The lovely, talented, vibrant, and outspoken Katherine Krok Eastvold has blogged recently about the decline of classic West Coast Swing, the state dance of California and one of the legendary dance styles of the Jazz Age. Katherine (or KKE, as she puts it) has excoriated judges and contestants at West Coast Swing competitions for allowing the dance to morph into an unrecognizable mush. She’s especially exercised about people she terms “nissies”, whose pushy narcissism on the dance floor may have worsened the situation.
In one blog, KKE posted links to classic West Coast Swing competition routines from 1995, videos she believes exemplify authentic Westies: here’s one, and here’s the other. KKE suggests that true West Coast loyalists will prefer this style of dance. “But a few,” she warns, “will want their slow grinding, ‘check out’ not ‘check in’ dancing and their boom boom or strum strum music.”
Basically, KKE is a dance conservative. This can be a good thing: conservatives help us to remember what we’ve gained, alert us when we’re tempted to throw away valuable stuff, and hold us to certain standards. Her complaint, in essence, is twofold: (1) recent West Coast Swing competitions use choreographies that emphasize the “abstract” (read: “whatever you fee like”) instead of respecting the dance’s basic essentials; and (2) real West Coast styling reached an apex in the mid-1990s and has deteriorated since then. I think she’s got a hit and a miss. I’ll explain.
First, a little history: Swing dance evolved out of the explosive 1920s Harlem nightclub scene, especially at a joint called the Savoy Ballroom. Here, dancers developed Lindy Hop and East Coast Swing, soon known to the public simply as “Swing” or, sometimes, “Jitterbug”. Related styles soon followed, including Balboa and Shag.
A young and ambitious dancer, Dean Collins, earned his chops at the Savoy, then moved to Hollywood, where he plied his trade as a choreographer for dozens of movies. His version of Lindy — slowed down, smoothed out, channeled into a “slot”, and performed to the latest pop music — was easy to film, and before long it was a popular dance style at California night spots, where the name “West Coast Swing” eventually caught on.
As musical tastes changed and rock ‘n’ roll vaulted to the top of the charts, dancing became more free-form, and Swing faded from the social whirl. Still, diehards kept the West Coast Swing tradition alive, even joining up with the Hustle craze in the 1970s. (The two dances have similar tempos, and for a time they shared Disco music, so they were natural allies.)
It’s essential to point out that, by tradition, West Coast is danced to pop music. Other Swing dances, especially Lindy and East Coast, are generally done to classic Big Band jazz; their forms have remained largely unaltered despite the decades. But the sounds and rhythms of pop music have changed greatly, and West Coast styling has adapted to those changes. Dean Collins himself grew to detest West Coast: “It’s an abomination to the dance floor,” he groused, disowning the very dance he invented. Perhaps it had something to do with the ascent of rock ‘n’ roll, which most old-school Jazz enthusiasts hated.
The 1990s saw a renewal of interest in all forms of Swing, and West Coast Swing benefitted. KKE entered the Westies scene at that point, and it’s this “Renaissance” moment she prefers.
But time marches on, and two things have impinged on the burgeoning West Coast world to alter it. One is the everchanging voice of pop music, to which West Coast always responds; the other is the explosion of dance shows on national TV.
“So You Think You Can Dance,” “Dancing with the Stars,” and other network programs have greatly revived the public’s interest in dancing. Many styles, including ballroom (like Rumba and Foxtrot) and nightclub (like Swing and Hustle), have been featured. However, Hollywood is notorious for making up stories about reality: just as it’s foolish to expect historical accuracy from a movie, it’s unwise to expect TV dance choreographies to reflect authentic dance styles. Instead, the steps are designed to garner the biggest ratings; show producers lose no sleep over inaccuracies that crop up during rehearsals. The more glorious, the better, and the Devil take the syllabus.
The effect, among the untutored public, is a false expectation about how the real dances are done. New contestants enter the arena dreaming of dancing like their heroes of the TV screen. There’s a basic conflict, then, between what they want to achieve and what’s known to be authentic. And this is where KKE lands critical punches like a prizefighter, scoring against the fakery of “abstract” styles in Swing competitions, dealing blows to the exotic imports — Zouk, Tango, Salsa — that have invaded West Coast competition routines. Without voices like hers, West Coast Swing might devolve into West Coast Abstract or Zouk Coast Tango.
Luckily, these trends haven’t had a major impact on recreational dance floors — at least at Southern California venues like the Hacienda, Sonny Watson’s, etc. — where the very vacuity of “abstract” styling makes it hard to incorporate into casual dancing. The other recent influence, however, has influenced Westies, and there’s not much I or KKE or anybody can do about it. The music has changed. And, with it, so has West Coast Swing.
If you click on those dance-video links, above, you’ll see terrific dancers doing rather fast-tempo Westies to music from the ’70s and ’80s, when rock and pop music had much bouncier beats. Today — influenced by the slower, grander rhythms of alternative rock and the heavy drone of Hip Hop — pop music has shifted into a smoother style with (how shall we put this?) a serving of suave, a pinch of the proud, and a touch of the lascivious. Toes point more, a la Salsa; shoulders sometimes roll and shimmy, like Zydeco. It’s the relentless, pulsing beat of modern pop music that has led to this reshaping of West Coast Swing.
