The term "swing dance" commonly refers to a group of dances that developed concurrently with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s, '30s and '40s, although the earliest of these dance forms predate swing jazz music. The best known of these dances is the Lindy Hop, a popular partner dance that originated in Harlem and is still danced today. While the majority of swing dances began in African American communities as vernacular African American dances, a number of forms (Balboa, for example) developed within Anglo-American or other ethnic group communities. Swing jazz features the syncopated timing associated with African American and West African music and dance — a combination of crotchets and quavers (quarter notes and eighth notes) that many swing dancers interpret as 'triple steps' and 'steps' — yet also introduces changes in the way these rhythms were played — a distinct delay or 'relaxed' approach to timing. Today there are swing dance scenes in many countries throughout the world. Lindy Hop is often the most popular, though each city and country prefers various dances in different degrees. Each local swing dance community has a distinct local culture and defines "swing dance" and the "appropriate" music to accompany it in different ways. This article was taken directly from HERE. Continue reading to learn more about the history and evolution of Swing.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Hophttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernacular_dancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_dancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balboa_(dance)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncopationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter_notehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_notehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Hophttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_(dance)shapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13

I have posted several short video clips of a few of the moves you have learned in Swing, to see them, click HERE.

Please print out the following handouts and put behind Tab #3, “Unit Materials”:

  1. BulletSwing Dance Test Sequence

The following is a list of the Swing Steps you will learn in class: BASIC STEP (Video) OUTSIDE TURN (Video) REVERSE TURNOUT (Video) MAN’S WRAP (Video) OUTSIDE/DOUBLE INSIDE EGG BEATER SLIDE SEQUENCE TRIPLE CUDDLE ROCK STEP SHE GO, HE GO PRETZEL (Video) MAKE UP YOUR OWN MOVEshapeimage_8_link_0shapeimage_8_link_1shapeimage_8_link_2shapeimage_8_link_3shapeimage_8_link_4shapeimage_8_link_5
These are some helpful Swing resources Wikipedia History of Swing Good Videos of Swing- Bing Great Instructional Videos of Swing If you are interested in getting involved in Swing Dance locally, check out these resources Ballroomdancers.com Ballroom Connectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_(dance)http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/swing.htmhttp://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=swing+dance&FORM=VDREhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wc3MbdEldw&feature=PlayList&p=9DFEAA7E76EF6E42&index=0&playnext=1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wc3MbdEldw&feature=PlayList&p=9DFEAA7E76EF6E42&index=0&playnext=1http://www.ballroomdancers.com/Directory/Websites/view_list.asp?Search_Type=1&Content=Mischttp://www.ballroom-connection.com/xcart/home.phpshapeimage_11_link_0shapeimage_11_link_1shapeimage_11_link_2shapeimage_11_link_3shapeimage_11_link_4shapeimage_11_link_5shapeimage_11_link_6

Check out this fun video of a Lindy Hop Competition in 2006.  If you have a hard time viewing this video, click HERE.