West Coast Swing No-Nos

[pygmalion]

Another classic from westcoastswingamerica.com

Mark's Top 15 West Coast Swing No-No's

by Mark Van Schuyver

I learned to dance West Coast Swing in Tulsa and in Dallas. In eleven years of dancing I’ve traveled to, and danced with people in Los Angeles, San Diego. San Francisco, Phoenix, Denver, Kansas, Houston, and New York City. I’ve learned one thing: NO ONE AGREES ON A STANDARD FOR THIS DANCE.

For example, folks in California and other Western states practice a version that they call the West Coast Swing which is compatible with, but significantly different from the Dallas "Push." In Dallas, the Push and the West Coast are taught as separate dances, yet most observers can’t tell the difference. Houston dancers call their swing the "Whip," which is different from, but compatible with Push, and with West Coast Swing.

Atlanta dancers call their interpretation of the dance "West Coast," but I believe that it is really a mixture of Push, Whip, and West Coast, spiced with a healthy dash of East Coast styling. In other words, it is almost a new dance.

With so much diversity it is really tough (silly maybe) to give advice on the West Coast Swing. But, after eleven years of dancing this/these dances I’m going to step out on a limb and share my personal no-no list. Here goes:

· 1. Don’t take large steps. Most steps should not exceed length of your own foot.

· 2. Don’t bounce up and down. Dance smooth.

· 3. Men, don’t push the woman around . Lead by indication, not by pulling and pushing.

· 4. Don’t break your frame. Forearms should stay parallel to the floor in open position.

· 5. Don’t let your elbows pass your sides in a push. In open position, keep your elbows slightly in front of your center line.

· 6, Don’t dance with your arms. Keep arms firm and don’t keep time with your arms.

· 7. Don’t let your hands rise up during a push. Keep forearms, wrists, and hands parallel to the floor.

· 8. Don’t float around. Anchor your weight at the end of each set of movements.

· 9. Don’t use your thumbs. Use fingers only, keeping your thumbs clear, and never squeeze!

· 10. Men, don’t advance forward to lead anything. Step to the side, and/or back, but not forward.

· 11. Don’t look at the floor. Look up, be proud, and smile.

· 12. Men, don’t start a pattern on the one count. Start on the "and-one."

· 13. Ladies, don’t back lead. It hurts our feelings.

· 14. Don’t get too far apart. Stay close, take smaller steps, and keep your frame.

· 15. Men don’t lift you hands high over the woman’s head to lead turns. Lift just above her head.

There you have it, Mark’s top 15 West Coast no-no’s. Do I keep to these rules? Well, yes, most of the time. But when I break a rule or two I just say "hey, that’s the way they do it in Tulsa, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Phoenix, Denver,, Kansas, Houston, or New York City."

Mark Van Schuyver lives in Atlanta. He is a writer and a West Coast Swing enthusiast with over thirteen years experience dancing. More than 100 of his articles have been published in national magazines including many on the subject of dance. You can reach Mark at by e-mail at Zarrdd@bigfoot.com.

[pygmalion]

And from a Minneapolis Swing user group, some strictly tongue-in-cheek no no's. :lol:
Ms. MisManners (a.k.a. manyana no no's)

When you're at a dance:

1. Chew gum, especially with your mouth open.. not only does it freshen
your breath, it will help you keep on beat. Depending how you chew can be a
new style (I am strictly a Wrigley lindy hop dancer)... (there's nothing
more attractive than a good set of jaw muscles)

2. Don't worry about bathing.. remember that shirt you wore yesterday?
it's fine to wear again today.

3a. Don't look at your partner.. it's a dance and it's about what you do,
not what they do.. plus, you have to keep an eye on what your feet are
doing..

3b. If you do choose to look at your partner, NEVER look away, because it's
the best way to maintain steady eye contact,. get really close and in your
partners face.. pull your partner in really close, especially if you've just
met.. LEER! this is flirting..

4. If the dance floor is crowded, dance BIG because you just have to bump
into people a few times and then they'll move out of your way. They don't
mind because they're trying to dance big, too. It's also a good time to do
lots of sweeps with your leg or kick out behind you. Survival of the
biggest and most flamboyant. (try some aerials)

5. If you hit someone on the dance floor, ignore them.. they were at fault
and they got in your way.. you can return the favor later.

6. If you're at a venue that isn't strictly swing and see some people doing
a progressive dance (that means traveling on the dance floor), ignore them.
Dance wherever you have room.. they're moving and they can go around you..
you have the right to dance, too...