The only way back is to stop playing the latest hits by Lady Gaga and Usher and Katy Perry and Ne-Yo. But that would eviscerate one of the chief strengths of West Coast, which is its ability to welcome the next generation’s music. Removing recent Top-40 tunes from Westies playlists would chase away young dancers who’ve lately flocked to the scene, and who have — at least on the recreational floor — managed to do hold onto the heritage while adding style points that match the new songs.
I got involved with West Coast in 2003, and I loved how its style had adjusted to match the current music hits. It made for one of the most beautiful and satisfying dances I’d ever tried — and I’d spent decades dancing professionally. I’m by no means an expert Westies dancer, and I’m not involved in the world of competitive dancing. And much of what I happen to love about modern West Coast is the same “boom boom” music KKE seems to deplore. But I’m well aware that time is short, that pop music will change, and West Coast will move along with it, perhaps to wander away from my own tastes. I can’t hold back that tide, so I’ll just surf it until it’s no fun anymore.
To sum up: KKE has a point about the degradation of West Coast Swing in competitions, though her chief enemy is more likely network TV than nissies. And I understand her wish that Westies return to what they were when she found them, back in the 1990s. But the tune helps make the dance, and nothing can slow the ever-shifting world of pop music . . . and, with it, the changing soul of West Coast Swing.
* * * *
UPDATE: In her 2012 January 30 email “Katherine’s Dance Word: Weekly Note #14”, Ms. Eastvold says: “I know people like to say that the real reason swing isn’t swing anymore, is because the music has changed. It’s such a narrow minded view of things. Oh, it [sic] certainly a problem, but switching back won’t solve everything. It’ll help, but is it the sole solution? No.” (So she does wish for the older music!) Eastvold continues with examples of how some studios lately avoid older teachers in favor of “Abstract” instructors whose steps aren’t “impossible” to learn. (Read: “Too hard for us lazy people.”) And that is a problem: Abstract styling is now being force-fed to social dancers. A dance that’s difficult, but rewards patience, may evolve into something blah.
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Author and lecturer Jim Hull welcomes you to a conversation about ... well, everything!
THE JIMBLOG EXPLAINS EVERYTHING ... sort of ... 
Larry Wilson
2011 December 15
Excellently written article explaining a world I am totally unfamiliar with. This is what I expect from a Jim Hull post. It’s an introduction to something (or someone) whom I know nothing about, but, I always find something compelling that keeps me on the page. And this is as good a time as any to wish the blogger a very Happy Birthday!
Jim Hull
2011 December 15
I wanted to be sure that everyone, not just Westies dancers, knew what was going on. Thanks for that, and for the birthday wish!
Suzanne McCune
2011 December 15
Good article about something I’m familiar with since I’ve been dancing WCS for 22 years and…..Happy Birthday Jim! Enjoy your day! 🙂
Jim Hull
2011 December 15
Thanks, Suzanne. I’m enjoying my birthday WEEK!
Mike Daniele
2012 February 1
Will you accept a reply five pages long?
Jim Hull
2012 February 1
Mike: Not sure if the blog servers will accept that big a post! Also, I notice that people’s eyes tend to glaze over when trying to slog their way through my longer posts.
Perhaps you could write a quick summary, noting your main points, and then add a link to the full article. I’ll then do my best, as always, to reply with my own thoughts and comments, and we can turn it into a dialog. Go for it!
Mike Daniele
2012 February 3
Good Morning Jim,
I am trying to learn how to ‘link’ the full article. I simply do not know how to accomplish the task.
I do, however, look forward to a Chit Chat regarding this subject matter.
Mike Daniele
Jim Hull
2012 February 3
Mike: I tried to embed a link into this reply by editing it first in MSWord, but it didn’t take.
Workaround: simply copy and paste the written-out link into your reply here, and we can copy it into the search box in our browsers. If the link, written out, is really long, you can shorten it at, e.g., tinyurl.com.
By the way: you can create your own blog site right here at WordPress.com — it’s free — and post gi-normous essays to your heart’s content. (You can add links within your own blogs.) I’d be happy to embed a link to your site in an update to this dance article.
Mike Daniele
2012 February 5
To whom it may concern: I offer this dialogue for your review and consideration.
All dances evolve all the time!
To select and define a time, e.g. 1990s, in the evolution of the dance and label it as the “Renaissance Era” is a subjective observation at best. To take a ‘snapshot’ in time, within the evolutionary process of the dance, and label it as the only “Pure” form of the dance, is to advise those dancers from the seventy years prior to the ninety’s and those dancers who experienced the dance in the eleven years following, as unworthy.
My understanding in the origins of ‘swing dance’ came about with the divergence, from the evolutionary track of dance, with the creation of a dance named the “Breakaway”. “From 1919 to 1927, Breakaway was a popular ‘swing’ dance” originated in Harlem, New York. The dance “often began in close position, the leader would occasionally swing the follower out into an open position, hence “Breaking away”. When in open position the dancers would improvise with fancy moves. Some variations included both dancers completely breaking away from each other to dance ‘alone’ ”. All these dance improvisations were “done in time with the music”.
“Regarding the Savoy Ballroom, dance critic John Martin of The New York Times, who wrote the following:
The white jitterbug is oftener than not uncouth to look at … but his Negro original is quite another matter. His movements are never so exaggerated that they lack control, and there is an unmistakable dignity about his most violent figures…there is a remarkable amount of improvisation … mixed in … with Lindy Hop figures. Of all the ballroom dances these prying eyes have seen, this is unquestionably the finest.”
