern with a travelling triple,
WCS expects a travelling double. Everybody counts it differently, but you
can look at it as:
(where the capital letter indicates a beat of music) 2) WCS is "slotted"
-- the follower tends to move in a linear path from one open position to
another with the leader moving "cross- slot" to get out of the follower's
way. The leader stays roughly fixed in his position. Lindy and Lindy Hop
are w/o slot rules and tend to involve non-linear motion of the follower
and interchange of the positions of the partners.
Most everything else is "tends to be" in nature; for example: WCS tends to
be danced to blues at a slower tempo than the blues or big band swing that
Lindy tends to be danced to. WCS tends to be danced more smoothly than Lindy
and tends not to use lifts and drops in social dance. WCS tends to use wraps
and break from the 6/8-beat basic patterns more than Lindy. Hot Lindy dancers
put a full turn into their whip in 8 beats, most WCS dancers at any level
tend to use only a half-turn (yeah, I know Wayne and John have their own
full-circle whips, but it is entirely different than a Dean Collins 8-beat
Lindy whip
West
Coast Swing to fast music, sort of a slotted
Lindy
Hop. Flying Lindy is a specialty style or pattern that can be used with
Lindy.
One of the first people to do the flying Lindy was Hal & Betty Takier
who danced in Los Angeles starting in the late 30's and appeared in the movie
''twice blessed''[1943].
Hal explained it as so: standing in one spot you start by skipping left[not
traveling]then skip right ,then double skip left[not letting your left foot
,which is up touch the ground],then start over going the other way. This
completes the 8 counts,right?here we go: skip,skip,double skip,skip ,skip,double
skip.
Now ,do this in the lindy circle with your partner.The motion should be from
the waist down and smooth,when doing the flying lindy it should be in a very
circular motion and not slotted.
Once this is mastered you can ad''kick ball-changes'' and improvise on this
basic.This is the same flying lindy used by many of the greats like:George
& Freddy Christopherson ,Dean Collins, and Joel Childress during the
40's and 50's.
I hope this helps anyone that wants to learn the authentic ''Flying Lindy''.
A swing-related dance native to St. Louis, Mo. is Imperial
Swing. So called because it was nurtured in the Imperial Dance Club on Florescent
Street in St. Louis, it is a variant of
East
Coast Swing with a six-count step which includes eight-count steps similar
to the
Lindy.
A fusion of
ECS/WCS,
Imperial Swingers say "we swing both ways".
Imperial Swing is danced to the same slow blues-flavored music as
West
Coast Swing and has the same sensual character but is not the same dance.
Much of Imperial Swing looks like triple
East
Coast Swing danced to slower music. Imperial is very smooth and level,
lacking the bounciness found in
Jive
and
ECS.
In New Orleans a
Lindy
variant called the ''Jamaica" is very popular. Barbara Horridge of the New
Orleans Jamaica Dance Club recounted how the dance became popular in the
1950's in the Jamaica Lounge on Magazine Street where the city's good dancers
tended to hang out. Alice Palmer of the west bank of the Mississippi (the
clubs are identified as west and east bank clubs--Barbara' s club is on the
east bank) says the Jamaica is an east coast circular-style dance which uses
Dallas
Push
tempo music. Jamaica dancers don't drink much. Which is to say that although
nightclubs have teachers teaching the Jamaica in the early evening hours,
once the bands begin to play most of the floor space is given over to tables.
There are perhaps 1500 people belonging to Jamaica dance clubs in the New
Orleans- Metararie area.
In the correct jive styling, your feet "hop/bounce" but your
head stays level. Most all of the vertical motion is in the feet only. In
Jive, the rock back is a latin press back. Touch down on the toe of the foot
and roll onto the heel. This gives the continuous motion that is typical
of latin. (Don't let all of your heel down on the rock back, you'll never
get it off of the ground in time for the next step.) Jive triple steps are
latin as well. In Jive the 3 step is small and the 4 step is larger. This
is synonymous with the 4&1 of cha-cha. Jive is
ECS
swing with Latin motion danced in a 'Up and Up' type feeling.
The Jive bounce is not necessary to dance fast. Anyone can dance
ECS
to Jive tempo and it doesn't bounce.
ECS
requires more push off of the non-moving foot to get the instantaneous weight
shift, but you get more time to do this.
Jive is limited to a narrow tempo range. Jive also has a syllabus, which
means you are limited in what you can do outside of the syllabus.
