Why Swing Music?
Swing dances all used to have something in common…Triple Foot rhythm. In West Cost Swing we walk walk then triple triple. In East Coast Swing they Triple Triple before the Rock Step. In Lindy Hop there is Walk Walk Triple Walk Walk Triple. With patterns, dancers, and music that cross over from one to the other, it seemed that region was the only separating characteristic between all of the different swing dances in the 60’s. 1970 brought with it a shift in music and along with it a shift in West Coast Swing. The other dances relied so heavily on the swing rhythm in the music and as such only could work if danced to popular music that swung i.e. had a triple rhythm build in to the beat (like the Elvis song “All Shook Up”). When disco hit, the music that spawned Hustle, it drew WCS dancers out to the clubs where a new cross over began to happen.
WCS absorbed quite a bit of Hustle into its movements and Hustle music began being played at WCS events. This was where WCS showed both its weakness and its strength. The strength was that the movements of WCS proved adaptable to other styles of music which open things up big time for DJs and Swing promoters. 70’s Hustle Bands played music that sounded “Swung” (see video on the difference between swung and unsung music). Although the drummers were not giving Swing dancers swung eighth notes but there were straight eighth notes and therefore swing could be faked to those songs. This new found strength made a lot of people a lot of money because without limitations on music more people could be included into the dance. If you danced Swing, Cha-Cha, Rumba, Foxtrot, Hustle, Lindy, East Coast Swing, or just enjoyed shaking your booty in the corner with your friends, you could be marketed to and made to feel at home. This time period in swing focused more on the fun side of dancing by way of filling the club with bodies and less on actual technique. As a dance WCS suffered greatly by losing its identifying music but gained a much larger and more loyal following in the process.
By finding place to triple in music that does not swing and by adapting it self to so many different styles of music West Coast Swing lost its identity there by exposing its weakness. Ballroom Studios stopped taking the dance seriously as it quickly became a non-syllabus red headed step child in the world of dance. As WCS grew in “Street Cred” to those who danced it week in and week out, it lost its appeal to the more trained dancers. The line used by promoters and teachers “You can dance “West Coast” to any music accept for waltz” did even more damage. DJs and dancers alike took this mantra to heart and began experimenting with different beats, rhythms, and genres creeping closer and closer to the straight “4 on the floor” dance music of today’s conventions.
Without a musical guiding light West Coast Swing is lost. In the same way that Waltz dancing needs Waltz music, Swing dancing needs Swing music. Its fun to play around with other genres and push your self once in a while. I for one enjoy doing waltz patterns in my Two-Step. When I waltz for real…When technique matters…and When I am trying to be the best Waltzer that I can be…I need the right music!
This Friday is a brand new Intermediate Intensive called “Tuck You!” We are going to explore the many options and variations of the tuck turn. You won’t do them the same afterward once you learn some of the key secrets that bring them from good to damn near perfect!
$20
7-10:30pm
DNE School of Dance
78 Princeton St
N. Chelmsford, MA
Pizza, Lesson, and Dancing included
Swung vs not swung http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLzYw9hcQFQ