Same Sex Dance Camp June 27 & 28, 2008

Swing is many things:

Swing developed from the dance the Charleston. Partners dancing closely broke away from each other and then came back together. This "swing out" became known as Lindy Hop in the late 1920¹s when Charles Lindbergh took his historic transatlantic flight (Lindy hopped the Pond). Jitterbug was a slang term for Swing The Queer word "Jitterbug" It was primarily danced in African American clubs in Harlem like the Savoy Ballroom. Although an identity of Queer culture was not as it is now Men would dance with each other to learn new steps and so would Women! If we only new what was happening in those seedy speakeasy's, underground Homosexual clubs, and Harlem dance clubs; Black clubs actually didn't care too much if Homosexuals were there. Dance was an escape during the Depression era for some and through W.W.II a distraction.

Many swing styles are done today; The original swing, Lindy Hop, is danced with 6 and 8 count steps and improvisations; the original style is called "Savoy" because of the notoriety of the Savoy Ballroom and it's dancers like Frankie Manning, Al Minns and Leon James. Later the 6 count, some call the Jitterbug, led to the dance now known as East Coast Swing. Other styles grew from this original Lindy Hop.

Lindy Hop Styles:
"Hollywood" or "Smooth" Style Lindy Hop is another style that puts more emphasis on footwork and triple steps. Movements and posture are slightly different than Savoy style and the actual swing out or whip looks smoother. Danced in Southern California since the thirties, it was spurred on by the teaching and performance of Dean Collins. Originally a Savoy Ballroom dancer, Collins brought what he had learned in Harlem to L.A. Collins and his dancers appeared in a large number of Hollywood films in the forties and fifties. The term "Hollywood" is from teachers Eric and Sylvia. There are numerous styles of Smooth Style; for instance Smooth from Northern California may be slightly different than that of Southern California Smooth dancers.

West Coast Swing also another dance is a form of Lindy Hop usually done to slower, bluesier music; It is California's state dance!

Balboa is:

Danced in closed position, fairly upright posture with both partners standing 'chest to chest.' Its simplicity and economy of movement make it suited to fast tempo music. But can be danced to all tempos!

Started in the early 1930's by dancers in the Los Angeles area such as Maxie Dorf, Willie Desatoff, Hal Takier & Ann Mills, to mention but a few. The dance was named after Balboa Island in the Newport Beach area which was the location of the Rendezvous Ballroom. The dance is known for its romantic closeness, fast and fancy footwork and effortless flow. This is a dance you perform to songs as slow as Tuxedo Junction or as fast as White Heat!

Balboa has two main forms.

Pure Balboa: In this form, dancers remain with their torsos touching, doing variations based on footwork. Main footwork variations include single-time Balboa, double-time Balboa, and triple-time Balboa.

Bal Swing: In this form, dancers separate their bodies for spins and turns, much like in swing dance, returning to pure Balboa on occasion.

Charleston is:
Social dance of the United States popular in the mid-1920s. The Charleston is characterized by outward heel kicks combined with an up-and-down movement achieved by bending and straightening the knees in time to the syncopated 4/4 rhythm of ragtime jazz. The steps are thought to have originated with the African Americans living on a small island near Charleston, S.C. Performed in Charleston as early as 1903, the dance made its way into Harlem stage shows by 1913. The male chorus line danced and sang James P. Johnson's "Charleston" in the musical Runnin' Wild on Broadway in 1923. Both dance and song, expressive of the reckless daring, abandon, and restlessness of the jazz-age flappers, soon became the rage throughout the United States.

Collegiate Shag is:
Originated in the 1930’s. Parents wanted their children to learn Waltz and other partner dances, but the younger generation didn’t want anything to do with that. They decided to learn but to make it as crazy as possible. Thus Collegiate Shag was born. It was hugely popular with the college kids, hence the name, all across the United States. It was so popular that Arthur Murray even made it part of his curriculum. He cleaned it up and made it really smooth, creating two schools of shag, Wild and Crazy & Smooth and Quiet. Collegiate Shag can be anything you want it to be, and that’s the fun of it. Collegiate Shag is a 6 count dance and anything can be incorporated into it, including East Coast Swing.

There is even Country Swing; In Europe and Australia, swing dance styles include Boogie Woogie, Ceroc, Rock'n'Roll, etc;

In Ballroom competitions Swing is only danced with 6 counts similar to East Coast but more upright, it is called Jive.

Information for the history of swing was gathered from various sources; Please refer to the sites below:

This was swing history in a nutshell from various sources. Learn about your own favorite dance; here are some other sites with swing history:

http://www.centralhome.com/ballroom country/swing.htm
http://www.uwswing.com/history.html
http://www.swingmonterey.org/swinghistory.htm
http://www.lindyhop.co.uk
http://www.savoystyle.com
http://www.sfjitterbugs.com or http://www.oldtimey.net/tanoajulia.html