Jive dancers communicate what their feet are doing into the connection with
their partner. Their shoulders are moving up and down. If you dance
ECS
with a Jive dancer, you get a lot of noise from the connection.
The International style competitive swing dance. (One of 5 "Latin" dances,
but is not Latin.) A stylized version of
ECS.
Has a bouncy look vs a smooth look for
ECS.
Has a rigid syllabus with very specific requirements on directions, timing,
etc. Many of the syllabus patterns would not be done in
ECS.
In the US, Jive is almost exclusively danced as choreographed routines.
Jive has QaQ instead of Q&Q in
ECS,
so you can see here how
ECS
is smoothed out. However, at 44 mpm, QaQ is a concept not reality, and there
isn't really enough time for a full 3/4, 1/4, 1 time difference. Jive has
a "bouncy" or "hopping" look and feel. Actually, the feet bounce or hop but
the body is supposed to stay almost level. As mentioned, this is somewhat
a result of the speed, QaQ rhythm, and hip action. There are these kick steps
where you hop but keep your head perfectly level as if you were balancing
a book on your head. The effect is that your body appears to be floating
in the air as your feet move wildly. In contrast,
ECS
has a more grounded look.
ECS
is more of a revolving dance with a relatively smooth and constant rotation.
In contrast, Jive would be more "slotted" with specific straight directions
and direction changes. For example, the "Underarm Turn" in
ECS
is the same as "Change of Places LR" in Jive. In
ECS,
the man smoothly raises and lowers the arm, the lady rotates and revolves
continuously while the man revolves around the lady in a circular motion.
In Jive, the style is more like a hockey stick where the lady travels in
a mostly straight line, then turns mostly between counts 4 and 5 of 1 2 3&4
5&6 as the man brings down the arm. The 3&4 and 5&6 triples in
Jive are chasses (step-together-step) which travel mostly in a straight line,
whereas in
ECS
they would travel in an arc.
Jive is not as leadable as a social dance compared to
ECS.
There are arm leads where the hands are over the head or extended, e.g. in
Spanish Arms, and directions and amount of turn are often very important.
Hence, if you see social "Jive" in the US, it is most likely
ECS
patterns done with the QaQ bouncy style of Jive. In
ECS
the leads are at the center of the lady (e.g. as in an American Spin), in
closed dance position, or in a wrap. A tuck an turn is a common
ECS
and
WCS
pattern, which is kind of like an American spin combined with an outside
underarm turn. (In an American Spin, you compress on 3&4, spin on 5&6.
We use L to R hands, though.) Excessive bouncing and poor arm leads make
typical (beginning- intermediate) Jive dancers look silly and sloppy. Only
very beginning
ECS
dancers (who take huge rock steps) look dorkey since the dance is smoother
and precision is not as important. Of course, good Jive dancers look really
neat.
ECS
has lots of spins, and double spins are common at intermediate level dancing.
In an American spin both the man and lady spin (I double spin with a good
partner), whereas in Jive the man would be disqualified from a Bronze competition
if he did a spin since the syllabus doesn't allow it. Underarm turns can
have extra spins for the man and/or lady on 5&6. Note that a "spin" here
is not a Jive gold level "Simple Spin". It means you rotate once or twice
over your toe on a single spot.
The technique of Jive is fairly rigid, whereas in
ECS
it is more open to interpretation, and different styles are possible according
to the music. Jive is ususally danced to faster music, e.g. 44, vs a typically
slower range for
ECS,
e.g. 30-40, switching to double or single swing at faster tempos, e.g. up
to 60.
It bears no relation to the
Carolina
Shag done in the Southeast. Instead, it is a hyperspeed (240+) dance
done frequently in Southern CA, with a lot of kicks and not a lot of revolving
or movement in a slot. It has 8 counts.
a Shag variant danced on the coast of Virginia and
inland.
Texas variation of
West
Coast Swing. Has a double resistance rock step on the second triple.
Very distinctive look. Push is a swing dance originating in Texas around
the late 1940's to slow rhythm and blues music. Originally called the "Cat
Dance" because the cool cats were the guys doing this dance, it really differs
very little from
West
Coast Swing.
