Swing music & swing dance question.

[John in Covina]

Hi All,

I actually have a series of questions for this thread.

One) Swing dance seems to be listed as East Coast and West Coast Swing dance,
What's the difference, other than origin.
Is one easier than the other?

Two) Often when I hear about swing dancing they also refer to another dance called the Lindy Hop, what's up with that one, is it really different than the other two or related?
Can you Lindy Hop to swing music?
Is there special Lindy Hop music?

3) If given a choice of first learning Lindy Hop or West Coast Swing is there an advantage of one over the other or is one easier to learn over the other?[huh]

4) Can anyone suggest good songs to practice to? Or favorite tunes for dancing.

 

[Paisley]

There are some dance threads in the Golden Era section that should answer your questions. Just look for "dance" in the title.

 

[dhermann1]

Western Swing is what they call the music of people like Bob Wills and Red Foley, great swing influenced cowboy music. Not to be confused with West Coast Swing, which is a dance style. West Coast Swing a sort of a slotted dance, somewhat similar (to my eyes) to Carolina Shag, and done to music that sounds more like R&B than classic 40's Swing Music.
Lindy Hop is one of several nuanced variations of the classic Swing Dance. Some call it Jitterbug. East Coast Swing is very close to the traditional Lindy or Jitterbug of the 30's and 40's era.
Swing Music (i.e. Big band, Basie, Miller, Goodman, etc.,) is what you do Lindy or Jitterbug or East Coast Swing to.
West Coast Swing is definitely not my cup of tea, personally. I don't really consider it swing at all, but that's just my bias.
As far as what to learn go and watch all the dances in different venues and decide what you like. It's all about having fun.
I'm sure others will have a slightly different slant on the question, so I throw open the floor to the next person. I'll bet it will be Paisley.
Edit: Ha! It was! lol
As far as good music to practice to, if you're doing classic swing, the best is Basie. Frankie Manning has always said Count Basie was his favorite band, and who am I to differ? Basie just swings so solidly, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, but always soooo solid.

 

[Luke 42]

That would be a fine example of Western Swing by Spade Cooley:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-KsIRtSpQg&feature=related

Although I don't know if one would "properly" swing dance to this[huh]

 

[John in Covina]

I had meant West Coast vs. East Coast Swing.

 

[Paisley]

We know. You might like Balboa, too. I was able to bal last night, even though my turf toe (hyperextended muscle) isn't quite healed.

One of the best dances I ever had was to "Just a Gigolo" by Louis Prima.

 

[reetpleat]

There are other "swing dances" which are various dances done to swing music, including a style generically called swing dancing. But for our purposes, i will just say that the Lindy Hop is the grand daddy of most. It evolved from the Charleston in the late 20s, and the classic style you see in old movies.

The Lindy Hop, while not universally held to be true, to me, seems to have obviously evolved into west coast swing. It is the same eight count with similar pattern of movement. The slot style can easily be attributed to the more slotted, circular style that evolved with California dancers such as Dean Collins, often theorized to have developed to more crowded dance floors. But anyone who has seen pictures or footage of the Savoy Ballroom would be suspicious of an assertions that California ballroom floors were more crowded than east coast or midwest ones. The fact that the style eventually evolved into a slower style danced to blues is just a natural evolution as music changed. i personally think carolina Shag is also a Lindy Hop derivative, but that is certainly not a given fact.

East coast swing is also pretty clearly a derivative of Lindy hop, simply being a part of it. The six count rock step is a common element of Lindy Hop, although it may have had it's own existence before becoming a part of it, and is easier than the eight count swing out.

Few would argue that east coast swing is harder than eight count lindy hop swing outs. It is fairly simple, and I can teach many people to do it in ten minutes or so. it is a fun style, and may be all you ever care to learn. It is also very versatile. You can go anywhere in he world and find people who can do it. It is taught as one of the core six ballroom dances.

However, it has it's shortcomings, in my opinion. mainly that it is less varied and less versatile than lindy hop. Also, it to me, seems less suitable for thirties and forties swing both in terms of subtlety and aesthetic and authentic style. it is better suited to fifties rock and roll and any blues or country music that is similar to fifties rock and roll which is much of it. lindy, on the other hand, can be one to music from the twenties to the fifties, but you might want to do it a little differently based on the feel and beat of the music. That is more the realm of the experienced dancer though. a beginner doesn't need to worry about it.

As for west coast swing, it is not that hard, but harder than east coast. I don't think it is as versatile or cool. But it is maybe as world widely popular as lindy. You can go many places and find wcs clubs. But it isn't like you can expect to find a partner at any wedding or event.

My suggestion is to learn east coast swing, and if you like it enough to want to learn even more complexity, then learn lindy and add them together.

Swing dancing is fun and you will never regret learning it. if you do decide to do lindy, you may find yourself deciding between traditional style done as it wass done as best as the dancer can, to traditional music, or the more modern style often done to slower and more bluesy music with less emphasis on traditional style and steps. Of course, you do not have to commit to one or the other, but understanding the difference is useful in choosing who you want to learn from, where you want to go dancing, and who you want to dance with.

 

[John in Covina]

I have heard form a friend that also suggested to go with East Coast Swing as the first one to learn. That's if I wanted to learn something that is closer to what is more traditional swing over the West Coast.

 

[Paisley]

Good advice, especially if you don't know how to lead very well.

 

[Inky]

I have heard form a friend that also suggested to go with East Coast Swing as the first one to learn. That's if I wanted to learn something that is closer to what is more traditional swing over the West Coast.

We received the same advice and took an intro to both East and West Coast swing. We realized quickly that EC swing would be much easier for us to learn and feel somewhat confident in. I personally did not like the ballroom-type of feeling that WC swing had. We also took a couple of Lindy Hop classes, but I'm afraid I no long have the knees or stamina for that

 

[tempestbella42]

We received the same advice and took an intro to both East and West Coast swing. We realized quickly that EC swing would be much easier for us to learn and feel somewhat confident in. I personally did not like the ballroom-type of feeling that WC swing had. We also took a couple of Lindy Hop classes, but I'm afraid I no long have the knees or stamina for that

oops!! ive just enrolled on a lindy hop course!!...i can jive, just lookin to meet people where i live and help my fitness!:eusa_doh: