Swing Dancing. Information about Swing dance lessons with photos of Couples Swing Dancing

Whether you call it Swing, Jitterbug, Jive, hand-dancing, Shag East Coast, West Coast or Lindy, it falls under the general term Swing dancing. One of the popular lines is "It's not Swing without a smile!" Swing is a fun-loving dance which makes people happy! Swing Dancing your first dance will not give you formal pictures of a wedding waltz, but it will set the reception off with a bang! At First Dance Impressions we find that about 10% of the bridal couples we teach are choosing to dance a Swing for their First Dance at their weddings. Many more couples are choosing to our 8 or 11 lesson packages to learn it as a second dance. In the USA, Swing is probably the most socially useful dance. The rhythm of the dance lends itself well to a large number of musical styles. You can dance Swing to Jazz, Big Band, Country, Rock and Pop.

Swing is a truly American Dance which has world wide appeal. It presumably originated in the 1920's with the Jazz and Swing bands and Swing Dancing was as rebellious as listing to the music. Movies like "Swing Kids" give some idea of how powerful the trend was. Every generation issues in a new revival in Swing of some kind because it is FUN! For a more detailed history see our Dance Description Page

Our students dancing swing ay their wedding

Single Swing - Basic timing: Slow Slow Quick Quick. Best suited up tempo music like to big band really upbeat Pop and Rock. It is the variant we teach most of our wedding couples because the footwork is very simple. It's a lot like learning to drive an automatic instead of a stick shift (see Triple Swing).

Triple or East Coast Swing - Basic timing: 1&2 3&4 5 6. It is a dance well suited to Jazz, Rock and Country music. Very popular, especially in ballroom studios. Modern music is much slower than the old Big Band tunes so this variant is much more commonly taught in general. The style is very free and easy. The dance patterns also tend to be more circular in nature.

Lindy - Basic timing: 12 3&4 5&6. Named after Charles "Lindy" Lindberg the great American aviator, Lindy is very popular in the Virginia and DC metropolitan area. We enjoy teaching this dance because of the fun charleston kicks and lifts associated with it. While the dance can be danced in a circular fashion like in East Coast Swing, in this area the "slotted" style is preferred. The dancing couple exchanges positions with each other, rotating about 180 on each step. It is very much like West Coast Swing.

West Coast Swing - Basic timing: 12 3&4 5&6 It is a dance well suited to Jazz, Rock and Country music. West Cost Swing is also very popular in the DC metropolitan area. It is also very slotted in its form but more complicated in the footwork than Lindy, with a particular focus on the connection and timing in 8's. West Coast is often danced to very fast music that could also be danced as Hustles, but personal preference is to dance it slowish blues. It also tends to have a jazzier, sexier feel that the fun-loving East Coast Swing variety and this is reflected in the styling.

Any of our Dance Packages can be used to learn to dance Swing.
For more information about private swing dance lessons for singles and couples,
Call us at: (703) 868-0982

Lindy and Swing Dance lessons by leading Northern Virginia area professional dance instructors. Whether you want to wow them at your wedding or you just want to dance for fun on New Year's dances or at social events like weddings, First Dance Impressions can get you "Swingin'" in as little as 5 lessons! Private Dance Lessons in Fairfax and Warrenton, Virginia. You only have one chance to make a first dance impression!

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