7. At the end of a dance, stand in the middle of a crowded dance floor and
talk to your friends. No one wants to be in your spot, anyway.

8. Swear a lot! It's a great way to expressing how F-ing cool you are and
show the sponsors of the venue and other dancers that you are a F-ing bad
A** dancer.. and #%@#%!! Right #@#% on! #@$@#!! *@$%&!! Yeah!!

9. Take it for granted that dancing is still going pretty strong.

[Vince A]

I see that Mark Van Schuyver and I agree on #12 . . . this is what I wanted 'oldancer' to read . . .

[pygmalion]

The pointer that still gets me is #8 -- anchor at the end of each set of steps. Argh! Still breaking bad habits I was allowed to learn.

[msc]

Can't say I agree with #1, #8, or #10.

[Vince A]

Hi Mary,
I really had questions with most of them . . . but there are exceptions to everything in dance, yet most of the time, these are pretty general guidelines to follow. As we get better, we tend to break those rules because now we can . . . and we get away with it.

So Jenn, the old habit to break sounds as though you don't always anchor and a lot of times do coaster steps???

[d nice]

I disagree with 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, or at least with the way he wrote them. Then again I know tons of people who "dance" West Coast this way. I put it in quotation marks because their dancing tends be as if they are constantly trying to follow rules rather than converse with their partner and interact with the music.

Now if you want to really limit someones dancing early on so they are unlikely to develop bad habits this is one way to do it... I prefer to tell students what they can and should do to dance West Coast. A positive approach tends to resonate better with people.

[pygmalion]

So Jenn, the old habit to break sounds as though you don't always anchor and a lot of times do coaster steps???

Nope. No more coaster steps for me. It's just a matter of feeling really settled into the left hip. If I'm consciously thinking about it, no problem. If not, well, then old habits come back into play. I'll get there.

[Vince A]

"That's" what I hoped you'd say . . . you no longer do them!

[pygmalion]

Okay. I've waited two day now for some greater wisdom. Is anybody going to enlighten us WCS neophytes on why you disagree witth Mr. Van Schuyver?

[Vince A]

Jenn,
If you did everyone of these everytime you did a WCS, you'd look pretty bored and you would be very bored while you danced. All you need to know is "when you are being pulled off on count-1 and when you need to anchor your weight at the end of a move, pattern, playtime, etc., which could be count 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and so on. You can almost eliminate counts 2 through 5 - I say almost, if you know what to do with your feet and body if those counts are left out.

Refer back to Mark's points . . .

1. There are lots of times that I use large steps . . .
2. Yep . .
3. There are certain moves where I do "push" and some moves cannot be done without a push to get them going in the opposite direction of where they were going and where I am going . .
4. Break frame if you need to . . . it doesn't always look good, but are you in a beauty contest? There are many patterns and some basics easy patterns that look better when the frame IS broken . . .
5. The only place my elbows shouldn't be is in my ear or in your face!
6. The "new" style of WCS being taught is to use your arms, not to lead, but to emphasize the "stretch."
7. Why not? What if I needed to get you into a sailor's shuffle out of a push? My arms certainly need to come up. What if I wanted you to do phantom turns out of a push? Or a figure 8 out of push?
8. Yep . . .
9. There are certain movements, especially in certain "Sweetheart Position" with multiple outside, that require a thumb to halt the movement, where just bringing down our arm is sometimes not enough signal to the followers . . .
10.There are moves when I do want to halt the followers movements, therefore I DO step forward . . . and there are straight 8-count walkouts where my first move is count-1 forward and to the followers left.
11.Yep . . .
12. Some patterns can be started anywhere . . . many times I start a pattern on count 5 . . . no big deal . . .
. . . and the &1 count??? It works for me . . . although most will disagree . . .I have learned to use the &1 count to my advantage . . . it's a styling thing for the footwork, knees, and body for a funky look in WCS for that kind of music when it's played.
13.I love being hijacked . . . that's being led back!
14.Again, getting a good stretch is now the in thing, although with strictly "swing" music, I do stay somewhat closer . . .
15.There are times when I want the follow to stop or do something different in the middle of a turn . . . how do you suppose I signal her to say . . . "hey, get ready, we're going to do something different." Some turns are not done right over her head (small halo). . . atitude turns are done out around the followers shoulder area . . . or a large halo!