(A side note: Balboa originated in 1915. Twelve years prior to Lindy Hop.)
On May 20-21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh made his historic flight from New York to Paris. This event was the genesis for the name change of the Breakaway
to the Lindy Hop.
The Lindy Hop evolved, over the remainder of the 1920s and 1930s. The dance entered “mainstream American culture in the 1930s”.
The swing dance world has always had and continues to have Gloom and Doom critics.
In 1936 Philip Nutl, president of the American Society of Teachers of Dancing, expressed the opinion that swing would not last beyond the winter.
In 1938 Donald Grant, president of the Dance Teachers’ Business Association, said that swing music “is a degenerated form of jazz, whose devotees are the unfortunate victims of economic instability.”
“By the early 1940s the dance was known as “New Yorker” on the West Coast”.
In 1944, due to continued involvement in World War Two, the United States levied a 30 percent federal excise tax against “dancing” nightclubs. Although the tax was later reduced to 20 percent, “No Dancing Allowed” signs went up all over the country.
In 1946, I was six years old and it was my turn to learn how to Swing Dance.
My understandings about swing dancing are hereafter based upon my personal experience, except as noted.
My Aunts and Uncles were all Swing Dancers during the 1930s and 1940s. Most
of them danced five times a week.
There were no ‘counts’, as in six counts for this move or eight counts for that
move, to what we danced. We danced, using selected instruments and timing within the composition. I was taught that if my ‘follower’ was dancing the melody, I could either dance the melody with her, or better yet, I could dance the base, and support her dancing the melody.
We did focus on dancing “composed phrases”, which were usually thirty-two counts of music.
Frankie Manning was asked, in later years, “What was the count” of past swing dance patterns. He answered, “The only count I knew, was Count Basie”.
It is my understanding that, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Arthur Murray ‘wrapped up’ dance movements in exact six count and eight count ‘packages’. It was easier to ‘sell’ a packaged dance. Lauré Haile began teaching for Arthur Murray in 1945. She named the ‘new packaged dance’ “western Swing”.
In the early 1950s, I was swing dancing, about twice a week, when I noticed a popular music change called Rockabilly. Our swing dance music was all ‘down beat’; with the drummers emphasizing beats 1 & 3. Many of my swing dance friends and I found swing dancing to Rockabilly, with its ‘up beat’, 2 & 4, was cumbersome and uncomfortable. We were used to dancing to swing music as in “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing”. Rockabilly did not ‘swing’. This ‘up beat’ means little or nothing to us today, but it was just confusing enough that we stopped swing dancing together when Rockabilly music was played and danced apart in ‘freestyle’, to a dance called the Bop.
Dancing the Bop to Rockabilly put a greater number of dancers on the floor.
They were having fun. They had smiles on their faces. They were looking ‘cool’.
I could not fault this new way of dancing. Were they not expressing what dance is all about?
In the early to mid 1950s, I do remember swing dancing, in the back room of the Club New Yorker, obviously way under age! Frankie Mannion’s (World Swing Dance Hall of Fame) mother, Josephine and sister, Joan, would for years, always take the time to dance with me. My swing dance had evolved. I found myself dancing on a floor where Arthur Murray’s ‘production’ swing dancers were an influence in the evolution of the dance. Our swing dance at that time was called the L.A. Whip.
“In 1959, some of the California dance organizations, with Skippy Blair setting the pace, changed the name of Western Swing to West Coast Swing so it would not be confused with country and western dancing”.
Dean Collins “is often mentioned in discussions of origin of West Coast Swing”.
Dean insisted there were “only two kinds of swing dance – good and bad”.)
And Dean saw West Coast Swing as “an abomination to the dance floor.”
I did a lot of swing dancing in the 1950s, somewhat less in the 1960s and 1970s; ‘Free style’ seemed to be the dance of the time. Swing dance opportunities improved through the 1980s.
By the 1990s, I was experiencing the fact that West Coast Swing had evolved to a slower pace. In my opinion, this slower pace was due to dancers wanting to put more ‘stuff’ into their dance. More ‘stuff’ required ‘more time’ and ‘more time’ required slower music.
I remember asking Robert Royston and Laureen Baldovi, prior to their dancing a U.S. Open routine; “How many beats per minute do you want your competition music to be played”? Laureen replied 140. Robert countered with 142. Laureen looked at me and said 140! Robert looked at me and said 142. Robert got his 142. They brilliantly danced their routine, and in my opinion, did so defining the cutting edge of time to do ‘stuff’!
From approximately 2000 to date, I agree, in part, with Katherine Eastvold’s position on the ‘state’ of West Coast Swing.
The dance has continued to slow down, to the extent, in my opinion, it has lost the validity of being called Swing. Have you noticed that many people use the term to define their dance as “West Coast”? Dropping the ‘Swing’ out of West Coast is, in my view, appropriate.
Katherine implies that “learning eight different ways to “anchor””, or executing movements to express “six different ways to hear the music”, “dance the lyrics,” and “dance the melodies” is only possible in “Abstract Improvisation”. I respectfully disagree! I do, however, agree with Katherine that to do these ‘movements’ without any sense of timing is, at the very least, an insult to the dance.
As for my disagreement, I will try to explain myself.
Swing dancing has three basic rhythms. They are: triple-triple; as in the starter step; double-triple-triple; as in the six count movements; and double-triple-double-triple; as in eight count movements. There are countless ways to dance these rhythms without violating the basic rhythms. Any double may be danced, with your FEET, as a two or four. Any triple may be danced, with your FEET, as a one, three or five count. There are many options selecting a one count in a triple. The five count is & 3 & 4 &. Weight down on any one count or weight on the first & and hold for the other four is still only one weighted step. Likewise, there are many options for stepping a triple. You may select 3 & 4, & 3 4, 3 4 & for example. There are endless variations to dancing the five count.
I have, in my swing dance files, six hundred syncopations, which do not violate the basic rhythms. The dancer may add these syncopations to any of the above selected rhythms. These syncopations are basically applied in three categories. The first category of syncopations may be applied in the beginning of a pattern. The second category may be applied to the middle of the patterns. And, the third category may be applied to the endings of a pattern.
Other variations, which may be added to dance patterns, are hand positions.
These options are: leaders left to followers’ right, left to left, right to right, right to left, two hand, left over right, right over left.
Now, add the option of all these rhythms, the mix of 600 syncopations, and apply all the hand variations, to 800 defined different patterns, and you have the dance I know and now study.
Eight ways to “anchor” you question. There are hundreds. “Six different ways to hear; (and dance) the music”. There are endless ways to express and dance to the music. “Dance the melodies”. Dancers have danced the melodies in time with the music since the Breakaway in the early 1920’s.
Please excuse my ‘outpouring’ of ‘stuff’! I just completed six hours of privates a month with Buddy Schimmer for five and one half years.
Katherine is right on with the Judges. But, I believe the cause of the problem is above the level of the Judges. Recently, a Judge, judged a contest and marked some contestants down for absents of ‘swing content’. The Judge was pulled from the panel of Judges for calling the obvious. Another reality of some judging is that if a Judge does not put up whom the ‘powers to be’ want put up, that Judge does not come back to that event as a Judge.
As for Katherine’s “Flashy” “improvisational dancers”, I ask, are they having fun? Do they have smiles on their faces? Do they believe they are looking ‘cool’?
Again, are they not expressing what dance is all about?
Once more, I cannot fault the dancers.
But, I do believe that somewhere, above the level of the Judges, lays the root cause of the problem. Above the Judges is a controlling group dictating through manipulation what dancers will set the example for all to follow. And the group’s dictates will define what is, and is not, acceptable in the dance.
Are we witnessing the ‘evolution of our dance’ by means of manipulation?
For 65 years I have been and continue to be a student of the dance I call Swing.
Respectfully,
Mike Daniele
Jim Hull
2012 February 5
Mike: Quite a history lesson! Good point about how West Coast tempos have continued to slow down. Also interesting to learn that Swing dancers had trouble in the ’50s with the rock ‘n’ roll beat; perhaps the disconnect between the new style of music and the jazzy style of dance contributed to the decline of Swing through the ’60s. (I danced at rock parties in the late ’60s and early ’70s, and _nobody_ was doing Swing. Talk about a total victory of Abstract styling …!)
Lindy and East Coast have retained their cores, in large part, by sticking with the Big Band music that made them famous. This insulates those dance styles from a lot of change. West Coast, on the other hand, is constantly vulnerable to the latest trends in music. This keeps it “relevant” but malleable.
You mention a cabal of manipulators “above the judges”. KKE thinks it’s certain star dancers and “nissies” who bully other participants. Can you pinpoint the group you think is trying to steer West Coast?
Thanks for your super-sized reply! You might want to post it elsewhere in the online West Coast community so others can get your perspective.
Mike Daniele
2012 February 9
Jim,
Your question, “Can you pinpoint the group you think is trying to steer West Coast?”, calls for writing ‘lots of stuff’.
Would it be appropriate for me to get back to you, on this matter, by the end of February?
“Pinpoint”, may be more like a ‘broad stroke’.
I will do my best.
Sincerely,
Mike
Jim Hull
2012 February 9
Go ahead and have fun with it. Try to keep it as short as possible — people tend to skip past long stuff, so your insights would get missed — even if that requires more effort. (Bear in mind Pascal’s insight: “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.”)
Jon
2012 June 14
The same argument took place in the Blues dance world a few years ago; some dancers wanted to dance what they wanted to call “Blues” to current pop music – essentially, the same music that contemporary WCS DJs play. But there was an early and strong intervention by leading Blues instructors and organizers who were very clear that Blues music *defined* Blues dancing. The result was a (more or less amicable, with some continued sniping) split into related Blues and “Fusion” dance scenes, rather than the WCS approach of trying to force both into the same framework. Altogether a healthier outcome. It’s way too late for anything like that in WCS now – if it ever could have happened at all – so the arguments will continue.
Jim Hull
2012 June 14
I believe West Coast has, since its popularization in the 1940s, always been danced to Pop music (but don’t quote me), unlike the rest of Swing, which stayed with Big Band jazz. But there’s always a Westies crowd who prefer blues tunes, old and new, which of course are somewhat off the beaten Pop track but which add spice to an evening’s dance. Music does affect the styling of any dance form, and my sense is that many of the conservatives simply preferred the Pop music that was being played when they first started dancing West Coast. I’m fine with the current popularity of Hip Hop Pop and Girl Band dance music and so forth, and I fully understand that, some day, perhaps the dance and its music will wander away from my tastes. Nothing lasts forever.
gregbo
2013 July 9
I think it’s unfortunate that this can’t be handled like it is in Smooth Ballroom Pro competitions, where the dancers are allowed to use open choreography instead of having to stick to a specified set of figures. For example, in the video below, you can see a lot of “improvisation”, (Some might call it “flexibility”.) But the oft-repeated response to having open choreography divisions (or new divisions of any kind) is that there are already too many competitions, the social dancing doesn’t start until after midnight, etc.