Texas's
Push
or
Whip
dancers who do many more patterns, intricate arm work, and many more spins
for the ladies than
WCS
dancers. Whenever Debbie Ramsey, an LA instructor and swing champion, is
in town she very pointedly makes a distinction between push, which emphasizes
arms, turning, and complex patterns, and
WCS,
which is built on a few basic steps and relies on an occasional pattern and
a lot of syncopated footwork for zip and style. She claims that the basic
style of
WCS
is much more "relaxed" than the other forms, and allows the follower more
freedom to be creative with syncopations and is thus more "active" for a
follower. Push is a slotted dance.
Push,
originating in the North Texas area, was named for the move performed in
the last two beats of the pattern. The gentlemen, with a two-hand lead, gives
resistance to the woman. The woman uses that resistance to perform a body
roll. The body roll varies widely between women. The double-resistance step
is done occassionally, just like any ending pattern. There is no "snap and
bounce"; the move is gentle and causes the woman's body to do a gently sway
or roll.
Texas dancers frequently perform lots of multiple spins. Men "prefer" to
lead most all footwork and so the break endings found in CA are not encouraged.
Many women in Texas are working towards changing this as we see this styling
and learn it on our trips to dance contests in CA. Dancers in Dallas dance
prefer to music in the 118- 130 beat range; Houston dancers like considerably
slower music. Two years ago, Mario held a get together for all the old-time
swing dancers in Dallas. He videotaped a discussion amongst them about the
history of the dance as it is done in Dallas. One of the participants said
that he first saw the dance returned from overseas in the service after the
World War II in 1945. At the ballroom in LA, folks were standing in a long
line facing their partners and everyone would do the basic whip step together.
He said he and others brought this pattern back to Dallas-whip in a slot-and
other moves were added. It was originally called the "cat dance" here because
only the cool cats did it. They said each guy had his own secret patterns.
No one would share their special moves. The dance wasn't taught anywhere
so everyone learned it on the floor.
Terry Rippa of the Dallas Push club describes the Push as a dance which uses
lots of turns and spins. ''lt is a smooth provocative dance," he says, most
often done to rhythm and blues music. Terry noted that the Push is a barroom
dance, not a ballroom dance. Most Push dancing in Dallas is done out at
nightclubs, rather than in private dance halls. Barry Durand, a country western
swing dancer, explained that the Dallas Push and the Houston Whip have a
double rock step on the end of the slot, rather than the syncopations common
to
WCS.
A version of swing done in Europe to rock and roll.
A street dance. The Germans standardized the basic for modern
Rock
And Roll dancing as it is being danced at the world championships. The
basic is composed of a kick ball change kick with the left foot (gents) and
a kick with the right foot. The ladies do a kick ball change kick (right),
kick (left). The ladies kick forward and the gents a little bit to the sides
in order not to hit the lady. The space between the partners should be big
enough to let the lady kick the last kick above horizontal without any discomfort
for her partner. The music to which this dance should be danced:
Rock
And Roll / boogie /swing music between 160 to 200 beats per minute.
A theater arts version of
Lindy,
with lots of aerials.
Here in England, the R&R as danced at R&R clubs is quite unlike the
standard German version. This "standard" is a very upright and bouncy dance.
It seems to be danced only for competitions. (I've only seen it on TV and
on the Continent). My dancing friends refer to it as "International Rock
and Roll". It's quite similar to ballroom jive in feel, but is full of aerial
stuff, as you say.
I've seen two main styles of R&R in R&R clubs (I've only danced in
southern England):-
1. The old rock 'n' rollers (1950's vintage) in the South West dance a basic
eight-beat pattern. This is never seen in dance schools (by me), so it's
not standardised. The notes here are just my understanding. It's quite a
tight dance, (good for crowded floors) with only a few simple moves. There
is no prescribed footwork, just body rhythm. The heart of the dance is in
keeping some spring in the arms (otherwise it feels awful).
Ladies keep upright, guys down a little (look a bit looser). This eight-beat
pattern is not related to those used in Lindy.
Note: The old timers have been dancing this way since the mid/late 1950's,
so I regard it as authentic.
2. Six-beat R&R. This tends to be done by younger dancers. I have seen
this taught in dance schools. It tends to be single-step, (step, step, rock-step)
as opposed to double or triple (chasse). I've seen this danced across southern
England.
I haven't yet explored the North, but I've seen the occasional Northerner
do somethings that seemed to take an ODD NUMBER of beats. This means hopping
onto the up-beat for a moment, which looks uncomfortable to me (between the
lady turning and returning). The general form of these dancers was more like
(1) than (2).
