Dancing Styles

Swing Dancing

Lindy Hop

Lindy Hop is the grandfather of all swing dancing. It developed out of the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, New York during the 1920s and 1930s. It is primarily an 8-count dance with some 6-count patterns. It is characterized by very dynamic and flowing movements. It can be fast and frantic or slow and smooth. At its best, it is improvised and spontaneous with a true lead follow relationship between the dancers and the music.

East Coast Swing

East Coast Swing is one of the first descendants of Lindy Hop and one of the most popular styles of swing dancing today. It is considered a simple dance with primarily 6-count figures using either single or triple steps. The dance is usually a patterned dance with great energy, excitement, activity and turns. Other names for this style are Jitterbug, Jive or Swing.

Blues

Blues is a style of dancing to slow tempo music that developed out of African rhythms and body movements. Most likely due to its slow and subtle nature, it was never really practiced as a performance or common social dance until its recent resurgence. The focus of blues is on the physical connection and communication with your partner and the music. It is impossible to properly learn blues by observing. It is something that must be experienced to truly appreciate it.

Balboa & Bal-Swing

Balboa is an 8-count partnered dance and not truly a swing dance - although it is primarily danced by swing dancers. It developed in Southern California out of the necessity to dance on very full dance floors. Balboa is done with partners pressed up against each other (basically glued together) with fast fancy footwork but little whole body movement. Bal-swing breaks the tight closed position and allows for flashing figures that move partners away from each other.

Charleston

Charleston evolved from the roaring 20s with the classic flappers and eventually grew into Lindy Hop. There are various styles including side by side, 20s and tandom (front to back). There are hundreds of patterns of Charleston to learn and most are characterized by flashy kicking actions.

Shag

Shag has numerous variations including Carolina, Collegiate, St.Louis and more. It is a 6-count dance with partners primarily facing each other. It has a lot of hopping steps with many footwork variations and only a few turns. Apparently this is to make it easy to do on a beach with a beer in one hand and a girl in the other.

Latin Dancing

Salsa

Salsa is probably the most popular form of Latin dancing. The name is derived from the Spanish word for "hot sauce". There are numerous forms and styles of the dance. It is an 8-count dance (2 sets of 4 beats) with each set of 4 beats consisting of 3 steps and 1 hold. There is an infinite amount of figures, patterns and stylings to express yourself through your dancing.

Merengue

Merengue is a lively, joyful and energetic style of dancing considered to originate in the Dominican Republic. It based on a 2-step rhythm with tremendous hip motion. Partners typically dance in a closed position taking small steps to move in forward, backward, sideways or circular directions.

Bachata

Bachata is a slightly slower more sensual dance that originated in the Dominican Republic. The lyrics of Bachata songs are romantic and/or heartbreaking. The music has a very characteristic rhythm. The body movements and steps of the dance are comparable to Lambada.