Jim Hull
2013 July 14
Is this an improv event? In any case, the couples seem to be conforming to basic foxtrot standards.
The complaint about West Coast competitions is that, sometimes, you barely see any West Coast steps at all. If there are none, then what dance is it?
gregbo
2013 July 15
It’s not an improv event. However, there is more flexibility allowed in the choreography than in the closed divisions.
Part of the problem with WCS now is that you can’t really define things like “minimum required swing content” when there is no agreement on a syllabus.
Jim Hull
2013 July 15
I wonder how they might get everyone in the competition arena to agree on what constitutes “West Coast Swing”. The answer might be political more than artistic.
gregbo
2013 July 18
Another wrinkle is that the rules at the various competitions could be interpreted as permissive of a wide variety of stylings to a wide variety of music, including hip-hop, funk, and other types of funky music.
Here are the rules from the NASDE site:
NASDE Swing Dance Competition Divisions
NASDE sponsors the swing dance competition divisions of Showcase, Classic, and Strictly Swing to help promote, preserve, and improve swing dancing. The objective is to provide a competitive performance venue for the various unique styles of swing that have developed across the nation to include the Carolina Shag, Dallas Push, East Coast Swing, Hand Dancing, Hollywood Swing, Houston Whip, Imperial Swing, Jive, Jitterbug, Lindy Hop, Rock-n-Roll, and West Coast Swing, to name a few.
NASDE Statement of Swing
NASDE Statement of Swing to be used to identify the presence of swing in the NASDE competition divisions. Swing is an American Rhythm Dance based on a foundation of 6-beat and 8-beat patterns that incorporate a wide variety of rhythms built on 2-beat single, delayed, double, triple, and blank rhythm units. The 6-beat patterns include, but are not limited to, passes, underarm turns, push-breaks, open-to closed, and closed-to-open position patterns. The 8-beat patterns include, but are not limited to, whips, swing-outs, Lindy circles, and Shag pivots. Although they are not part of the foundation of the dance as stated above, 2- beat and 4-beat extension rhythm breaks may be incorporated to extend a pattern, to phrase the music, and/or to accent breaks.
So a competition with a 60% swing content rule leaves quite a bit of room for incorporating other recognized Swing dances that may feature patterns and stylings that are not necessarily thought of as Swing. For example, consider Hand Dancing, which has also evolved from patterns and stylings more associated with traditional “swing” music to a more “contemporary” style incorporating hip-hop. Also, Charleston steps can easily be adapted to many funky and hip-hop songs. Even some J&J competitions that feature a 90% swing content rule, where the majority of the content must be WCS, still leave a lot of latitude for “contemporary” dancing.
This video includes the evolution of Hand Dancing from its roots in Lindy Hop to how it’s danced today, including a segment with dancers who entered the 2009 US Open competition.
Jim Hull
2013 July 18
My concern is that, in some competitions, dancers don’t get anywhere near the minimum 60% rule. Anyway, interesting info. Thanks.
Jules
2012 September 19
I am not so sure Katherine is a lovely person. She was mean and vindictive in her commentary and worst of all, even though she supposedly has a B.A. in English Literature her blog and website that represents her is full of spelling errors. That’s utterly unprofessional and coupled with her attitude really makes me wonder about her motivations.
Jim Hull
2012 September 19
I’m not sure how to think about her anymore. She’s gotten on her soapbox about porn addiction, which seems to stray from the topic at hand. Reading between the lines, her rancor toward higher-ups in the Westies world bespeaks unfinished political battles that she’s taken to the public, as if recruiting us to join her in a private war. As for her writing: she’s got lots of talent and knows how to spin a compelling tale that makes you want to read to the end. If nothing else, she’s interesting.
azdancer
2012 October 10
Katherine’s articles about abstract WCS really described what’s going on in my area.
Here is what I can’t understand: Why do all the group lessons teach us WCS, but when the dancing begins none of the people dance anything like what we were taught?
This describes every group lesson I go to in studios throughout my metro area:
1. A beginner and intermediate lesson is given. All music is standard blues and all steps are derived from regular basics and whip timing.
2. Easy to dance to swing music is played for about ½ hour after the lessons. Most of the people who take the lesson stay around and dance.
3. Then contemporary music is played.
4. Most people who took the lesson leave.
5. Lots of young dancers arrive.
6. All music played is contemporary.
7. Most older dancers leave.
8. Young people dominate the studio.
Probably the worst thing for me is that the women who didn’t leave dancing early don’t feel comfortable dancing with me – and I have a tough time leading them because I expect them to anchor and have connection – and I haven’t been dancing enough to learn much about styling. It’s no fun for me or the ladies.
Competitions are even weirder. Judges tell newcomers and novices that all footwork must be standard timing. The novices and above that win don’t use much standard timing while the ones that do lose.
