Slot Dances versus other swing dance types

[DanceMentor]

I know West Coast is considered a slot dance, and I think Hollywood Lindy. Could we possibly go through some of the different types of swing and say whether they are slotted or not?

(I had one person tell me he wouldn't join the Dance Forums unless I created a "slotted" forum.)

[Swing Kitten]

(I had one person tell me he wouldn't join the Dance Forums unless I created a "slotted" forum.)

:lol:

well you created a slotted thread... does that count?

[Sagitta]

It does. Your friend can make this thread popular with informative comments and introduce other slotted topics. Then perhaps he could be satisfied without having a separate forum from swing.

[Jmatthew]

The only slotted dance I know of is West Coast.

You can make an argument that Hollywood style Lindy is generally danced in a slot, but it's certainly not danced in a slot in the way West Coast is (if there's a slot it's incidental, not purposeful).

Hustle is sometimes described as being danced in a slot, but it in my experience it's more of a conceptual aid than a definitive part of the dance.

Maybe Carolina Shag is considered a slot dance? But it's arguably a West Coast variation, so I'm not sure if I"d consider it a completely seperate dance.

That pretty much fills up my thoughts on the subject. lol

[d nice]

Carolina Shag is NOT a West Coast Swing variation. If you want to say Push or Whip are variations I would nod and say I could live with that, but Shag has its own history, music, culture, technique etc. that are all very different than wcs.

An argument could be made that it is slotted, but not that it is a variation.
Hollywood Style Lindy and Smooth Lindy are both progenitors to West Coast Swing and so bear a number of similar characteristics. None of these three uses a slot the way wcs does, but in comparison to other dances and styles these are very close.

[alfborge]

I'm not sure I get the "slot" concept. As far as I understand it from what I've read on this forum, a couple gets a slot on the dancefloor, and they don't move outside of this slot. How big would this slot be?

My Boogie Woogie instructors tell me that Boogie is supposed to be danced on a line. Or rather on a +. That is, from closed you can go in four directions, while in open you can go in one direction. (You shouldn't trust me blindly here, as I might have missunderstood something). Is this similiar to the "slot" concept?

[lily]

The Swing dancing that is taught here in France (known simply as Rock & Roll and never called Swing :? ) is always danced in a slot. In fact, most teachers are really insistant that their students respect 'the dance line'.

Alfborge, I think what is meant by a slot is when the couple dance on a sort of imaginary line on the dance floor. Most moves involve the man and woman either staying where they are or changing places, but never leaving this dance line. As this is how I learnt to dance I didn't know that there was any other way of couple dancing! When I danced with a Lindy Hopper for the first time, I was really confused and tried desperately to return to my 'place' each time :oops: Even now when I dance Boogie it feels really odd to be off the - when we do certain moves that put me onto the + :lol: