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West Coast Swing - the Modern Lindy Hop

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West Coast Swing - the Modern Lindy Hop Falk Bothe Trainer B Rock´n´Roll Wertungsrichter E/F Advanced WCS Instructor GPDIA Alte Schulstrasse 2 38448 Wolfsburg 15. Februar 2015 West Coast Swing - the modern Lindy Hop Jordan Frisbee - Tatiana Mollmann-Bennett - Photo © Brad Whelan West Coast Swing - what is that exactly - I asked myself in 2007 for the first time while looking for new ideas for a new choreography. The first videos on Youtube I found on the search for "Swing" were of Jordan Frisbee / Tatiana Mollmann Bennett and Benni Schwimmer / Heidi Grosskreutz. What immediately fascinated me were the flowing "1 „West Coast Swing ist ein lebendiger Tanz, der sich immer noch weiter- entwickelt“ Tessa Cunningham- Munroe, Kanada movements, quick turns, dance effects and especially the couple interaction. The variety of patterns who seemed to seamlessly build an overall picture were an excellent source for further development of our rock akrobatic footwork. But first I wanted to know how West Coast Swing was actually invented. Lindy Hop developes to Western Swing - due to Hollywood influence In the twenties of last century Swing Dance was born in the USA, today still known as Lindy Hop. In the following years this new dance served as a basis for others - Jitterbug, East Coast Swing, Jive, Rock'n'Roll (or Acrobatic Rock), Shag or Balboa. Even Hollywood discovered these dances (that was when the term „Rock’n'Roll" was invented) and Dean Collins, one of the most successful Lindy Hop dancers, adapted Swing for cameras - from the wild Lindy Hop, to a linear dance called " Western Swing ". It was more upright and straightforward and adopted quickly by dance schools, also because Lindy was banned in most ballrooms due to numerous injuries from acrobatics and kicks. Western Swing, also called Hollywood Swing, was primarily developed in California and is the official state dance. By the end of the 50s the dance associations changed its name to West Coast Swing, to avoid confusion with country and western dancing. Since then, West Coast Swing has been constantly evolving, at that time danced mainly to blues music, today also Disco, Pop, R'n'B and slow, partially unplugged or purely instrumental songs are in the playlists. The Leaders task: Make the follower look awesome! West Coast Swing has its own unique features like any other dance. It is a linear Dance - also called slotted dance, which is characterized by elasticity and flowing, organic movements. The most important task of the Leader is to make the Follower look good. The Follower can make sexy movements whenever she like, limited only by skill, inventiveness and self-confidence. The basic step consists of 2 steps and 2 triples, and therefore the $2 basic patterns are called 6 count patterns. The basics e.g. are named Sugar Push, Left Side Pass, Underarm Turn and Tuck Turn. In addition, there are basic patterns, in which two steps are added to an 8-count pattern, mainly called Whips. The rules of the dance allow couples to extend the patterns. Quite unique is the possibility to temporarily transfer leadership to the follower. West Coast Swing is primarily known from videos on Youtube of the competition scene in the USA. The fantastic choreography of couples like Myles Munroe / Tessa Cunningham- Munroe, Benji Schwimmer / Tori Smith, Ben Morris / Jennifer de Luca and many other s fascinate because of excellence, performance and acrobatics.. Jack & Jill - a fascinating concept! Competition classes are divided by age or minimum of swing content. In contrast to the concept of fixed couples known to us in Germany and Europe in West Coast Swing especially the "Jack and Jill" Competitions are really popular and probably the most fascinating part. The couples are drawn by chance - in both the prelims and finals. The task for the couples is to interprete the music dance to it as if they have fitting choreography. Here a very fine communication between Leader and Follower is required, and can be achieved by building an excellent connection within the couple. Famous for being most eloquent in this task are the e.g. the US Pros Brad Whelan - also the most famous photographer in West Coast Swing - John Lindo, PJ Turner, Tashina Beckmann and Olivier Massart from France.. "3 West Coast Swing - Workshops and Events West Coast Swing is primarily a social dance. On workshops and events which are organized all over Europe, the goal is to dance with as many partners as possible, have fun and get to know people. West Coast Swing, in 2015 ADTV dance of the year, has been in the programs of dance schools for a a few years now in Germany. France, Switzerland, Poland, Sweden, Finland and the UK already have a large West Coast Swing scene. On Facebook and numerous websites people who are interested in learning WCS can find classes in their neighborhood. Faster and with more fun while learning are events and workshops, e.g. Sea Sun Swing, Swing Baltic, Budafest, D-Town Swing, Berlin Teacher Certification or Swing Many. Here you can learn and develop new skills under the guidance of qualified teachers and party endlessly all through the night. In Germany the biggest local scenes are in Freiburg, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Augsburg and Berlin, here especially at West Coast Swing Berlin by Christine Tiedge, Master Instructor West Coast Swing GPDIA. Even Acrobatic Rock clubs exist, where you can learn West Coast Swing: the 1st DRRC in Dresden, and of course with the Rock'n'Roll Cats / TV Jahn Wolfsburg. Akrobatic Rock and West Coast Swing What is it that Acrobatic Rock dancers can learn from the West Coast Swing? Especially couple communication, the concept of connection, lead and follow, smooth transitions in dance patterns - and sometimes just dancing with someone else, more party after competitions. What West Coast Swing dancers can learn from Acrobatic Rock? Above all the technic needed for acrobatics, lifts and aerials, there are few coaches who are skilled in this topic at WCS. West Coast Swing - not a substitute for Acrobatic Rock or boogie woogie - rather a challenging and fun bringing supplement to your dance repertoire. "4 Links für West Coast Swing: http://westcoastswinggermany.de/Welcome.html http://www.wcsvideos.com http://www.wcs-tanzen.de http://westcoastswingberlin.de http://www.bradfordwhelan.com/Dance http://www.canadianswingchampions.com "5.
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