West Coast Swing

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West Coast Swing (WCS) is a partner dance derived from Lindy Hop. It is characterised by a distinctive elastic look that results from its basic extension-compression technique of partner connection, and is danced primarily in a slotted area on the dance floor. Within the spectrum of partner dances, WCS is one of the most improvisational.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

It is believed that the origins of the WCS are in Lindy Hop. Sources state that Dean Collins was influential in developing the style of swing danced on the the West Coast. Collins arrived in the Los Angeles around 1937.

In a 1947 book, Arthur Murray recognized that, "There are hundreds of regional dances of the Jitterbug type. Each section of the country seems to have a variation of its own." [1] One of Murray's dance instructors, Lauré Haile, documented swing dancing as done in the Los Angeles area. She named it "Western Swing". In 1951 she first published her dance notes as a syllabus, which included Western Swing for the Santa Monica Arthur Murray Dance Studio.[2] This dance was also called "Sophisticated Swing" in the 1950s. [3]

Western swing, country boogie, and, with a smaller audience, jump blues were popular on the West Coast throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s when they were renamed and marketed as rock 'n' roll in 1954.

"West Coast Swing" as the name of the dance in its current form was first used in an advertisement by Skippy Blair in 1962, but wasn't incorporated into mainstream swing circles until the late 1960's. [4]

[edit] Slot

WCS is a slotted dance: the follower travels back and forth along a shoulder width rectangle, called the slot, with respect to the leader. The leader is more stationary but will move in and out of the slot depending on the pattern lead. A general rule is that the leader leaves the slot only to give way for the follower to pass him.

Myths regarding the origin of the slotted style include that it was an invention of Hollywood film makers who wanted “dancers to stay in the same plane, to avoid going in and out of focus”. Wide angle lenses with adequate depth of field for cinematography had in fact been available since the 1920s. [5] A variation on the "Hollywood film maker" theme is that film makers wanted "to avoid filming the backs" of dancers. A viewing of films featuring the work of Dean Collins in the 1940s, and rock 'n' roll films made in the mid 1950s reveals the fact that dancers turn frequently and inevitably turn their backs to the camera.[2] [3]

One argument is that the slotted style developed as a response to crowded dance floors. Dances such as the Balboa, which developed a mere 46 miles from Los Angeles, and Argentine Tango, however, have very close contact which indicate that crowded conditions elicit a response to merely move closer together, and take smaller steps, rather than limit movement to one direction. The 1956 film "Rock Rock Rock" clearly shows swing dancers moving in all directions in crowded conditions.

[edit] Music

The origins of the dance that became known as West Coast Swing can be traced to the Swing Era. During this period many jazz, blues, and western musicians incorporated, or emphasized, the “swing” in their music. By the later half of the 1950s the early styles of rock 'n' roll had become the most popular music for dancing, and West Coast Swing like moves can be seen in rock n roll films made in that era.[4] The strong rhythmic groove of funk, and soul provided the most popular dance music from the mid 60s into the 70s, a period not know for partner dances such as swing. In the mid 70s disco music and dancing repopularized "touch" partner dancing. By the 1990s country western dancers were dancing West Coast Swing to contemporary country western songs. West Coast Swing is now one of many dances done at country western venues. In practice, West Coast Swing may be danced to almost any music in 4/4 time, and music of many different styles may be found in an evening of West Coast Swing dancing.

[edit] Styles

The two main styles of West Coast are "Classic W.C. Swing (pulsing down) and "Funky or Contemporary W.C. Swing" (pulsing up) with the basic steps being exactly the same. Dancing to Different types of music gives a different feel and look. [6]

[edit] Classic WCS

The style of WCS that matches the "classic" WCS music featured by swung eighths. In this style the "split-beat" steps are typically counted as: "1 a2"; "3 a4"; "a3 4"; etc. Here "a" denotes the intermediate beat "swung" away from the strict middle position and splitting the beat approximately 2:1. For the comparison, the "a" in "1a2" of Samba rhythm splits the quarter note 3:1, i.e., it "splits off" a 1/16, so it is "straight" in the sense of binary note duration nomenclature.

[edit] Funky WCS

A more contemporary style of WCS that matches American pop music, which has square rhythms. In this style the "split-beat" steps may well be counted in strict time: "1&2"; "3&4"; "5&6"; etc., to match the music.

The Classic WCS elements of standard step patterns were modified or replaced. For example, the anchor step, the cornerstone of the classic WCS, is often replaced by hook-replace-side triple-step. This was a short lived replacement, however, as it was realized that this terminal step destroyed any semblance of connection that a proper anchor step provided. Better staying power was afforded body motions such as ripples and pops, which some professional dancers have incorporated as a permanent part of their styling.

The "Funky WCS" classification in recent years has fallen by the wayside with the communal realization that WCS done to contemporary music is no different from WCS done to straight up blues. With the exception of footwork, funky and classic styling may be performed to any genre of music.


[edit] Beginning dancers

Beginning dancers generally focus on simple moves as they gain understanding of the dance. There are plenty of beginning WCS lessons available in any city. Often there are lessons before dances, but due to the difficulty of the dance prospective students may want to take longer classes (5-10 weeks). They may also want to try different teachers, to find what teaching and dance style best suits them.