So, to reiterate the question: Why do the group lessons teach us guys how to lead a dance that fewer and fewer women want to do socially? Why do the judges tell us to do traditional WCS but give awards to couples who never do a triple step?
Jim Hull
2012 October 10
Dance moves learned during open lessons almost never conquer the floor afterward, in West Coast or any other form. The point of lessons, aside from meeting partners and practicing with them, is to learn lots of little variations — not so much to memorize them as complete patterns, but to help create a vocabulary of moves from which you can later improvise the poetry of the dance. Having said that, I agree that it can be frustrating to work so hard at a new choreography, only to have it fade away, never to be seen again. I suggest you remember some central, emblematic move from each lesson, and adapt that move into your social dancing.
You say, “I haven’t been dancing enough to learn much about styling. It’s no fun for me or the ladies.” You’ve put your finger on the problem. It took me two full years to break through and get accepted by Westies dancers — and I danced professionally in my youth! West Coast is HARD to learn. It has lots of elaborate steps (most of which descend from Lindy Hop) … plus it has very particular styling … plus the push-pull of the anchor step must be done just right. Worse, West Coast is an international competition dance, so the people who do it tend to be more judgmental. Worse still, good dancers don’t particularly want to hold your hand while you learn how to catch up to their skill level. I resented all of this at first, but eventually I came to understand that if I wanted to play with the big kids I had to master the game. Still, I personally make a point of doing some dances with beginners, because I know how painful it can be to feel unwanted on a Westies dance floor.
It looks cool and suave and fun, but West Coast is not an offhand dance. It’s complicated, and you must earn your place on the floor. That’s not very kind, but the reward is a well turned West Coast dance, which can be terrific fun and very satisfying.
Don’t let the young kids put you off! Study the best of them — they’re the next generation, and they’re influencing the styling and footwork of a dance that’s ever-changing (Katherine Eastvold’s objections notwithstanding). As you watch good dancers of any age, your brain’s mirror neurons will absorb the technique and styling automatically and quickly you’ll get better.
You might want to consider taking some privates to speed up your progress. A few lessons, though pricey, can be money well spent. (I had a couple of privates that cleaned up errors I didn’t know I was making, revolutionized my technique, and helped me break through, finally, to acceptance and success on the dance floor.)
Competition dancing is somewhat different from social dancing; the onslaught of TV dance shows — and the intensity of the competition itself — has warped the choreography. I worried that social Westies would, through the “abstract” influence of dance conventions, melt into something entirely different, but in ten years I’ve not seen casual dancing change much in choreography. The styling of the dance has changed somewhat, in part due to the shift in rhythmic trends in the pop music to which West Coast continually adapts (again, Katherine’s objections notwithstanding).
Yes, learning West Coast can make your ego feel like it’s getting beat up in a bar fight. But, as your drinking buddies might urge, “Get back in there and keep swinging!” (Pardon the pun.) You’ll start winning. Good luck!
azdancer
2012 October 24
You didn’t address one of my basic questions: Considering that the studio is playing contemporary music why is it that they teach us a traditional wcs style that can’t be danced with the music? I feel that if they want to play that non-swing music genre then they should be teaching us to dance to it.
WCSIntermediate@sharklasers.com
2015 October 18
azdancer – you nailed Jim to the wall, again! (isn’t this exactly what Katherine in talking about?) Notice that Jim answered you by immediately changing your discussion into one of “patterns” & “choreography”. He does admit with a wink that lessons don’t concur the dance floor….. what he should have just come clean and admitted that they don’t apply at all! THAT was your question, and over again, and you still didn’t get a clean answer.
This conversation was an amazing clean and simple example of what Katherine is talking about – the very minute somebody poses a simple question……. it goes into subterfuge, no cognizant answer at all.
You were correct Mr. azdancer, there is a MASSIVE disconnect between the classes, the judges and the dance floor, and THAT’S WHY WCS IS SUCH A MESS TODAY!
Jim Hull
2012 October 24
I don’t know what your specific studio is teaching, but the original styling for West Coast Swing was more bouncy and fast than today’s. Now, with the heavy Pop beat and slower (Hustle-speed) tempos, the dance style is much smoother.
Go to YouTube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1wRoDVu2NQ ) to watch West Coast Swing inventor Dean Collins and his troupe in 1983 on the Steve Allen Show, and get a sense of the older style. The video has poor resolution, but you can work with it. (The young woman with long dark hair — on the left at the beginning of the video — is Mary Ann Nunez, who’s won all the awards and teaches today in Southern California and around the world.) You’ll see that West Coast Swing today is essentially the same dance from decades ago, but the styling and tempo have slowed and gotten smoother.
It’s a matter of taste (and generations): many people long for the old days, while the younger dancers usually seem quite at home with modern styling.
The trick, I think, is to get into the feel of modern Pop music — it helps if you like the sound, lest you resist it — and allow your feelings to guide you. When in doubt, watch the best couples, and let the mirror neurons in your head soak up the styling. You’ll be surprised at how much your dancing can change simply by watching good dancers.
Finally, ask your teacher to explain the differences between old Westies and new. S/he may disagree with me or not, but that input will add to your store of knowledge.
azdancer
2012 October 25
Your link was an excellent example of the style that is taught at every studio I have been to in my metro area. That style bears almost no resemblance to the “West Coast” that is done to contemporary music by the young dancers in the studios I frequent. Watch this youtube for an example:
One of the most obvious differences is that the footwork contains no triple steps — and for significant periods of time the lead doesn’t even step. When the lead does step it’s mostly on the beat in a fashion that is similar to merengue or other simple dances.
