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| internet source |
The six-count swing's name is often shortened and refereed to as simply the swing. It is fun to do because of its styling freedom. The swing is characterized by torso leans and a jazzy, syncopated style rather than erect posture. It is a spot dance in which each couple stakes out a small circle, or spot, on the dance floor. The basic six-count rhythm may be cued as SSQQ. The swing is danced to Big Band 4/4 time music with three different tempos: slow, moderate, and fast. Thus, the basic six-count swing takes 1.5 bars and has three different rhythmic step patterns, each suited to fit the tempo of the swing music.
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| internet souce |
The swing is an American dance with a rich history. The swing evolved from the jazz era of the 1920s and was first known as the jitterbug. The first jitterbug step, the shag, was inspired by the boogie-woogie. The shag has a slow, slow, quick, quick rhythm that is still used today. Later, another American dance,Lindy hop (in honor of Charles Lindberg), evolved. In time, the lindy hop became known simply as lindy. Typically, lindy steps involve eight-count patterns executed in a circular area on the floor. However, sometimes these patterns were interchanged with the earlier shag step- according to the tempo of the music- with a single, a delayed single, or a triple step taken on each slow count. Because of the popularity of swing bands during the 1930s and 1940s, the lindy became known simply as the swing. Swing was also popular throughtout the rock'n'roll era of the 1950s and 1960s.
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| internet source: East Coast Swing |
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| internet source: West Coast Swing |
Then, two additional forms of swing emerged, the East Coast swing and the West Coast swing, which remain popular today. The East Coast swing is a circular dance also known as the triple swing because it uses a triple step on each S count, which is very effective with slow swing music. The West Coast swing is a slot dance that uses both six- and eight- count patterns done to either medium or slow tempos. A European version of the East Coast swing is called the jive. Characterized by sharp kicks and flicks, the jive is typically used in competitions and is done to a fast tempo with knees lifted high.
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