Typical beginners must concentrate much on being where they are supposed to be--including their feet or hands. Unfortunately, many teachers neglect to teach their students the importance of leading and following.

The next step, ironically, is to re-learn all that you know. Moves are to be led and followed, which is typically not what a beginner has been doing. Once one is comfortable dancing the basic patterns, it is time to learn to lead/follow them. This is the time when most people want to learn more complicated moves, and they often put off learning to lead/follow in order to do that. At some point it will become clear that all moves are just recombinations of the fundamentals or cribbed from some other dance.

The beginner is encouraged to attend a nearby regular dance that caters to West Coast Swing dancers to be exposed to a wide range of lead and follow styles. For most urban areas in the United States, a WCS dance club may be a good place to start. For those beginners who want to witness a better mix of leaders/followers, attending a regional or even national WCS dance convention is the next step. This last is often expensive in time and money.

[edit] Moves

Unlike many other dances, WCS does not have a single basic step. The footwork however remains the same for all beginners and consists of:

  • Lead: 1 step back with the left foot, 2 step back with right foot, 3&4 triple step and step forward with the left foot, 5&6 triple step.
  • Follow: Same steps, opposite feet and opposite direction.

A few basic moves that any WCS dancer should know are listed below, and performed with the same step-step-triple-triple pattern.

[edit] Open position

  • Underarm pass: A six count basic where the follower is led to the other end of the slot, passing the leader underarm on the right.
  • Left side where the follower is led to the other end of the slot, the couple passing the on their right.
  • Sugar push: A six count basic where the follower, facing the leader, is led from the end of the slot to a one or two hand hold, then led back to the same end of the slot.
  • Tuck turn: This is like a sugar push in 6 counts, but the lead raises the left arm signaling the follower to turn under the leader's arm (an outside turn).

[edit] Closed position

  • Return to close: In six counts, the follower is led 3/4 of the way around the leader into closed position.
  • Starter step: Two triple steps in closed position to begin the dance, so that the leader and follower can get in sync with each other.
  • Throw out: A six count basic where the follower is led from the closed position to open. Leads: Triple-step left, triple-step right, step forward with left and follow starts to move forward as well, push from frame of follow out down to the end of the slot.

[edit] Whips

Whips are the backbone of WCS that lead into more advanced stylings.

  • Whip: This 8 count basic resembles lindy hop. The follower starts at one end of the slot and is led around the lead, to the same end of the slot she started. The WCS Whip is similar to the Whip of Hollywood-style Lindy Hop. The follower stays in her slot, pivoting, then coming back to where she started. The leader steps in and out of the slot, creating smooth, elastic look.

[edit] Style

Beginning dancers should focus on keeping smooth footwork while doing patterns to the beat of the music.

[edit] Advanced dancers

Advanced dancers will break the rules and won't remember what patterns they've just done. Rather than lead or follow pattern after pattern, both leaders and followers shorten or extend counts, play with the music, and express themselves with the dance.

[edit] Advanced moves

Advanced West Coast Swing moves are merely variations of the basic moves done by using two hands connected, changing hands, and utilizing stops and reversal.

Some specially named advanced moves are:

  • Sugar tuck: Like a sugar push, but ends with a 2 count underarm turn.
  • Cement mixer
  • Basket whip: Two hands together to start, lead performs an inside turn with the left arm to the 'Sweetheart' position facing the same direction as the follow, then pulls the follow backwards to her original position pulling the left arm over the follow's head to unwind them.
  • Man around the woman
  • Woman around the man
  • Reverse whip
  • Reverse close
  • Chicken Walks aka: Lindy swivels

[edit] Example dance

  1. Sugar push, taking both hands.
  2. Tuck turn in place.
  3. Underarm turn with hand change.
  4. Underarm turn, taking both hands.
  5. Double underarm turn with both hands.
  6. Underarm turn, catch in whip.
  7. Repeat.

[edit] Style

Advanced dancers syncopate their footwork to match the music and turn their bodies to interesting angles to flow more gracefully.

Footwork variations include kick ball changes, sailor shuffles, flea hops, slides and applejacks.

Those advanced dancers who want to add more spice to their dancing may learn leverage moves that put one or both partners in extension. Some examples are leans, dips and splits. Contrary to what the casual observer might see, most dancers will keep their balance while performing such moves and will rely on their partners sparingly to keep them from falling over.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "How to become a Good Dancer" by Arthur Murray 1947 revised edition
  2. ^ “Buck Privates”(1941), “Ride ‘em Cowboy”(1942),"Four Jills in a Jeep"(1944),"The Horn Blows at Midnight"(1945)
  3. ^ "Rock Around the Clock"(1956), "Rock, Rock, Rock" (1956), "Shake, Rattle & Rock!" (1956), "The Girl Can't Help It"(1956),"Rock Baby, Rock It" (1957), "Untamed Youth" (1957), “Go, Johnny, Go!”(1959)
  4. ^ "Don't Knock the Rock" (1956), "Rock Around the Clock" (1956), "Rock, Rock, Rock" (1956), "Rumble on the Docks" (1956), "Shake, Rattle & Rock!" (1956), "The Girl Can't Help It"(1956),"Rock Baby, Rock It" (1957), "Untamed Youth" (1957), “Go, Johnny, Go!”(1959)

[edit] External links

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