The history of swing dates back to the 1920’s, where the black community, while dancing to contemporary Jazz music, discovered the Charleston and the Lindy Hop.

The language of swing is still spoken today by a number of talented latter-day jazz musicians and modern swing bands. In the mid 1990s renewed interest in swing music was fueled by a swing dance resurgence of the Lindy-hop and jitterbug swing dances. Today’s successful session and band-leaders who acquiesce to play and record jazz that swings do so with the knowledge that capturing the attention of new jazz fans is somewhat similar to satisfying the tastes of swing dancers; great playing is easier to understand and relate to when it flows as backed by smooth, steady, and fluent underlying rhythms, much as it was popularized in the mid 1930s.

SWING STYLES

Savoy Swing: a style of Swing popular in the New York Savoy Ballroom in the 30’s and 40’s originally danced to Swing music. The Savoy style of swing is a very fast, jumpy, casual-looking style of dancing

Lindy style is a smoother-looking dance.

West Coast Swing: a style of Swing emphasizing nimble feet popular in California night clubs in the 30’s and 40’s and voted the California State Dance in 1989.

Whip: a style of Swing popular in Houston, Texas, emphasizing moves spinning the follower between dance positions with a wave rhythm break.

Push: a style of swing popular in Dallas, Texas, emphasizing moves spinning the follower between dance positions with a rock rhythm break.

Supreme Swing: a style of Swing popular in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Imperial Swing: a style of Swing popular in St. Louis, Missouri.

Carolina Shag: a style of Swing popular in the Carolinas emphasizing the leader’s nimble feet.

DC Hand Dancing: a Washington, DC synthesis of Lindy and Swing.

East Coast Swing: a 6 count style of Lindy popular in the ballroom dance school organizations.

Ballroom West Coast Swing: a style of swing popular in the ballroom dance school organizations and different from the style performed in the California night clubs and Swing dance clubs.

Country-Western Swing: a style of Jitterbug popularized during the 1980’s and danced to Country and Western music.

Cajun Swing: a Louisiana Bayou style of Lindy danced to Cajun music.

Pony Swing: a Country Western style of Cajun Swing.

Jive: the International Style version of the dance is called Jive, and it is danced competitively in the US and all over the world.

Since sweating is against my religion, I’m astonished by my own eagerness to dance. I’ll whine (and wilt) at the very thought of walking a block to buy a bottle of milk. Yet I’ll actually show up at a dance club without calling first to make sure nobody’s stolen its cooling units.

P.S. “Swing dancing is surely an addiction — there’s no other explanation for my behavior. After all, I’ve been complaining since early May about the sweat buildup connected with getting out of bed.” (Madeleine Begun Kane)

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