What is west coast swing? Origins, music and what makes the dance

West coast swing is a partner dance from California. You dance it in a narrow, straight slot, to music that is often slower than for other swing dances, and with plenty of room for both partners' own interpretation. Below are the questions people ask most often.

What is west coast swing?

A swing dance from California that grew out of lindy hop. Since 1988 it has been the official state dance of California. What makes it recognisable is the slot: an imaginary rectangular lane in which the couple moves back and forth.

Where does west coast swing come from?

From Southern California, in the 1940s and 1950s. On the West Coast, western swing, country boogie and jump blues were popular, and dancers did a smoother form of the jitterbug to them, the swing dance that came from lindy hop.

One explanation for the straight slot comes from the California State Capitol Museum: the spinning jitterbug was hard to film, and Hollywood was looking for a dance that filled the frame in straight lines.

In the early 1950s Laure Haile, dance director at the Arthur Murray studios, documented the style as "Western Swing"; the studios turned it into a syllabus. The teacher Skippy Blair (1924-2021) wrote that in 1960, on the advice of a newspaper editor, she started saying West Coast Swing in her advertisements, because "Western" made people think of cowboys. The name is older, though: according to Wikipedia, classes in "The New West Coast Swing" were already being offered in San Bernardino and Riverside in December 1948. Only in the late 1960s did the name come into general use.

From 1958 teachers taught the dance with a fixed count, in which the follow walks forward on 1 and 2, and around 1961 the anchor (the closing step) replaced an older step, the coaster step. In 1984 the United States Swing Dance Council was founded, and in 1995 the World Swing Dance Council, which aligns competitions and teaching material. On 1 October 1988 the California legislature named west coast swing the official state dance (Senate Bill 2460).

The dance is most popular in the United States and is also danced in France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom, among other countries.

What music do you dance west coast swing to?

Traditionally to western swing, country boogie and jump blues; nowadays to much more. The historical ideal tempo was around 128 beats per minute. In the mid-1970s disco gave couple dancing a new boost, in the 1990s country dancers danced west coast swing to contemporary country music, and dancers also use hip-hop and blues, often well below 100 beats per minute.

That the dance is not tied to one music style is exactly what attracts many dancers: you adapt your dance to the song.

How do you count west coast swing?

Most basic patterns are six counts long. The rhythm is double, triple, triple: two counts of walking and then two triple steps, three quick steps over two counts. The whip takes eight counts. At the start of each pattern the follow walks forward on 1 and 2, and finishes with the anchor.

The four basic pattern types are the starter step, the side pass, the sugar push (also called push break) and the whip. The sugar push has existed since 1952; the whip grew out of the lindy hop basic.

What makes west coast swing west coast swing?

The slot, the anchor and the follow's freedom. Skippy Blair calls it the only dance in which the follow is encouraged to interpret the music herself, as long as she doesn't hinder the lead. That is why she speaks of a 50-50 dance.

That fits with what I call the contract between dance partners: you both stick to the basic shape of music and dance, and within that shape there is room for whatever you want to do with the music. Step too far outside it, and it no longer works. West coast swing in particular shows how far that room can go, and how important the basics are to make it possible.

Leading and following are roles, not genders. More and more people dance both (see Lead, follow or switch).

Is west coast swing hard to learn?

The basics need more explanation than some other swing dances. According to Skippy Blair, that is why west coast swing developed more slowly: lindy hop and the jitterbug have a natural rhythm that you pick up quickly, while west coast swing needs focused training to understand the basics.

As a beginner you notice this mainly in the anchor and the slot. Once you have those in your body, you can dance to very different kinds of music.

What is a jack and jill?

A competition format in which partners are paired at random and improvise together. It suits the dance, because everything revolves around leading, following and listening. You never have to take part in one to dance west coast swing.

Where do you dance west coast swing in the Netherlands?

In classes at dance schools and clubs, at socials and at weekends and events with workshops. Go and have a look at a social: you will see straight away how differently dancers fill in the same basics.

Find a school through the west coast swing schools on Discover. If it is your first time, read Your first dance class or What is a social?.

Sources

• California State Capitol Museum, State Dance: West Coast Swing: https://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/state-symbols/dance-west-coast-swing
• Skippy Blair, The Evolution of West Coast Swing (2015), World Swing Dance Council: https://www.worldsdc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Article-Evolution-of-WCS.pdf
• California Swing Dance Hall of Fame, Skippy Blair (life and death in 2021): https://csdhof.com/?p=1037
• Wikipedia, West Coast Swing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_Swing