In Praise of West Coast Swing

In Praise of West Coast SwingI admit to more than little trepidation about learning the WCS. I knew it was a slowed down version of the lindy hop, and so I thought that meant, well, boring. Kellys like fast, hoppy, springy dances like the lindy hop and ECS and the salsa. Saying that, you'd think by now I'd understand that sometimes I am actually wrong about things. After all, I was wrong about my now favorite pastime, dancing. But no, I had a bias towards WCS. That's a dance for other people, I thought. You know, those people who don't mind going slow.

I'm happy to say I was wrong. About everything. The WCS can be slow and sexy, but it can also be fast and funky. And it is certainly not boring. In some ways it is more complex than ECS, because the man and the women's parts are different, and...there is more room for improvisation. That means I can add extra flourishes whenever I want, which is really fun. And this dance lends itself to the creation of new steps , which Gary and I love to do. We are both artists, and making up steps is another pallet.

The other thing about WCS is the body control it takes. This dance is all about slinky hips and rippling torsos. It is a dance where the man is the man and the woman is the woman. It is, dare I say, harder to do than hoppy. The WCS is at its heart a drop dead sexy dance. And as much as I love ECS, lindy hop, and rockabilly swing, those are not sexy.

Finally, as I looked into wcs I discovered it too has many, many varieties. There is the slow, slinky kind that we are learning in our dance class. There is a hip hop/WCS fusion that incorporates lots of hip hop jumps and spins. There is a dark swing which is done to goth music...kinda looks like vampires doing the swing. There is swango, a mixture of tango and WCS. Also a kind that blends hustle with it. Some couples even dance WCS to very fast rock and roll that most people would do the ECS to.

So...Gary and I have decided to craft two distinct kinds of WCS; one slow and slinky, the other faster and more hip hop. WCS has become equal in my liking to ECS. Amazing. Maybe next time I balk at a dance I will remember this.

Nah.

Long Time No Write!

Long time, no see!

In January and February I guess I feel a little like Moley in The Wind in the Willows. I get the urge to hole up, to hunker down and slumber until things warm up and the crocuses start pushing their pin-striped heads through the snow. And I like snow! Here in Indiana, though, we're into the season of no snow, just dang cold. Wind and weather, biting nights and blustery days, yeah that can make a fellow want to stay in his flannel pajamas in front of the television or computer screen.

The great thing about having a regular partner to dance with is she won't let me get away with being a slug.

We've been hitting the usual spots. This past Sunday we revisited the Roof for the first time since December. It was good to get out on the hardwood, though I'm going to have to call DC up to have him do another scathing piece about floor etiquette (I'll throw in my instructional take later in this piece). Kell's been harboring the neighborhood flu germ in the past week so we've been less energetic of late. Combine my habit of giving late signals as to what I'd like my partner to do with the fog of the flu and you get some interesting choreography!

So, now that all the excuses and explanations are out of the way it's on to business!

Etiquette is one of those things that kind of gets lumped into the quaint old days along with top hats, monocles, and cigarette holders. I think we like to believe that we're better off for breaking down the barriers that society constructed and (sometimes) enforced through the rigid, complex rituals of etiquette. For the most part, I'm all for tearing down these barriers. I don't feel compelled to doff my cap when I meet someone on the street and I don't feel those younger than I am should address me with 'sir'. I tend to take the same view of etiquette that I take of freedom: your freedom ends where my nose begins and your ability to ignore the rules of etiquette ends where it impacts me.

On a dance floor you're exposed to people at their best and at their worst. You'll see some incredible dancers and you'll see some rotten ones. Both are fine. They're out there having fun and that's what dancing has always been about. On the other hand, I do have a problem with people whose behavior interferes with others' ability to have a good time. That, my friends, is an issue of etiquette.

Maybe the issue is one of education. I'm one of those people who tend to think everyone ought to know the right thing to do. Hey, people have eyes and ears and necks that swivel around to apply those senses to the world they inhabit – why shouldn't they pay attention when they're on the dance floor? Maybe they don't. Maybe they're blissfully bopping around unaware that their actions are impeding others. Okay, it's a stretch but I'm in a generous mood so I'm going to try a tutorial.

DANCE LANES

A dance floor is like a drag strip: there are lanes and you should stay in yours less you cause a wreck. If you take a look you'll see that the floor is divided into three distinct areas. There are two lanes starting at the outside of the floor and working in toward the center of the floor: a fast and a slow lane. These are for traveling – dancers who are doing traveling dances such as the waltz, foxtrot, or quick step should use these lanes. The third area of the floor is for people doing stationary or slot dances. If you want to swing to a fast foxtrot or Lindy Hop to a quickstep, this is your sweet spot.

