List of Swing Dances

Swing Dances
"Swing dancing" is actually a large family of dances.


 * Lindy Hop
 * Styles (archaic terminology): Hollywood, Savoy, Groovy
 * Charleston (dance)
 * 30s Charleston/Lindy Charleston
 * 20s Charleston
 * Tandem Charleston, back Charleston (Frankie Manning bibliography)
 * East Coast Swing (ECS)
 * Balboa (dance)
 * Laminu: Slow Balboa
 * Collegiate Shag
 * St. Louis Shag
 * Heel Shag: Reconstructed swing dance - leader's footwork is inferred from the follow's as we have no direct knowledge. 8 count dance, incorporating kick-ball-changes and hitch steps.
 * Big Apple (dance)/Little Apple

Line Dances

 * Shim Sham
 * Al and Leon Shim Sham
 * Dean Collins Shim Sham
 * Hat Trick Shim Sham
 * Music: Tuxedo Junction, Tain't what you do (Jimmie Lunceford)
 * Tranky Doo
 * Music: Dipsy Doodle (East Coast), Gangbusters (Vancouver), Tuxedo Junction.
 * Big Apple: Frankie's choreography from Keep Punching
 * Music: The Big Apple Contest. Swingmatism, Solomon Douglas Swingtet. (Transcribed/recreated by Solomon Douglas from the movie for swing dancers)
 * What's Old Is New: discussion of the costumes in Keep Punching (Lindyshopper)
 * Doin' the Jive: by Kelly Porter, Joshua Welter and Michael Faltesek
 * Music: "Doin' the Jive" by the Careless Lovers
 * Jitterbug Stroll: by Ryan François
 * Wiggles Routine: Rebecca Brightly
 * Music: "Wallingford Wiggles" by Glenn Crytzer Syncopaters' (Harlem Mad)
 * (Mama Lou's) Stew
 * Music: Jumpin' at the Woodside
 * Shake Your Moneymaker
 * Elmore James' Shake Your Moneymaker. Demo by choreographers Natalya Alyssa and Dan Repsch
 * Trickeration: used by Norma Miller for auditions
 * Music: Nathan Bugh composed a piano piece for it. Gaby Cook demo using the music at Stompology 2016 (Youtube)

Swing Choreographies

 * California Routine
 * Frankie Chorus

Blues Idiom Dances

 * Ballroomin' Blues
 * Line of Dance Dances
 * Walks
 * Stride
 * Strut
 * Savoy Walk (Area Dance)
 * Jukin' Blues
 * Funky Butt
 * Piedmont Triple
 * Struttin': One-step dance from Memphis, TN
 * Texas Shuffle
 * Misc
 * Boogie
 * Chicago Triple
 * Fishtail
 * Four Corners
 * Grind
 * Knee Rocks
 * Mooch
 * Belly Rubbin'
 * Belt Buckle Polish
 * Shake and Bake
 * Slow Drag

Blues Aesthetic
Quoted from  "Damon Stone" by Adam Skoglund :  The common thread that unites all dances historic and contemporary is the blues aesthetic. This mode of movement epitomizes the defining elements of Blues music in movement. Based on the Africanist movement principles, they have morphed through exposure to European dances and music forms to create a unique blend that can only be called American. The definition of the Blues Aesthetic was created from the combined agreement of the books and authors below (and supported by many more): Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance by Marshall Winslow Stearns Steppin' on the Blues: The Visible Rhythms of African American Dance by Jacqui Malone Jookin': The Rise of Social Dance Formations in African-American Culture by Katrina Hazzard-Gordon
 * 1) An athletic, grounded, "Earth as Center" or "get-down" body posture and movement, characterized by the weight being held on the balls of the feet, the knees bent over the balls of the feet, the hips pushed back, and the front of the shoulders or the sternum pitched forward over the knees. In this posture a dancer should be able to step in any direction without having to shift their body first.
 * 2) An asymmetry and polyphonic look/feel to the body, characterized by an equality of body parts. No limb or part is given precedence over another, but they all work together both in a simultaneous and serialized fashion. The center of "energy", focus and even weight shifting moves through various parts of the body; polycentric.
 * 3) Rhythmic movement. Not just auditory but visual. Rather than a single rhythm being used in/with the body mutiple meters or rhythms are used. Articulated movement in the torso (chest, rib cage, pelvis, butt) identifying and emphasizing different rhythms.
 * 4) Improvisation between dancers and on their own movements. All based, no... entrenched in the rhythm of the music.
 * 5) A drawing of the beats, dancing in the space between the beats, pushing and pulling creating a sense of tension both in the body and the body moving through space, while remaining loose and relaxed. The sense of moving through molasses or mud. A relaxed, lazy element to the interaction with the tempo and beats of a song, as if it doesn't matter if you are late, but somehow without seeming to rush always being on time.

Historical Dances

 * Jig Trot: pre-Balboa swing dance
 * Turkey Trot
 * Texas Tommy

Other Swing Dances and Related Dances

 * Acrobatic Rock and Roll
 * Blues dance (not technically swing dancing, but is part of the swing culture)
 * Beach Bop
 * Boogie Woogie
 * Bugg and Double Bugg: Swedish swing dance
 * Substyles: Social, Free Style
 * Substyles: Free Style, Rock
 * Carolina Jitterbug: predecessor to Carolina Shag?
 * Carolina Shag


 * Country Swing, (Country) Western Swing
 * Fusion
 * DC Hand dancing (Washington DC)
 * The Imperial, St. Louis Imperial Swing Dancing
 * Jive (Europe)
 * Jive (Quebec, Canada)
 * Jive (Ballroom dance)
 * LeRoc (Ceroc), (Modern) Rock and Roll: France, London?
 * New York Hustle
 * Push and Whip: Texas swing dance
 * Skip Jive: London, 50's and 60's
 * Steppin': Modern
 * Swango: Swing/Tango Fusion
 * Swing/Hip Hop Fusion
 * Swingout
 * Texas Push, Texas Whip: predecessor to WCS?
 * Whip Push
 * West Coast Swing (WCS) (evolved out of Lindy Hop, danced to non-swing music), Western Swing