When the follower reaches the leader, the leader moves a minimal amount (at mid-way point) to the side, barely out of the follower's way. The follower travels back and forth in the slot, while the leader moves only minimally. For West Coast Swing, the slot is a long, thin, rectangular area whose length depends on the tempo of the music – it can be eight or nine feet long for slower songs, but will be shorter for faster music. West Coast Swing is a slotted dance, which means that the steps of the dance are confined to an imaginary "slot" on the dance floor. Slot West Coast Swing dancing in Maryland in December 2023 īy the 1990s country western dancers were dancing West Coast Swing to contemporary country western songs. and an instructional booklet for the dance was advertised with a heading of "Cowboy Dancing!". When Disco fell out of favor, West Coast Swing was one of the dances done in country western bars in Los Angeles. In 1988, West Coast Swing was pronounced the Official State Dance of California. ![]() By 1978, "California Swing" had developed as a variation of West Coast Swing, with styling that Blair wrote was "considered more UP, with a more Contemporary flavor." By 1978 GSDTA had "some 200 or more patterns and variations" for West Coast Swing." In California, West Coast Swing was one of the popular dances of the era. In the mid-1970s, the advent of disco music revitalized partner dancing. While teenagers preferred to dance freestyle through a constantly changing succession of discotheque social dance fads during the 1960s, adults kept swing alive. Blair credits Jim Bannister, editor of the Herald American newspaper in Downey, California, for suggesting the name West Coast Swing. Blair preferred the name "West Coast Swing" because of the ambiguous meaning of "Western" (in dance, usually referring to country and western), as distinguished from "West Coast," referring to California, where the style was actually developed. However, the term wasn't incorporated into mainstream swing circles until the late 1960s. The name was used in an advertisement by ballroom dancer Skippy Blair circa 1958–1962. "West Coast Swing" as a synonym for "Western swing" appears in a 1961 dance book. It replaced Laure Haile's Coaster Step with an "Anchor Step" around 1961. Although the dance remained basically the same, the Golden State Dance Teachers Association (GSDTA) began teaching from the walk steps, counts 1 and 2. After "Throwout" patterns began with the woman "walking in" and the man doing a "rock step", or step together for counts one and two. The Arthur Murray style taught Western Swing beginning from a closed position and the possibility of dancing single, double, or triple rhythm. Arthur Murray Dance Studios developed a syllabus for West Coast Swing from her notes. Laure Haile, an Arthur Murray Dance Studio National Dance Director, documented the unique style of swing dancing in Los Angeles in 1951 using the name "Western Swing" to describe it. According to one of his former students, a member of his last dance troupe, Collins himself said that he had nothing to do with the West Coast Swing style. Collins was humble about his contributions to the style. ĭean Collins, a lindy hop dancer who arrived in the Los Angeles area around 1937, was influential in developing the style of swing dance on the West Coast of the United States as both a performer and teacher. Dancers danced "a 'swingier' more smooth and subdued" form of jitterbug to Western swing music. 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 and roll in 1954. The origins of the West Coast Swing are in the Lindy Hop. History Pumpkin Center, Bakersfield, California, 1950s West Coast Swing has the leader using "body leads" versus the "arm leads" of East Coast Swing. ![]() Virtually all other moves in West Coast Swing are variations of these basic patterns. Īlternatively the basic patterns in West Coast Swing are defined as: Push Break (or Sugar Push) Left Side Pass Right Side Pass Tuck Turn and Whip. The Anchor Step is a common ending pattern of many West Coast Swing figures. ![]() Traditional figures include 6-count and 8-count patterns of one of the four basic varieties: (1) Starter Step, (2) Side Pass, (3) Push Break / Sugar Push, (4) Whip. Typically the follower is led forward into new patterns traveling forward on counts "1" and "2" of each basic pattern, rather than rocking back. ![]() The dance allows for both partners to improvise steps while dancing together, putting West Coast Swing in a short list of dances that emphasize improvisation. It is characterized by an elastic look that results from its extension-compression technique of partner connection and is danced primarily in a slotted area on the dance floor. West Coast Swing is a partner dance with roots in Lindy Hop.
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