West Coast Swing

West Coast Swing is a partner dance from the family of swing dances.

As a precursor, the Lindy Hop is usually called, in particular the so-called "Hollywood Style" by Dean Collins. As the name suggests, the dance originated on the West Coast of the United States. It is the official dance of the state of California.

Unlike other swing dances such as the Lindy Hop, the West Coast Swing oriented less to the original steps and dances, but is considered a swing - dance variant, the " time goes ". So West Coast Swing is often danced to disco, modern pop and hip hop music (but of course also on swing music ).

Characteristics

The West Coast Swing is "slotted " and stationary, ie it is danced in a long, narrow area, the slot that is not normally leave. Since couples remain stationary, there is no dance direction. Movements in the West Coast Swing are usually soft and fluid, of course, music is interpreted. Improvisation plays a big role in this dance, as in many swing dances.

In the United States there is a great competition scene in West Coast Swing. In Europe, the dance in England and France has a certain distribution found, while it is still largely unknown in Germany. Despite these major competitive scene much emphasis is placed on the social aspects of dancing. For example, Jack 'n' Jill is the largest competitive division with the most participants.

Competition categories

There are basically four different competition categories, which are divided into open classes and classes with different skill levels.

There are West Coast Swing no uniform rules, only the ascent rules for Jack 'n' Jill are defined by the World Swing Dance Council. The remaining rules can differ from tournament to tournament. However, the rules and regulations of the U.S. Open, or by Swing Diego is recognized and used by most operators.

Jack 'n' Jill: Is the type of competition with the largest number of participants. Here we report on either a leader (men) or as followers (women). You get only on the dance floor its partners be drawn. In the preliminary round one usually gets a new partner for each song and will be evaluated individually. In the finals, you get a / n fixed / n partner / in randomly assigned and is rated as a couple. Here are the skills classes Newcomer, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced and the Invitational class that can be called different things depending on the event ( be only from Novice awarded by the World Swing Dance Council points).

Strictly: This report is to be fixed pair and dancing on the different genres of West Coast Swing on the principle of leading and following.

There is here the same divisions as in Jack 'n' Jill.

Classic: Classic is an open division. This means there are no skills classes, dancing here and professionals to beginners.

In Classic, the couple can present its own choreography on a self-selected song, each partner must maintain contact with the ground, lifting figures are prohibited. Classic is regarded by the West Coast Swing dancers as supreme discipline, there must be clear that it is West Coast Swing, and therefore has a strong technical knowledge must be available. Then there is the expectation that every little figure or movement perfectly suits the song.

Showcase: Showcase is the Classic Division very similar, it is not as strong arrives here on the detectability of the West Coast Swing. The biggest difference is that in the showcase a certain amount are required to lift figures. This amount may be different depending on the tournament.