About Swing

Swing music dates back as early as the roaring 1920's and 30's, and continues up to the early rock and roll of the 1950's. Over this time many dance styles were developed. Some swinging styles include east and west coast swing, balboa, charleston, lindy hop, boogie-woogie, hustle, peabody, as well as two-step.

In our classes we will mainly cover East Coast Swing but we also cover the west coast style. Wikipedia defines East Coast Swing as:

East Coast Swing is the modern form that is a fusion of its early counterparts Eastern Swing and Lindy which were street dances. This form of swing dance utilizes both six and 8 count patterns. The name East Coast Swing was coined to initially be a divider between the street form and the new variant used in the competitive ballroom arena. While based on Eastern Swing, it does have clear distinctions. East Coast Swing is a standardized form of dance that was developed to allow for a medium of comparison for competitive dancers. It can be said that there is a right and wrong way to dance it as the technical elements of this form are documented and governed by the National Dance Council of America. Eastern Swing was never standardized and later evolved into several forms such as: (European) Boogie Woogie, Jive, East Coast Swing, and Rock & Roll.

We occasionally invite guest instructors Bob and Donna Garvey to teach West Coast Swing. This differs quite a bit from east coast style and offers a stylistic counterpoint.