Swing Dance
Swing is a group of related street dances, that evolved from Lindy Hop. Swing is a partner dance, where the couple consists of a leader and follower , who share a connection.
Social Dancing
The purpose of social dancing is to have fun, socialize, and celebrate a shared love of movement and music. Historically, it was traditional for the man to ask the woman to dance, but at contemporary swing dances, both men and women ask each other. As with other partner dances, most partnerships are with a male lead and a female follower, but other combinations do occur.
Lead and Follow Language
Learning to lead or follow is akin to learning a new language. Leads and follows must learn both to hear what their partner is communicating through their body (where their center of movement is located, how well they are balanced, where they are ready to move, etc.) and to communicate the same. These skills are the building blocks of the lead-follow language. As a dancer learns more moves she expands her vocabulary. Eventually dancers begin combining their vocabulary in new and creative ways to respond to the ideas they hear in the music and the creative ideas of their partner. This kind of improvisation results in new movement vocabulary, allowing the swing dancing language to grow and evolve.
The Different Types of Dance
At Cat's Corner, we teach Savoy-style Lindy Hop, as well as East Coast, Balboa, Charleston and Blues.
The Different Styles of Swing Dance
Lindy Hop evolved in the late 1920s and early 1930s as the original swing dance. Its main draw is the style's openess to improvisation, and ability to easily adapt to include steps from other 8-count, and 6-count Swing styles. "Lindy" is most often danced to jazz, but ambitious dancers often use it to dance to the blues, rock androll, and even some forms of hip-hop! Almost anything goes.
East Coast Swing is a simpler 6-count variation. Also known as Triple-Step Swing, 6-Count Swing, Single-Step Swing, Rock-a-billy, or Jitterbug. East coast swing has very simple structure and footwork along with basic moves and styling. East-coast swing is popular for its forgiving, yet elegant nature, and is often danced to slow, medium, or fast tempo jazz, blues, or rock and roll.
Charleston is a classic 8-count dance that predates Lindy Hop, and is often incorporated into "Lindy" dances. The Charleston originally developed as a solo performance dance in the brothels and speakeasies of the day, but was adapted into a partner dance sometime during the 1930s. Today, it can be, and is, danced in both modes.
Balboa is a 8-count dance, that emphasizes a stong partner connection, and quick footwork. Balboa (sometimes referred to simply as "Bal") is, primarily, danced in a tight, closed position, with the follow and lead adopting a firm chest-to-chest posture. This dance is particularly popular in settings with fast jazz (usually anything from 180 to 320 BPM) and/or limited floor-space.
Learn all these different dance styles at our dance school Cat's Corner.
Source
Wikipedia, l'encyclopédie libre
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