Talk to Jerry Mitchell if you have any further questions. HAHA
WEST COAST SWING - Described as “the Cadillac of swing” by Robert Bryant of the US Swing Dance Council, the California versions of West Coast Swing stay in a slot and has the girl moving from one end of the slot to the other. Annie Hirsch, who with Jack Carey, represents the golden days of West Coast Swing, mentioned Dean Collins as a leading figure in establishing the West Coast Swing. It was in the 1940’s that Dean Collins and several others were the West Coast version of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers—the best of the best.
According to Annie the dance remains pretty much the same since it's creation sometime in the 40’s. Skippy Blair, another dancer involved with West Coast Swing in it’s formative years says it was first called Western Swing and then came to be called West Coast Swing to differentiate it from country-western swing dancing. Both Annie and Skippy agree that the big difference between West Coast Swing then and now is that now both partners dance more upright to slower music, allowing time for interesting footwork variations called “syncopations.” The syncopations may take several beats when the woman goes to the end of the slot and are the primary difference between the California and mid-west variants of West Coast Swing.
As far as the music — well it varies and the only thing most people seem to agree on is that it is best danced to a medium tempo. Some dancers like rhythm and blues, some like contemporary rock, some like oldies from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.
The basic West Coast Swing dance steps consists of 6-beat and 8-beat patterns executed in a slot area on the dance floor. Due partly to the work of the U.S. Open Swing Dance Championships and the now-defunct United States Swing Dance Council, west coast swing has risen in popularity in recent years. There are West Coast Swing clubs in over half of the states. Some of them have their dance as a state dance. On January 1, 1989, West Coast Swing became California's official state dance.
"I'm learning to dig deep down inside and find the truth within myself and put that out. I think what we identify with in popular music more than anything else is when someone just shares a truth that we can relate to. That's what I'm searching for in my music." - Ron Bohmer
"I broke the boundaries. It wasn't cool to be in plays- especially if you were in sports & I was in both." - Ashton Kutcher
Updated On: 8/8/04 at 01:46 PM