Also known as "6-count Swing", East Coast Swing is probably the easiest and most accessible of all the swing dance styles - it's great fun and a great way to start learning - and because the steps and footwork are also used in Lindy hop it is also an excellent introduction to the latter. We teach East Coast Swing as well as the basic Lindy hop steps in our beginners classes as a solid foundation for our more advanced classes - to get you dancing quickly and confidently!
The characteristic Swing Out or Breakaway of Lindy hop developed from partnered Charleston dancing, and many other steps characteristic of Lindy hop are clearly derived from the earlier dance. With the move from Hot Jazz to Swing music, dancers changed from a choppy, up-and-down style to a more fluid, horizontal style with a gentle bounce, so the steps look very different to the original Charleston. When people refer to Charleston in Lindy hop they generally mean partnered Lindy Charleston, but there has recently been increasing interest in learning the original Charleston - both partnered and non-partnered. We teach Lindy Charleston as an essential and intrinsic part of the Lindy hop.
The Shim Sham is a fun routine made up of simple Jazz steps, generally done in a line, but often also in a circle. Originally the Shim Sham (Shimmy) was a tap routine choreographed by Leonard Reed - which was adopted universally by stage performers so that they could do a whole company encore at the end of a show rather than each act do individual encores. The Lindy hoppers of the 1930s and 40s took the dance and changed it subtly - nowadays most people can learn it without any experience of tap, although many dancers do put in some or all of the original tap elements as they become more proficient. It is done as a soft-shoe in clubs though - you can see it done with taps but generally only on stage or in Cabaret. We teach the Shim Sham regularly (usually in special one-off classes) because it is considered essential knowledge around the world in swing dance clubs, and is an excellent way to learn and improve Jazz steps which are in many ways the foundation of good Lindy hop.
The Big Apple is a circular dance made up of more complicated and syncopated Jazz steps, often called by a dancer in the centre of the circle. The dancers perform the steps called (or as choreographed), some of which require interaction with the other dancers. It was very popular in the dancehalls of the late 1930s - such as the Savoy Ballroom - but was also taken to the stage and in film, where it was more usually choreographed and therefore performed without a caller. We teach many of the Big Apple steps as the basis of improvisation in our Lindy hop classes and we also regularly teach the choreographed version from the Keep Punchin' film clip above.
The Tranky Doois a another dance made up of more complicated and syncopated Jazz steps, similar to the Big Apple but done in a line.
The Swingland Stomp is another fun routine made up of simple Jazz steps (with a couple of trickier steps thrown in!), generally done in a line. Choreographed by Swingland's Martin Ellis & Liza Patoux to the song Opus One. We teach the Swingland Stomp regularly (usually in special one-off classes) because is another excellent way to learn and improve Jazz steps which are in many ways the foundation of good Lindy hop - and it's great fun!