Slot
West Coast Swing is a slotted dance. The slot is an imaginary area, long and thin, eight or nine feet long if danced at a very slow Tempo, but shorter if the music is at a faster tempo. The follower travels back and forth in the slot dancing straight through the lead. The leader consistently moves a minimum amount (at mid-way point) to his sides, barely out of her way. She lightly brushes against him each time she passes him. Brushing seems rare these days though (2009).
Socially, it is considered good etiquette (particularly on a crowded floor) to use a fixed slot, in order to allow dancing without incident. Having danced the slot repeatedly, the couple "has a claim" on the area, and other couples usually cooperate and establish their own slot parallel with the dancers. If the dance floor is not crowded and the couple is afforded more space, such as during a competitive event, the dancers may move the slot around the floor more liberally.
There are urban myths regarding the origin of the slotted style. According to one version, it was an invention of Hollywood film makers who wanted “dancers to stay in the same plane, to avoid going in and out of focus”. Wide angle lenses with adequate depth of field for cinematography had in fact been available since the 1920s. A variation on the "Hollywood film maker" theme is that film makers wanted "to avoid filming the backs" of dancers. A viewing of films featuring the work of Dean Collins in the 1940s, and rock 'n' roll films made in the mid-1950s reveals the fact that dancers turn frequently and inevitably turn their backs to the camera. Although another unslotted swing dance, Balboa, became popular in the same area and under the same conditions, much has been made of "jitterbugging in the aisles" as a source of the slotted style.
Slotted moves were a common part of the step vocabulary of Lindy and/or Jitterbug dancers during the 1940s and 1950s. Rather than the walk, walk of West Coast Swing, however, two sets of triple steps were used when the woman moved down the slot, followed by a rock step rather than the current triple and anchor step.
Music
The origins of the dance that became known as West Coast Swing can be traced to the swing era. During this period many jazz, blues, and western musicians incorporated, or emphasized, the “swing” in their music. Writing in the "Arthur Murray Silver Dance Notebook", Lauré Haile, who first described "Western Swing", listed the following songs/records as "Good Swing or Fox Trot Records":"String of Pearls" by Glenn Miller ((1942))
"Let's Dance" by Ray Anthony ((Capitol L-258)(1951))
"Be-Bop's Spoken Here" by Les Brown Columbia 38499 (4/14/49)
"Also Good Swing - but unusual Chorus "AABA":"
"One Mint Julep", Buddy Morrow, Victor 20-4869 (June/July 1952)
"Dry Bones", Tommy Dorsey, Victor 20-3523 (1949?)
Big Bands continued to flourish in the 1950s, touring, selling records, and appearing on radio and the new medium of television. As the decade wore on, however, many mostly younger listeners preferred to hear the simpler and (some say) noisier music given the name Rock 'n' Roll, and this music became known as the most popular music for dancing.
West Coast Swing-like moves can be seen in rock 'n' roll films made in that era. The film "Hot Rod Gang" shows West Coast Swing being done to the song "Dance to the Bop" by rockabilly musician Gene Vincent.
While teenagers preferred to freestyle dance through a constantly changing succession of discothèque social dance fads during the 1960s, adults kept Swing alive.
Western Swing was documented in the 1971 edition of the "Encyclopedia of Social Dance", listing the "Coaster Step" (with a forward step as the last step of the 2nd triple) rather than the Anchor Step. The one song that was listed for this dance was "Comin' On" by Bill Black's Combo (1964 Hi #2072).
In the mid-1970s, disco music and dancing repopularized "touch" partner dancing, and, in California, West Coast Swing was one of the dances of the era. By the 1990s country western dancers were dancing West Coast Swing to contemporary country western songs. West Coast Swing is now one of many dances done at country western venues.
In practice, West Coast Swing may be danced to almost any music in 4/4 time, and music of many different styles may be found in an evening of West Coast Swing dancing.
Styles
West Coast Swing can be danced to almost any music written in 4/4 time at speeds ranging from very slow to very fast; 15 to 45 Measures per Minute, ideally at 32 Measures per Minute (15x4=60 bpm, 32x4 = 128 bpm, 45x4=180 bpm). The character of the dance changes over that range. At the slowest speeds the dance tends to exhibit a highly elastic connection with the possibility of very sexy, "slinky" walks for the lady, and a slight backward leaning poise at the full extent of the connection. At faster speeds the partners become more upright and the connection shortens with more of a "push and pull" feel and look.The "ideal" speed for WCS has been cited as 32 Measures per Minute (32x4 = 128 bpm), compared to advice to choose "records that are around 28 mpm" (28x4= 112 bpm) for "Western Swing".
In writing about West Coast Swing, Skippy Blair advises that, "The only problem that exists in SWING is when someone decides there is only ONE WAY to dance it. There is never only ONE WAY to do anything ..." "'Try on' different styles that you admire in other people...until you find the comfortable one that FITS YOU."
Dancing to different types of music gives a different feel and look.
A 1998 summary of "trends" in West Coast Swing listed the following: Traditional/Classic with very little extension of the uncoupled arm, the man moving off and on the center of the track for most moves, and a heavy "couple weight"; Modern with more free arm extensions, and emphasis on how many spins, etc., the man can lead. Fast Music The man's "couple hand" is fixed in space on beat 3 in a pass or push.
In 1994 Blair noted that the posture for men was more upright than in previous years.
*source: Wikipedia
