West Coast Swing
West Coast Swing can be danced to almost any music written in 4/4 time at speeds
ranging from very slow to very fast, but the character of the dance changes over
that range. At the slowest speeds the dance tends to exhibit a highly elastic connection
with the possibility of very sexy, "slinky" walks for the lady, and a
slight backward leaning poise at the full extent of the connection. At faster speeds
the partners become more upright and the connection shortens with more of a "push
and pull" feel and look.
Two styles of West Coast are "Classic W.C. Swing (pulsing down) and "Funky
or Contemporary W.C. Swing" (pulsing up) with the basic steps being exactly
the same. Dancing to different types of music gives a different feel and look.
Classic WCS
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.
Funky WCS
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: "1&2"; "3&4"; "5&6"; etc., to match
the music.
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. "Funky "and "classic" styling
may be performed to any genre of music.
West Coast Swing History
It is believed that the origins of the WCS are in Lindy Hop. Dean Collins was influential
in developing the style of swing danced on the West Coast of the United States.
Collins arrived in the Los Angeles area around 1937.
In a 1947 book, Arthur Murray recognized that, "There are hundreds of regional
dances of the Jitterbug type. Each section of the country seems to have a variation
of its own." One of Murray's dance instructors, Lauré Haile, documented swing
dancing as done in the Los Angeles area. She named it "Western Swing".
In 1951 she first published her dance notes as a syllabus, which included Western
Swing for the Santa Monica Arthur Murray Dance Studio. This dance was also called
"Sophisticated Swing" in the 1950s.
Western swing, country boogie, and, with a smaller audience, jump blues were popular
on the West Coast throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s when they were renamed
and marketed as rock 'n' roll in 1954. Dancers danced "a 'swingier' - more
smooth and subdued" form of Jitterbug to Western Swing music.
West Coast Swing is the basis for the dancing in the rehearsal scene in “Hot Rod
Gang” (1958). Music is supplied by rockabilly musician Gene Vincent’s “Dance to
the Bop”. The song alternates between very slow sections and those with the rapid
pace and high energy of rockabilly. Choreographer Dick DiAugustine includes recognizable
patterns such as the chicken walk, swing out from closed position, etc, along with
the classic woman’s walk walk triple step triple step at the end of the slot. On
the final step of the second triple the women are weighted left with the right heel
on the floor and the toes pointed up. Dancers also do classic Lindy flips at the
end of the slot, as well as non partner, non West Coast Swing movements.
The name "West Coast Swing" was used in a little known hand book for Arthur
Murray dance studio teachers in the 1950s, but the Murray studios used the term
"Western Swing" on charts. West Coast Swing as the name of the dance in
its current form was first used in an advertisement by Skippy Blair in 1962, but
wasn't incorporated into mainstream swing circles until the late 1960s. Blair credits
Jim Bannister, editor of the Herald American newspaper in Downey, for suggesting
the name West Coast Swing.
Murray's taught Western Swing with the walk steps as counts 5 and 6, following a
coaster step on counts 3&4. Although the dance remained basically the same,
the Golden State Dance Teachers Association began teaching the walk steps as counts
1 and 2, and with an anchor step replacing the coaster step in 1958.
In 1988, West Coast Swing was pronounced the Official State Dance of California.
