Single, Double, Triple...

No, I’m not talking about ice cream. I’m talking about swing. When Gray and I first started dancing we were taught single time ECS, and triple time ECS. These dances, of course, are all built on a 3-6 count beat, the triple ECS being triple step, triple step, back step, and the single ECS being step, step, back step. Then we learned the lindy which is mostly 8 count. After we learned the WCS swing which is 6 or 8 or more, we realized timing is a rather a state of mind; you can throw in different beats as long as you “right yourself” now and then with the basic. At least, that’s the way we like to do it so the dance remains somewhat recognizable.

We were doing all of those, and then started the Rockabilly swing, which is syncopated double time. Rockabilly, because it is double time, would be fabulous for those songs that are a bit clunky with single time, yet too fast for a triple. I say would, because the rockabilly swing with its dairy queen spins and spilt-break turns are HARD, and thus tricky to do really fast. Here’s a fun couple doing rockabilly. It’s deceptively simple looking. But it’s not. Trust me.



Hopefully someday we can do it that fast. In the meantime, we needed something to dance to ‘billy music. Then one day on you tube I discovered double time ECS. Why I had never given this much thought before I don’t know, I mean, if there’s a single and triple swing it makes sense there would be a double.

Well. It works great for really fast rockabilly tunes and rocket speed big band numbers like Brian Setzer. You can also use it to hustle music, or anything with a hard two beat. It’s easier than rockabilly, because we already know the moves and because it’s just not as hard. So finally we have a dance that goes with fast stuff.

Here’s a couple doing double time. They are really good. We don’t do the kicky stuff or throws and we are not even close to their league, but the tap step is basically the same.