The West Coast Swing

West Coast Swing (WCS) is a partner dance derived from Lindy Hop. It has the soul of a street dance but has been tamed by ballroom dance studios. Within the spectrum of partner dances, WCS is one of the most difficult and one of the most improvisational.

It is easily recognized by a distinctive elastic look that results from its narrow slot.

It is believed that the origins of the WCS are in Savoy style Lindy. Dean Collins moved to California in 1930s and introduced the dancing scenes there to Lindy Hop, which that took a firm hold on the West Coast through the 30s and 40s. When swing fell out of mainstream's consideration as pop music around the 50s and was replaced by rockabilly, dancers on the West Coast began using swing moves to the new pop music, thus changing the dance and bringing about the variation now known as West Coast Swing.

Step sheets from ballroom studios reveal that this particular style was known under different names until it took on the name "West Coast Swing".

In 1988, West Coast Swing was pronounced the Official State Dance of California

The follower travels back and forth along a shoulder width rectangle, called the slot, with respect to the leader. The leader is more stationary but will move in and out of the slot depending on the pattern led. A general rule is that the leader leaves the slot only to give way for the follower to pass him. Various reasons have been given for the slotted style. One reason is that when all followers dance in lines, club owners could pack many more dancers onto the floor. Another reason was that in Hollywood, film makers wanted dancers to stay in the same plane, to avoid going in and out of focus.

WCS was originally danced to sixteen count Blues music, rather than the Jazz from the early part of the 20th century. In practice, WCS may be danced to almost any music in 4/4 time. Such diverse musical genres as Funk, Rock and Roll and Disco may be found in a typical evening of WCS dancing. In recent years, most WCS venues have seen a greater proportion of contemporary music played as opposed to blues. While some may lament the departure of WCS from its roots, others view this trend as another step in the continued evolution of the dance.

The style of WCS that matches the "classic" WCS music featured by swung eighths. In this style the "split-beat" steps are typically counted as: "1 a2"; "3 a4"; "a3 4"; etc. Here "a" denotes the intermediate beat "swung" away from the strict middle position and splitting the beat approximately 2:1. For the comparison, the "a" in "1a2" of Samba rhythm splits the quarter note 3:1, i.e., it "splits off" a 1/16, so it is "straight" in the sense of binary note duration nomenclature.

A more contemporary style of WCS that matches American pop music, which has square rhythms. In this style the "split-beat" steps may well be counted in strict time to match the music. The Classic WCS elements of standard step patterns were modified or replaced. For example, the anchor step, the cornerstone of the classic WCS, is often replaced by hook-replace-side triple-step. This was a short lived replacement, however, as it was realized that this terminal step destroyed any semblance of connection that a proper anchor step provided. Better staying power was afforded body motions such as ripples and pops, which some professional dancers have incorporated as a permanent part of their styling. The "Funky WCS" classification in recent years has fallen by the wayside with the communal realization that WCS done to contemporary music is no different from WCS done to straight up blues. With the exception of footwork, funky and classic styling may be performed to any genre of music.

The Coaster Step was actually in vogue during the early days of WCS when the dance closely resembled Lindy in connection and style. As WCS evolved further, it was found that the Coaster Step was detrimental to the connection between lead and follow, hence the ascension of the now ubiquitous anchor step where both partners step and end up with one foot behind and to the side of the other. However, some ballroom studios continue to teach WCS with coaster steps as termination steps due to the fact that the instruction they choose to hew to (i.e. videotapes that are bought to teach the instructors) have ideas long dismissed by the general WCS community.

Beginning dancers generally focus on simple moves as they gain understanding of the dance. There are plenty of beginning WCS lessons available in any city. Often there are lessons before dances, but due to the difficulty of the dance prospective students may want to take longer classes (5-10 weeks). They may also want to try different teachers, to find what teaching and dance style best suits them. Typical beginners must concentrate much on being where they are supposed to be--including their feet or hands. Unfortunately, many teachers neglect to teach their students the importance of leading and following. The next step, ironically, is to re-learn all that you know. Moves are to be led and followed, which is typically not what a beginner has been doing. Once one is comfortable dancing the basic patterns, it is time to learn to lead/follow them. This is the time when most people want to learn more complicated moves, and they often put off learning to lead/follow in order to do that. At some point it will become clear that all moves are just recombinations of the fundamentals or cribbed from some other dance. The beginner is encouraged to attend a nearby regular dance that caters to West Coast Swing dancers to be exposed to a wide range of lead and follow styles. For most urban areas in the United States, a WCS dance club may be a good place to start. For those beginners who want to witness a better mix of leaders/followers, attending a regional or even national WCS dance convention is the next step. This last is often expensive in time and money. Beginning dancers should focus on keeping smooth footwork while doing patterns to the beat of the music.

Advanced dancers will break the rules and won't remember what patterns they've just done. Rather than lead or follow pattern after pattern, both leaders and followers shorten or extend counts, play with the music, and express themselves with the dance. Advanced West Coast Swing moves are merely variations of the basic moves done by using two hands connected, changing hands, and utilizing stops and reversal. Advanced dancers syncopate their footwork to match the music and turn their bodies to interesting angles to flow more gracefully. Footwork variations include kick ball changes, sailor shuffles, flea hops, slides and applejacks. Those advanced dancers who want to add more spice to their dancing may learn leverage moves that put one or both partners in extension. Some examples are leans, dips and splits. Contrary to what the casual observer might see, most dancers will keep their balance while performing such moves and will rely on their partners sparingly to keep them from falling over.

Song Suggestions:

Please Mr. Jailer by Cry Baby Soundtrack
Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley
Mustang Sally by Buddy Guy & Various Artists
Bad To The Bone by George Thorogood
Fame by David Bowie
Keep Your Hands To Yourself by Georgie Satellights
Son Of A Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield
No One Else On Earth by Wynonna Judd
Be Bop A Lula by Elvis Presley
Little Red Rooster by Sam Cooke
She's Got The Rhythm by Alan Jackson
Black Velvet by Pat Benatar
I Heard It Through The Grapevine by The Temptations
Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself by
Very Superstitious by Stevie Wonder
Take It Back by
Peel Me A Grape by Diana Krall
Let's Give Em Something To Talk About by
I Got It Bad by Matraca Berg
Honkey Tonk Badonkadonk by Trace Adkins
Play Something Country by Brooks & Dunn
It's Your Thing by The Isley Brothers
Trouble by Elvis Presley
I'm The Only One by Melissa Etheridge
Kiss by Prince
You're The Boss by Brian Setzer Orchestra
True Love by Pat Benatar
Keep on rocking me baby by Steve Miller Band
Play that funky music white boy by
Fever by Elvis