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West Coast Swing
West Coast Swing is variation of Lindy Hop. The dance developed in California because of crowded nightclubs people would dance in a linear or slot fashion. This movement has the man starting taking two walking steps back and then a triple step with one step forward and then ending with another triple or an anchor step. The basic West Coast Swing timing is 6 count like east coast but it changes frequently and can be danced with 8 counts or more.
The dance itself is the official state dance of California. It's origins are definitely Lindy Hop, but oh baby so much has changed. The distinctive slot dancing originated as early as 1938 in the San Diego dance halls. The kicking Jitterbugs would bounce around the middle of the floor while the smooth dancers stayed on the edges. Many of the United States Navy officers seemed to be exploring the smooth style, or were just to drunk to do anything but let the woman go back and forth.
Around 1938, the song "Sophisticated Swing" had been recorded by several bands, including Bunny Berrigan and Woody Herman. The lyrics of the song were about a new dance style. "Sophisticated Swing" was the first generic name of what eventually became known as West Coast Swing. When southerners today refer to "swing," they are not using the term generically: it is their name for West Coast Swing. This how they distinguish it's similar look from their own regional dance, the Carolina Shag.
This a 5/03 addenda from a gentleman who was close to the scene (and prefers anonymity): "...When I got out of the Korean war in 1954 (I was 21), I went to work for Arthur Murray in Seattle. At work we called it Sophisticated Swing (Arthur Murray's term) but at night (5 nights a week) we went out of town and danced WEST COAST SWING, and all the folks around Seattle called it West Coast Swing. In 1954, I taught with a guy that was in his late 50's and he told me how he learned to dance the West Coast in California in the late 1930's, and they called it West Coast Swing..."
Current WCS styles have many considerable variations. Modern West Coast can be danced in a conservative upright posture, smooth and warm, or a funky, hot partnered jazz dance. A bit more self conscious than the 40's Jitterbug, one of the most generic names for West Coast was sophisticated swing. The current "Cosmo-girl" approach in which the woman explores her flirtatious sexuality to the max is by no means universal, although it does have its historical precedent in the dance. Same comments on the "I'm just a gigolo" style of some men. WCS can be chaste, I suppose but is that authentic? You tell me. However lots of room left for the woman to play is definitely a characteristic of this dance.
When the Jitterbug had been banned from pretty much every serious dance hall in the late 40's (to many injuries to self and others incurred by jumps and kicks etc.) "Sophisticated Swing" began to flourish. The real drive behind the dance came around 1950 in the Arthur Murray studios. This man spent large amounts on the research and development of the dance. He can be credited with the first codifications of West Coast, and it's next name WESTERN SWING. The follower will walk forward at the beginning of patterns became a standard in his studios. Where did this forward walk come from? The Swing-era leaders infatuated with the "WHIP" move, with its follower stepping walk, walk (instead of rock step) probably helped evolve the entire genre. Also followers, if a leader pulls you forward while you are trying to rock back, guess which direction you are going to go?
By the 50's the Rhythm and Blues music had become a real WC standard. Although 50's R&B had nothing on what we have today. Also plenty of WC dancers still enjoy smooth swing to music that others might use for a foxtrot. 112-120 beats per minute is preferred. Although for some things really heat up at 90-100 bpm: "Sleaze Music". In the post disco era groove dancers thrived on non-swing 120-ish bpm disco. Disgusted beginners (and others?) retort, "this is not swing". And yet many of the best modern West Coast dancers evolved out of this desco era. It is fantastic to watch them as they get turned on. Accomplished dancers can also dance the faster grooves and often enjoy this: 140-150 bpm.
West Coast is wonderfully varied dance with styles and tempos to suite any dancer (or beginner) and is danced very widely throughout the U.S. you can bet there is probably at least one swing club were you live.