East Coast Swing
East Coast Swing is a fun, lively upbeat partner dance. Distinguished by it’s swing hip motion and rock step, it is a non-progressive dance suited to rock ‘n’ roll, faster big band jazz & swing music. East Coast Swing is a circular, rotating form of Swing dancing that has many wraps, tunnels and turning patterns.
The origins of East Coast Swing can be traced back to the original Swing dance – the Lindy Hop, which was created in the late 1920′s by the African American youth who frequented the famous Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Danced to the popular swing and jazz music of big bands of the day, such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Benny Goodman, Lindy Hop was dynamic and athletic.
In 1938 Donald Grant, president of the Dance Teachers’ Business Association, said that swing music “is a degenerated form of jazz, whose devotees are the unfortunate victims of economic instability” but by the mid 30′s Lindy Hop (also called Jitterbug and Swing) was popular with young people everywhere. At the time the ballroom dance community was more interested in teaching the foreign dances such as the Argentine Tango, Spanish Paso Doblé, Brazilian Samba, Puerto Rican Merengue, Cuban Mambo, Cha Cha, English Quickstep, Austrian Waltz, with an occasional American Foxtrot and Peabody.
In 1942 members of the New York Society of Teachers of Dancing were told that the Lindy Hop could no longer be ignored. The dance craze was sweeping the nation. Its “cavortings” could be refined to suit a crowded dance floor so during the early 40′s Lindy Hop was tamed and simplified by dance schools to become a ballroom dance called Eastern Swing. The Arthur Murray Studios looked at what was being done on the dance floors in each city and directed their teachers to teach what was being danced in their respective cities. As a result, the Arthur Murray Studios taught different styles of undocumented Swing in each city. Depending on where you lived it was called the Jitterbug, The Lindy or Swing. The original Lindy Hop was stripped down and distilled by the ballroom dance studio teachers in order to adapt what they were teaching to the less nimble-footed and the older general public who paid for dance lessons.
World War II facilitated the spread of Swing across the Pacific and Altlantic Oceans. Ballrooms that had been closed because of lack of business began to thrive. Despite the popularity of the dance, when the American troops departed in November 1945, English couples were being warned not to continue doing energetic “rude” American dancing.
During the 1950′s, Swing dancing was unsuccessfully (and confusingly) renamed ‘Rock and Roll’. This evolution of the dance shows that even the early dancers were aware that it was adaptable and was not music dependent. It could, would and was, done to other styles of music, not just Big Band Swing. Dance Education Books were written describing this “New Dance” which was nothing more than Swing. Dance studios, including Arthur Murray were calling it ‘Rock n’ Roll’ dancing, in an attempt to create revenue from a dance already sweeping the nation.
In the 1957, American Bandstand hosted by “Dick Clark” began to be broadcast across the United States. It was considered the television show to watch if one wanted to learn the latest “Hip” dances. Because the music played on the show was too quick for the Ballroom Swing’s triple-steps and latin hip work, and because of censorship issues with “wiggling hips,” Single Time East Coast Swing was what teens saw, and emulated. The name “Jitterbug” was applied to it by most of the nation.
In the late 70′s the name was changed from Eastern Swing to East Coast Swing. The name East Coast Swing was coined initially to distinguish the dance from the street form and the new variant used in the competitive ballroom arena (as well as separating the dance from West Coast Swing, which was developed in California). East Coast Swing was standardized and codified to allow for comparison in competitive dancing. It can be said that there is no right or wrong way to dance it, however, certain styles of the dance are considered correct “form” within the technical elements documented and governed by the National Dance Council of America. The N.D.C.A. oversees all the standards of American Style Ballroom and Latin dances.
East Coast Swing music is normally written in 2/4 or 4/4 time with the musical accents occuring on the second or second and fourth beats of the measure. East Coast Swing can use three different rhythms – single, double and triple time which allows it to be danced comfortably to a wide range of music styles and tempos. “Shake Rattle & Roll” by Bill Haley is a suitable rock ‘n’ roll example while Benny Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing” is a very typical big band piece.
East Coast Swing is one of Firefly’s core dances. It is introduced in the casual Dance Sampler Group class where you can try a few basic steps. This class is suitable for absolute beginners. You can also learn East Coast Swing in Private Lessons.
If you are interested in learning East Coast Swing:
- Check the Dance Sampler schedule.
- Talk to Firefly on 1300 725 977
- Enquire Now