Pam0284
2013 July 1
When you become more advanced you don’t do triple steps all the time – it gets boring. That’s a basic, although I do still enjoy them. You can replace a triple step with a single step- it still puts you on the correct foot. You can also replace 2 weight changes with 0 or 4. You’re probably mistaking dancing at a higher level for dancing “wrong” because you don’t know how to do it.
Jim Hull
2013 July 1
Pam0284: Let me jump in and say that I’ve seen pros do excellent West Coast styling with nary a Sugar Push, and it looked fine to me. So I agree that it’s not required. (Dean Collins might disagree, but that’s another story.) 🙂 On the other hand, there are sometimes competitors who perform a dance that only vaguely resembles West Coast, and that’s what gives some of us pause. Will West Coast evaporate into some sort of mashup of Jazz dance and random wildness?
In short, I’m on the fence: some new stuff fits right into the spirit of Westies, while some seems to convert West Coast into something barely recognizable. On the day when the last basic step is dropped, that will be the day when West Coast disappears, because by then everyone will have become REALLY bored … by all the randomness. The challenge for choreographers is to update the traditions without throwing them away. That’s hard to do in the Age of TV Dancing, when everything must be New, New New! So it’s a dilemma.
Ultimately, West Coast will end up where it wants to; it isn’t something any one of us or any group can dictate. It’s bigger than we are; it’s resilient, with a will of its own. We can debate it till the cows come home, and then West Coast will go and do whatever it’s going to do.
Jim Hull
2012 October 25
AZ DANCER: Your link shows competition dancers, who dance somewhat differently from most social dancers. All ballroom and related dance styles have been heavily influenced by TV dance shows, where all bets are off because ratings are everything. They’re fun to watch, but they’re not authentic by a long shot. This may put pressure on local teachers to “show that routine they did on TV.”
Meanwhile, young dancers are probably changing the styling and footwork of West Coast. Maybe they’re being lazy and dropping triple steps; maybe there’s intense social pressure among them to conform to a particular style that sets them apart from the oldsters. Who knows? It’s not against the law for them to dance that way; if you don’t like that style, don’t dance with them! There are plenty of dancers who’ll be quite happy with the older style. And, as long as your anchor and lead or follow stay consistent, most dancers are more concerned with their own styling than with critiquing yours.
The dance instructors I’ve seen in the L.A. area at, e.g., Hacienda and Sonny Watson and Borderline and TGIF, don’t teach competition choreographies to their open classes but, instead, teach short combinations that are intended to add to social dancers’ vocabularies. Some may lately be adding bits of Abstract to their general lessons; I’m not watching them closely. But so far there doesn’t seem to be a wholesale decampment from regular West Coast to Abstract.
Again, Katherine Eastvold is the go-to gal for concerns about the invasion of Abstract dance technique into West Coast. She might be able to suggest teachers local to you who avoid Abstract.
ivr
2013 April 3
I too also see alot of dancers dancing like the couple above in Jack and Jills specially in intermediate and advance categories. Maybe it’s the music, technique of dancers, styling or all 3 elements playing with each other.
Anchoring with triples is not necessary in my opinion, just as long as you have body flight .
and control of your “center” whenever you’re coming in towards or away from your partner, like a pendulum. This pendulum-like movement can also be observed in other swing dances.
I believe that you can still dance old school/classic WCS to contemporary songs but it takes alot of practice, drilling, and repetition, and requires more listening and musicality (on top of mastering and continually working on triple steps “old school style”).
I find that songs played in the video above from KKE’s link is one of the hardest type of contemporary songs one can dance to. Most of them are lyrical or pop that have a fast beat, but the lyrics/spoken words drag.
Examples:
Inger Marie – Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
John Mayer – Heartbreak Warfare
Michael Morrison – Man in the Mirror
These songs call for bigger upper body styling like what you see in contemporary dances (perhaps dancers want to interpret the emotion that the song might be evoking), which in turn you loose some control over your “center” and messes with body flight.
If you try dancing to the 3 songs I’ve listed as an example, your body’s tendency is to follow the timing of the major beat of the songs, but the singers talk about heartbreak, being away from a significant other, or problems in general. Triple stepping at the end of all patterns and every 3s is kind of awkward in my opinion. I’m not saying omit triple steps in such songs, but use it sparingly as doing triple step in every pattern and not waiting for the lead on the 1 makes the dance look a bit like it’s been fast forwarded (as if dancers are in a rush).
Sharlot and Mark
Here’s a nice example of a follower utilizing single rhythms during main phrases and to emphasize certain phrases or beat, Sharlot uses doubles or triples. When using single rhythms, her body flight and center is away from the leader which create a pendulum effect. It looks amazing when done properly and a little styling goes a long way.
Fabio
2013 July 3
I believe body flight is extremely important to basic WCS. To be specific, I understand body flight to mean the principle of maintaining even, steady movement of one’s center of gravity throughout their movement across the floor, particularly for the follower.