Regarding R&R music. The definition here is the stuff played from around
1955 to 1962 (Bill Haley, Elvis, Mr. Cochrane, Mr. Holly, Rick Nelson etc).
As the term "Rock and Roll" was invented in the USA in this era, it seems
strange that Americans use "R&R" to refer to just about any kind of ROCK
music. This has caused me several disappointments.
Either
Carolina
Shag or
St.
Louis Shag There's a third Shag; I call it the "Arthur Murray Shag" for
want of a better name (there's an old, 1936, film of him teaching it). It
is a 6- count version, basic step something like: step-hop-step-hop-run-run,
done more-or-less facing partner. There are, of course, lots of variations.
My suspicion is that this was a chief source of the 6- count
Lindy,
and that the original was mostly an 8-count dance developed out of the
Charleston. Ie, characteristic of the
Lindy
Hop was the syncopation (up-movement on count 1, instead of bending),
and the "away-together" break. Characteristic of the Shag was more hopping
steps, and 6 counts. In the early 30's, when the
Lindy,
Shag, (and others like Suzy Q, Truckin', etc) started to be picked up by
the white ballrooms, and being described by the White dance teachers, they
melded into a single dance, primarily 6-count, and strongly related to what
we now call the East Coast Swing.
The
triple
step is replaced by a single step. Needed for very fast music, and is
easy for beginners.
The St. Louis Shag, like the
Balboa,
is described as a non-swing dance. Also like the
Balboa,
the Shag is done to very fast music: 165 beats per minute and faster.
For contact info for Jerry and more on Supreme Swing, visit
his WWW page.
a
Shag
variant danced on the coast of Virginia and inland
According to Hutch the oldest type of swing.
Originally,
West
Coast Swing was called western swing. The name was changed to differentiate
it from country-western swing. Skippy Blair was alive at the time that
West
Coast Swing evolved, and, in fact, is the one who first called it "West
Coast Swing" (prior to that, it had been known as Western Swing and had been
"codified" by Arthur Murray).
At various points during Craig "Hutch" Hutchinson's workshops at the 94 edition
of Savoy Swings Again he reminisced about the history of
WCS.
Apparently he learned it in the '50s in Denver. Hutch credited Arthur Murray
with codifying the
WCS,
at that time called western swing, later renamed (I think he mentioned Skippy
Blair in this connection) to avoid confusion with country and western.
Hutch claimed that old movies (has anyone ever seen Dont knock the Rock'?
I don't think it's on video of LD) show in general the push, a pass and some
form of whip. He showed the difference between the whip it was done in the
'40s, and the more civilised Arthur Murray version. The original whip had
swivels on 12 for the woman, then a very fast whip around on 34 (I got the
impression that Lucy did something like an &3&4&, otherwise she
could never have travelled that far in 2 beats), square off on 56, and to
some rhythm break (sailor shuffle, for instance) on 78.
Hutch also showed the difference between the coaster step as taught by Arthur
Murray and the original coaster, which does has a back- together-forward,
but additionally it has a large forward-backward body sway on the forward,
which brings both partners to a stand still, instead of throwing the woman
forward. Western Swing is the accepted name for a particular type of country
(or rather, western) music, as practiced by Bob Wills, and groups like Asleep
at the Wheel.
Whip is like
WCS
except that it is done with longer inticate patterns with neck wraps and
such. Whip is a swing dance originating in Texas around the late 1940's to
slow rhythm and blues music. Originally called the "Cat Dance" because the
cool cats were the guys doing this dance, it really differs very little from
West
Coast Swing.
Whip dancers who do many more patterns, intricate arm work, and many more
spins for the ladies than
WCS
dancers.
Whenever Debbie Ramsey, an LA instructor and swing champion, is in town she
very pointedly makes a distinction between whip or push, which emphasizes
arms, turning, and complex patterns, and
West
Coast Swing, which is built on a few basic steps and relies on an occasional
pattern and a lot of syncopated footwork for zip and style. She claims that
the basic style of
WCS
is much more "relaxed" than the other forms, and allows the follower more
freedom to be creative with syncopations and is thus more "active" for a
follower. Whip is a slotted dance. The Whip, originating in the Houston area
and found in Austin and San Antonio, is named for the 8-beat Whip patterns
characteristic of many swing dances. Like
Push,
they too have a body roll step although it's performed with slightly different
footwork and body movement.
