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Swing dance classes
If you want to learn how to dance swing you can contact me, I also sometmes teach swing dance classes. Info about when and where I teach could be found at: SWINGCLASSES site.
Swing pics:
Swing dance
Like swing music the dance also comes in many different forms, that evolved in different parts of the world at different time eras. Today the most popular swing dance is lindy hop. The older dancers like Frankie Manning, that were dancing in the golden era of lindy hop passed their knowledge to younger dancers when the swing revival began in the late 1990s. Balboa is the name of the dance that is also very popular.
But there are many other dances that were widely danced in the past and are still with us today. Such dances are collegiate shag and charleston. Popular dances on the swing scene are also east coast swing and west coast swing, but there are many more that are still not forgotten. Luckily there are still some swing dancers who dance them and are keeping them alive for next generations.
Bellow I have described some of the swing dance styles and their history in brief.
Short history and swing dance styles
The beginning of swing dancing
The first type of dancing, that were different than any other dance known before emerged in the United States around the beginning of the Twentieth century, some even earlier. Most of the new dances of the time had funny names like Turkey Trot, Bunny Hug, Grizzly Bear, Kangaroo Dip, Chicken Scratch, Apache and Texas Tommy. Some historians believe that Apache and Texas tommy are the first dance styles, that could be called swing dances. The reason for that is the new move called the ''break away''. With this revolutionary move dancers went from closed to open position. The music artists of the time were seeking inspiration in these dances and named their song titles after them or even described them in their lyrics. The history of the dancing at this early years is not very well known, but from them evolved other more sofisticated styles of swing dancing.
The Twenties and the Charleston
It was the time of the roaring Twenties and the dance called the Charleston was really popular. Dancers would dance the charleston alone or together. At the time it was considered somewdat immoral and provocative. This is probably the main reason, apart from the fact that it is very amuzing dance full of energy, that it gained such a big level of popularity. Another popular dance of the time was also a dance called the black bottom. This dance too, like charleston, can be danced solo. From these dances a new form of dancing called the Lindy hop evolved in the late Twenties, which in time replaced them on the dance floor. Well, people in the twenties danced to the blues music too, but this style never really spread out of the afro american population and thus never reached the popularity of some other dances. In the last years however younger dancers discovered this type of dancing too and dancing to bluer, rhythm and blues and jazz music is alive again.
Collegiate Shag
Collegiate shag was popular in the 1930s. The main purpose of the dance was probably to dance wild and free, which was the opposite of some other more smooth dances like waltz, that the older generations danced to. It was rebellious in a way. Some sources state that this dance got its name after young college students, that really liked dancing it. While the dance could be wild, it could also be danced more smoothly. It is a 6-cout dance and has many similarities to East coast swing. However, it is unfortunately popular with just some modern swing dancers today.
Lindy Hop
Dancers started dancing Lindy hop in the late twenties, but it reached its big popularity in the Thirties and Forties. The dance includes footwork borrowed from the dances like Charleston and Tap. It could be danced elegantly to slower music or faster to faster music. The dance itself consists of both 8 and 6 count steps. In the time lindy hop was also known under the name Jitterbug, but later, when lindy was losing its popularity the name changed the owner and was related to the East coast swing. Lindy hop walked hand in hand with the swing jazz music, that is the reason thar in the fifties it was replaced with other dance styles, when the music changed. In the swing revival era however, younger dancers started dancing it again and spreading it around the world. This is the reason that now people are dancing it in many countries around the globe.
Balboa and Bal-swing
The dance that is different from all others in the way it is danced is called the Balboa. It is danced in closed position, dancers are in fact romantically hugging each other when dancing. Like some other dances it can be danced to slower or faster music, but faster tempos give the dance a true feeling. The dance has two main forms, it could be danced exlusively in closed position (Balboa) or the balboa steps and sometimes styles can be integrated into "swing" dancing (Bal swing). Today, bal swing is quite popular with the swing dance community all over the world.
East coast swing in West coast swing
In the forties a new style of dancing was created and it was called the East coast swing. This is a 6-count dance that evolved from Lindy hop and other swing dances. East coast and Lindy hop do share a lot of similarities, espacially the moves and turns, but the body posture is quite different, as the dance is quite simple to dance and to learn. It was very popular in the Fifties when some people simply named it Rock&roll dance, since it was danced to that music, while it was also known under the names "jitterbug" or just simply "Swing". Nowadays it isn't as popular as it once was, but is still being danced today. West coast swing also evolved out of lindy hop but it developed somewhat differently. It is still popular in the swing and country scene today.
Other swing dances
With the evolution of swing music (Jazz, Swing, Bop, Rock 'n' Roll, Rhythm in Blues, Disco, Country) many different forms of swing dancing evolved from dances like Lindy Hop, East coast and West coast. Some of this dances are Houston push, Dallas whip, Carolina shag, Imperial Swing, St. Louis shag, Cajun swing...
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