If as you claim the music you posted above “messes” with body flight, I would just qualify that this is not a necessarily bad thing for the dance. Instead, I would characterize body flight as a basic technique that once mastered can be applied as needed (i.e. by default), or selectively avoided in order to modify one’s dancing if a delayed (or stacato) motion would be more appropriate (i.e. better, not worse). Like the “disappearing” triple steps that become singles, you can’t look at someone that is not using the technique and claim this as evidence that they have not learned the technique; rather they have mastered it to the point where they can replace it with something more appropriate to the situation that still achieves the correct outcome.
To make a rather obvious but hopefully compelling example: you are skilled at walking, and have mastered the basic walking technique of “foot flight” (wherein your feet glide just barely over the ground as they travel forward). One day, you are walking in tall grass and since you are good at walking, you are easily able to adapt your walking by reducing your “foot flight” and bringing your feet high off the ground with each step. An onlooker might think you must be a bad walker since you are not using the basic technique of foot flight, but they would actually be arriving at the exactly the wrong conclusion!
Now replace “walking” (an activity) with “swing dancing”; “foot flight” (a technique) with “body flight”; “in tall grass” (a context surrounding the activity) with “to slow music”; and “bringing your feet high off the ground with each step” with “dancing with delayed body movement” (a modification of the basic technique that is more appropriate in the given context)
Jim Hull
2013 July 3
For those wondering what this doctrinal dispute is all about, let’s review: Body flight is basically the art of flowing through from one step to the next. For example, in Tango the couple comes to abrupt halts, while in West Coast (and many other dances) the dancers are in almost continuous motion. Even the anchor step and the “push” in the Sugar Push are “spring loaded”, as the dancers smoothly reverse direction to move toward or away from each other. West Coast has gotten more into body flight as the dance has evolved and smoothed out, reflecting the evolving smoothness of the latest music to which it’s danced.
Watch the West Coast dance videos KKE prefers, which are danced to music from 20 to 25 years ago, and you’ll see the difference in musical rhythms, which translate naturally into a slightly faster, bouncier dance style back then. Go all the way back to the 1940s and ’50s, and West Coast looks like a slower, slotted Lindy Hop with plenty of bounce. Westies have evolved a lot over the decades.
As for triple steps, they’re fundamental to Swing Dance, especially as part of the basic 6-count step in East Coast Swing (which is itself a resting step in the very energetic Lindy Hop). It’s “triple-step, triple-step, rock-step”. Now take that 6-count pattern, put it into a slot, shift it around a bit, and you have a basic Sugar Push. BUT: one of the triple-steps tends to get lost, especially for the man, whose basic Sugar Push is (roughly) back-back, touch-step, triple-step. (The second triple-step has morphed into the “touch-step”.) So West Coast, by its nature, has already lost a triple-step.
The problem occurs when some super-modern West Coast competitors do away entirely with triple steps — and other basic steps — as if those are old-fashioned and nerdy. “We don’t need restrictions! We’re GENIUSES! We can do anything we want. We’re beyond compare! And nobody can stop us!” (Top dancers do need a bit of arrogance to make it to the finals.) 🙂 But basic steps give solidity to West Coast and prevent it from floating off into space and disappearing. If competitors discard everything unique about West Coast, it will cease to be West Coast and become a lot of unfocused motion, at which point the competitors may feel totally liberated but everyone else will simply lose interest, shrugging and wondering, “What ever happened to Westies?”
Despite the TV-inspired, hyper-active choreography lately on display at championships, more traditional West Coast seems alive and well at social dance clubs in Southern California. The steps do continue to evolve, but much more slowly than at contests. Apparently, innovation comes from the competitions, while stability comes from the social dances.
Jim Hull
2013 April 4
The three songs you present, above, are all at the slow end of the West Coast tempo spectrum, and steps and styling will tend to be exaggerated, if only to fill in all that extra time. (Most tunes at Southern California clubs are faster — I’m guessing about 110 bpm.) Sharlot and Mark look very good, though they’re dancing to as slow a rhythm as you can get without collapsing into Night Club Two-Step…!
Agreed, there’s no need to be punctilious about triple steps — or, for that matter, doing too many Sugar Pushes — as long as the basic feel of West Coast is there in the choreography.
keylawk
2013 September 29
Brilliant. Just read the feature and excellent Comments. Epic! Dancing is important. Keep it up. Beast!
Jim Hull
2013 September 30
Tom: thanks. West Coast is a complicated, difficult dance, and in the background is all this political stuff. But casual dancers seem able to keep it going in roughly the same way it’s always been, even if the dance evolves somewhat over the years in step with the pop music to which it’s danced. Like I said, complicated. But worthwhile and sexy and beautiful.
WCSIntermediate@sharklasers.com
2015 October 18
“keep it going” ?
“roughly the same way”?
“evolves somewhat”?
Again, very much dismissive of the points brought up above.
Notice that ALL of what you just said is diminutive, when in fact the changes are MASSIVE and not healthy at all. Contrived is probably the best word to describe these changes that would not naturally happen outside the folks in power.
Reading so many of your dismissive replies, one wonders about your connection to “the 10” that is so often referred to nowadays.
Jim Hull
2015 October 18
I’ve been a bad boy again.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(By the way, “diminutive” means something other than what you seem to have intended.)
I’ve fallen away from West Coast in the years since I posted the last reply, so I’m not up on the latest, and wouldn’t know “The 10” if they did an Abstract sashay right in front of me. You refer to yourself as “Intermediate”, so I’ll concede that you’re the expert now. Go forth and do battle.