Houston Whip Mario Robau of the Houston Whip Club is a leading exponent of
the Whip, a slotted variant where the woman does a circular body undulation
at the end of the slot. Both the Whip and the
Push
are done to medium tempo rhythm and blues music, much the same as the
Carolina
Shag.
Debbie Ramsey explains that WCS does indeed have more "open" steps because
the emphasis is on a few basic patterns (sugar push, side passes, 8-count
basic) dressed up with improvised footwork and an occasional pattern. Texas
Push or Whip, OTOH, has very few basics, and moves from pattern to pattern
(wraps and closed-position stuff) as exemplified by Mario Robau. It is more
difficult to improvise footwork in this form, especially for followers, since
you have a lot less time (and room) to do your own thing. The leader is much
more in control.
Only on the fist four counts of a six count pattern are the Push\Whip and
WCS even similar. One has to understand the style and feel of Push\Whip to
understand that it is entirely different from the WCS. It was originally
created in the 40's to be danced to R&B music. To feel the whip it must
be danced to slow R&B first. You can take whip patterns and dance them
in WCS but the look and feel can never approach that of the Whip. The most
defining step is the hip bump on 5&6. I have seen WCS dancers attempt
this basic step and never get it right because they won't dance close enough
or try to bounce their own hip off of their partners. A Whip dancer will
brush and roll off the hip off their partner but never ram. The other major
difference is in the area of patterens. Most WCS dancers will dance only
in combinations of 6 and 8 count patterns. Whip dancers have no boundaries.
As long as the first and last two counts are on the correct beats and with
time to the music, it doesn't matter how many counts the pattern takes. Good
whip dancing is revered in the country of it's birth: The Republic of Texas.
the primary differences that we have noticed is that in Whip/Push there are
alot of wraps both neck and waist. If a woman can't spin she is at a grave
disadvantage since most of the patterns have at least one multiple spin (double
the most common but frequently back to back with perhaps a reverse inbetween).
If you dance with a Whip/Push leader who does not go to the larger competitions
and their workshops such as Dallas Dance there will be very few, if any,
syncopations led and the woman must pay close attention if she wishes to
do any on her own. If she does do a syncopation or alternative footwork she
absolutely must finish it and be ready to go on the next pattern. Body ripples
or rock-step, hitch step are sometimes subsituted for the 5 & 6 &
1 although this is becoming less common as WCS has more influence. The Texas
(Whip/Push) men sometimes complain when dancing with a woman who does WCS
that they won't follow a lead into a neck wrap or complain about the amount
of spins. While the women complain that after awhile the women get tired
of doing their more limited repetoire of "footwork" on the numberous side
passes that WCS leaders give them. But as more and more Whip/Push dancers
are getting exposed to WCS they are modifiying both what they lead and learning
more syncopations and other footwork.
Here is a write-up of my recent telephone conversation with Skippy Blair
regarding the origins of
West
Coast Swing. Skippy is a well- respected dance instructor who lives in
Southern California. She has been asked to write a history of
WCS,
which she would like to do since she's getting annoyed by so many strange
versions of
WCS
history being told by people who were born long after
WCS
developed. When I asked her where
WCS
started, she made it clear that it didn't just start in one place. Rather,
there are more like ten histories of
WCS
out there due to synchronicity, with different variations evolving in different
places. What follows is her personal experience with
WCS.
Back in the forties, "swing" was a word that described music, not a dance.
There were several dances that were done to swing music, like the
Jitterbug,
Lindy,
and New Yorker, but the dances weren't called "swing." As has been mentioned
in numerous posts, the dance floors were crowded, and couples doing Jitterbug
were taken up so much room (or causing so many injuries) that they were getting
thrown out of ballrooms. Therefore, a need arose for a dance that could be
done to swing music but that wouldn't take up so much room. Skippy's first
exposure to a slotted "swing" dance was in 1942 in Atlantic City. She
specifically mentioned a serviceman called "Red Rex" who was from California.
She said that every time that she started to rock back, he would pull her
forward. (My notes get a little sketchy here, and I can't remember what else
she said about Red Rex). She also mentioned a slotted type of "swing dance"
appeared in some movies of this era (other posts have alluded to this as
well). According to Skippy, the term "swing" first started to be applied
to dance in the 50's. Skippy worked for Arthur Murray who did the first
codification of a slotted swing dance, which was called "Western Swing."