From the diagram it's obvious that none of the dance lanes cross the center, slot dance zone. That means, regardless if you're stuck behind a 98 year old couple toddling along at half the speed you'd like to go, you don't cross the center of the floor. Kell and I are into swing and Lindy Hop and we spend a lot of time in the middle of the floor. I can't tell you how often I've had some clod foxtrot right across me, causing me to have to pull up or hammer them. Some nights are worse than others – sometimes there's some dolt who just doesn't get it. I usually wind up bring home some ankle meat on my heels when that happens.

You'll also notice that the line of dance is counterclockwise. Those who are traveling should, for the most part, move counterclockwise. I know, there are steps that momentarily take you against the line of dance. I'll deal with the problems these present in social dancing in the next section.

LINE of DANCE

As I've mentioned I'm not much for traveling dances. I really want to learn the foxtrot and we're working on it. Somehow navigating and dancing at the same time turns out to be really daunting. But I digress! I don't know a single dance with a line of dance that's clockwise. Maybe some bizarre sort of ancient Atlantean polka or something will prove me wrong but until it's revealed I'm pretty sure you'll be traveling around the floor making constant left hand turns.

There are steps that run counter this travel direction. I know they exist because I've been the victim of them on more than one occasion. There's nothing like being on a crowded dance floor and having some joker suddenly back up. It shows why cars have those reverse lights.

The thing I guess I'd ask is for everyone to remember they're dancing socially. That means you have to be aware that there are other people on the floor and you have to accommodate them as best you can. If the floor's crowded it's unlikely you're going to be able to exercise your entire repertoire. Yeah, that's a shame. You spend all that money on lessons and all that time practicing but you can't use everything you know every time you dance but I'd actually argue knowing when not to use a move is part of what you're learning. If you want to do a routine – enter a competition; don't bring it onto the social dance floor.

THE DANCE FOOR IS FOR…

Dancing. I know, it's a surprise! After a lot of research I actually discovered that the dance floor isn't a place to stand and chit-chat. Unfortunately this fact is all too often forgotten. I've done it, you finish a number and someone you haven't seen for awhile stops by on his way off the floor and the next thing you know you're involved in a conversation. Try to remember that in the years since dancing's heyday floors have gotten progressively smaller and venues fewer. The three feet you occupy while having your discussion may be a significant part of the real-estate available to other dancers and it'll definitely be problematic if you're in one of the traveling lanes. Please, just move off the floor – entirely off the floor – then talk to your heart's content.

WHERE DO YOU BELONG?

I think that the biggest part of etiquette is being aware of yourself. You've got to be internally honest about your ability to do a particular dance and, therefore, where you belong on the dance floor. Don't mistake this for a jab at people who're just learning to dance. Hey, I'm bad when it comes to the foxtrot. I can twist a grapevine up to the point that it's no longer recognizable! The thing is I know I'm bad and, therefore, I do the foxtrot in the inner lane where slower dancers should dance.

This applies to what my father-in-law would call 'leapers' too. By his definition, leapers are people who dance in what seems to be an overly aggressive, overly fast manner. Leapers (now he's got me doing it), many times, are very good dancers but they need to dance in the outermost ring of the outer lane so that they don't start tailgating slower dancers.

THIS IS SOCIAL DANCING

Wikipedia is far from the authority on anything but I checked the definition of social dancing and it seems pretty accurate:

"Social dance is a major category or classification of dance forms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing.

This compares to other major categories based on purpose (i.e. Ceremonial Dance, Competitive Dance, Erotic Dance, Participation Dance, Performance Dance). Many social dances are partner dances. In fact, quite often when spoken about social dances, ballroom or other partner dances are kept in mind. However it is natural to include in this category such groups of dances as circle dances, line dances, novelty dances, or simply club dancing in solo."

I particularly think the important parts of this definition are the mentions of "Competitive Dance" and "Performance Dance" as things that social dance isn't. This means if you're a part of a competitive couple - even if you've competed in some major contests and won - bring your social chops and leave the pretense in your shoe bag. Too many times I've run into dancers who, come hell or high water, are going to do their routine. It doesn't matter how in the way they get and it doesn't matter whose evening they ruin.

In general I think it's a good idea to know a little about dance etiquette before you get on the floor. I know, some people learn to dance informally - your buddies might not have thought to tell you about the rules of the dance floor so as a human being it's your responsibility to check them out yourself. Come on, you're an adult - right? For the basics I recommend the 'on the floor' section of Elements of Dance Etiquette (http://www.utdallas.edu/~aria/dance/etiquette.html#OnFloor).

Now, after all this harping about the 'right way' to dance I need to say that I don't agree with everything on the dance etiquette sights. I don't think there's a mandatory dance code for every dance, I don't think you have to ask everyone at the event to dance, and I don't think you have to look for every newbie to make them feel 'welcome'. I generally think you ought to pose this simple question to yourself before you act: would I like it if someone did that while I was trying to have a good time? If your answer involves a 'them' (i.e. they will learn something from seeing me do the double-flip-flop-half-pike areal) you shouldn't do whatever it is you're considering.