There are actually many types of swing dances and many types of classes available. Stan and Lisa can easily tailor their teaching to your crowd both in dance experience (beginning to advanced) and age (youngsters to youngsters at heart). What are the different types of swing dances? Here is a list of many of the popular swing dances of today: Charleston: The Charleston was one of the first big dances in swing. It was started and evolved during the 1920's. This type of dance can be done with or without a partner. If you have ever been at a swing dance and saw a circle of dancers dancing by themselves to fast paced music, then you have most likely seen Solo Charleston. People in the 1920's and 1930's also danced Charleston in pairs both side by side, tandem, and also 1920's style Charleston. All these forms are great to add into your Lindy Hop to spice up your dance. Lindy Hop: Lindy hop is an eight count dance that evolved from the Charleston swingout as music also evolved from Dixieland Jazz to Big Band Jazz. Lindy Hop was popular during the 1930's through the Big Band Era and is also a favorite of Stan and Lisa's to teach! This dance is one of the hardest swing dances to learn but once you do it feels soooooo good! Aerials are done with in this swing dance, just like Charleston and other swing dances, but most of the aerials we teach start out from basic Lindy Hop knowledge. If you want to learn aerials it would help to know the Lindy Hop. Another plus of learning the Lindy Hop is that it helps with all other swing dances. If you can master this one the rest are a breeze. Balboa: When the ballrooms started to fill up in the 1930's there was not much room for a large swing out like the Lindy Hop. Balboa was created so people could keep dancing in small tight spaces. It has evolved from "pure" Balboa where people stay in closed position the whole time to Bal-Swing. It is normally a very fast dance to similar music as Lindy Hop is danced to. It is also a more difficult dance to learn but just as fun! East Coast Swing: East coast swing is a six count dance that is one of the easiest to learn. If you ever took a basic swing lesson it is more than likely you learned how to East Coast Swing. One good reason to learn East Coast Swing is that it is one of the easiest swing dances to learn and will have you up and dancing to swing music in no time. For those desiring to be more advanced, East Coast Swing is also great to learn as it teaches you many six count patterns which you can incorporate into your Lindy Hop. A good foundation in East Coast Swing will help in your progression into harder levels of swing. West Coast Swing: West coast swing is also another type of swing dance that evolved from Lindy Hop. It has more of a Ballroom look to it. West Coast Swing, though evolved from Lindy, is normally danced to Pop, Rhythm and Blues, or slower vocal jazz and not traditional swing music. Collegiate Shag: Collegiate Shag is another form of swing that is quite popular. It is very similar to Balboa but tends to have a more "bouncy" look. It developed around the same time the Charleston did and is also a fun dance to incorporate into your knowledge of swing dances. The basic steps are very similar to East Coast Swing. Blues/Drag Blues: Blues in general has increased in popularity very recently. There are competitions nowadays in both partner Blues and solo Blues. There is also a distinctive style called Drag Blues as well. Blues is a great dance to also add to your swing dancing repertoire to add variety to your slow dancing and also learn body control and body lead/follow. Stan and Lisa learned how to drag blues from Chance and Amy when they were in California for a competition/workshop weekend. It takes a lot of balance and coordination not to mention some major stomach muscles! This is a fun dance to teach and it takes awhile to understand just like any other dance but is really fun once you get it! | ||||||
 | ||||||