In Western Swing, the woman walked forward on 5-6 instead of doing a rock
step. Skippy left Arthur Murray and opened her own studio in 1958 in Downey,
CA. At that time, Downey was a little more "rural" than it is today so when
she advertised her "Western Swing" class, she got "sh--kickers" showing up
expecting a different kind of dancing. Someone asked her why it was called
"Western Swing" if it wasn't a "western" dance and said "Why not call it
West Coast Swing?" This was in 1958, and, according to Skippy, she was the
first person to use the term West Coast Swing. The name "West Coast Swing"
started to spread in the '60's and eventually "Eastern Swing" became known
as "East Coast Swing" and "Western Swing" became known as
WCS.
(BTW, Skippy said that Fred Astaire studios still call
WCS
"Western Swing" and that Arthur Murray just calls it "Swing.")
West
Coast Swing is the official state dance of California.
There is no difference between a coaster step and a triple-step. Actually,
there really is no such thing as a coaster step.
My wife and I just took an Instructors/Judges/Competitors workshop from Skippy
Blair. She told us an interesting story on how the "coaster" term came about.
To make a long story short ...
Skippy was there when the "coaster" term was created. Her and some other
dancers were watching a friend
WCS.
The friend's triple step was so beautiful, it looked like she was just
"coasting". Hence, the term. Since a 'feeling' is hard to teach, many instructors
taught this 'feeling' with the
triple
step and called it a coaster-step. ie. The "coaster step" is just a
triple
step which looks really good!
[home][new][events][styles][technique][steps][literature][terms][music][videos][clubs][links]
Lindy Hop: Switch Switch Tri ple-Step Step Step Tri ple-Step Switch
Switch...
Lindy whip:Rock Step Tri ple-Step Step Step Tri ple-Step Rock Step
|
Lead
|
WCS whip: An chor-Step Step Step Tri ple-Step Step Step An chor-Step
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Flying Lindy
The ''Flying Lindy'' is just a Variation of the basic Lindy 8 count rhythm
and can acually be done in different ways.
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Imperial
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Jamaica
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Jive
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Kansas City Shag
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Le Roc (Ceroc)
Date: Mon, 05 Jun 1995 14:21:59 +1000
From: loki@staff.cs.su.oz.au (Lachlan Patrick)
Subject: Swing dance: CeRoc in Australia
To: aswin@cs.cornell.edu
Reply-To: loki@cs.su.oz.au
I read your entry about Le Roc (CeRoc) and would like to tell you
a little about CeRoc in Australia and New Zealand. Here we have quite
a few clubs growing in popularity doing CeRoc and each is developing
their own style. CeRoc doesn't sound like the (rather short) description
given in your guide.
The CeRoc we do here has footwork, jumps, drops, arm movements, and is
largely based on rock and roll and 'dirty dancing' moves.
I have a WWW site which just has some basic information about who to
contact here in Australia and some venue information. If you would like
to take a look, here is the URL:
http://www.cs.su.oz.au/~loki/ceroc/index.html
Regards,
Loki
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Prep Step
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Push
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Rock and Roll
Rock and Roll In England
by Eddie Spector (Bath,
England)
Basic: 1: Push. Lady twists c/w
2: Pull. Lady twists cc/w
3,4: Lady turns c/w
5,6: Lady turns cc/w
7,8: Rock step or twist.
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Shag
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Single Swing
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Stepping
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St. Louis Shag
5 R step weight finally comes down
6 L stomp the but do not place any wieght on it
7 L rock forward
8 R rock back
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Supreme
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Prep Step
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Texas Tommy
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Triple swing
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Western Swing
By Victor
Eijkhout
(eijkhout@math.ucla.edu)
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Whip
From: Ann
Detsch(ann_detsch@maillink.berkeley.edu)
Subject:
WCS
Origins/Skippy Blair
Followup-To: rec.arts.dance
Date: 7 Jul 1994 01:56:17 GMT
From: knopf@rtsg.mot.com (William A. Knopf Jr.)
Subject: Re: Coaster vs. Triple Step
Date: 7 Oct 94 19:03:26 GMT
Ellen C.(ellen@BRAKES.ELEKTA.COM)
writes:
> What is the difference in a coaster step and a triple step ? Is it
> that a triple goes side-together-side while a coaster goes
> back-together-forward ? If this is the sole difference, it doesn't
> seem to be particularly significant to me.
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