Swingin' for Prom (for a beginner)

I have 2 1/2 days until prom, and I need to learn how to dance! I'd prefer to learn some swing (east coast?), so could someone help me get started? I had a 1 hour sampler-type course when some guy came to our school and demonstrated swing dancing, but all I remember out of that was the step-step-rockstep thing, and the lady always stands on the right... because the lady's always right! hehe. But other than that, i'm completely lost, and I don't want to look like a fool on prom night. I won't be grinding because 1) i find it repulsive and 2) it's against dance policy.

(from the "I Need to learn how to dance for Prom" topic in the General forum)

Did you check out the two websites with free video clips that I told you about?

Yes, and im sure those will help a lot, once i get around to watching them. (need to download quicktime) I'm also downloading from the Brown University Swing Club site, but since I have a 56k... i find the text stuff more useful

I pulled all the lindy hop and ecs stuff from ballroomdancers.com, and i'm working on bustamove right now. brown.edu has been pushed to the back of the d/l queue... the files are a lot bigger... The main problem I see right now is that i'm not that good at just copying people's moves. And uh, I have no idea how to lead.

I'm about 5'6", and my date is about the same. I have the build of a smaller football player... or so people say. Prom is Saturday (May 8th), and I am really psyched about it! Senior year... only 14 days of school left!

Learn to swing in two days (now down to one)? And you have no idead how to lead?

Sorry !

You can read all you want, and atch all the videos you want, but the sad truth is that reading about something physical without having some physical experiences to relate it to, that is not enough. When learning to swing, you need real life experience as a basis. Then, if you're really good, you can pick up tips to become a better dancer.

What you need is someone to teach you, in real life. Then one day is actually enough if to get going, if you can get good tutoring. If you can't ..... and still is desperate to try ..... read around here and pay attention to stuff about connection and bouncing. And watch some videos to pick up basic moves (turn to left, turn to right etc.)

You can practice connection a little bit by working with a wall. Stand against the wall, lean slightly towards it and give a little pressure back. Lean slightly more towards it , and give slightly more pressure back. Etc. Connection is kind of like that, slight pressure, no excess pushing (or pulling), try to relax while doing it.

Btw: If your partner can't do basic following, you're still in trouble as she won't follow to much of what you're doing anyway. So my best advice is: If possible bring your partner with you and get a couple of hours of lessons.

Good luck!

Once, we had to crash course a couple of teens to be able to do something for the part of the show after the narrarator talks about "Jitterbug". We just told them to step step all the way through. No 6 count worries. Everything else was arm stuff like pretzels and girl turns, you could throw in some guy turns too. This kind of stuff isn't hard to learn at all. It's only hard (in the beginning) when you want to absolutely do the legwork / stepping patterns that officially goes with all of it. I recommend chunking the back rock step step that you learned until you can get back to studying ecs later. Just step on each beat & do whatcha can with the upper body. This won't do for dancing with a girl who knows swing, but it should work fine for prom kittens

Spread it out though. Step around for a few beats until you lay another turn (or whatever) on her. Pay attention to the phrases of the songs. Allow yourself long intervals of doing nothing but step stepping (for now). You don't have to be going crazy with tons of moves constantly like those videos you are watching. It's a prom not a competition or a convention of diehard jam dancers.

Flat Shoes said:

Btw: If your partner can't do basic following, you're still in trouble as she won't follow to much of what you're doing anyway.
Good luck!

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She may not, but then you can put her where you want her to be. I get someone saying show me what I must do. I show it by putting the person where I want her to be, and next time she has an idea of what needs to be done. Of course this is not true leading and is not something that I want to do, but sometimes it is necessary. However, for a person who hasn't danced before this really isn't an option.

The advice on listening through the music and stepping through and to it, without worrying about the rock-step footwork is a good one. Practice listening to music that you think you will dance to, and moving on beat to it...

Thanks sooo much for the advice, guys! (guys is an all-inclusive term unless written on a bathroom door.) I feel pretty good about the basic swing steps (both the basic step-step-rockstep and the three-step) so I think I will pretend like I know how to dance. The only problem is that I think the whole sequence for both basic steps only lasts 3 beats? Or am I subdividing wrong?
I tried the wall thing, but it's hard to dance with a wall. :lol: I think my date knows basic following, considering one of our classmates dragged us to a swing & salsa club meeting. The swing club, by the way, died after one meeting.
considering the prom be probably half hip-hop, and hip-hop isn't really a partner dance thing, there goes half the dance right there! But leading is all about pressure, right? So how would my partner know to step back or let go when i push, or whatever? Or is that not up to the leader? and does the leader determine the step and when it changes too?

DevilsBSD said:

I tried the wall thing, but it's hard to dance with a wall. :lol:

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Of course, it's just an simple exercise for someone who has no partner standing by to get an understanding of what tension is.

The point is that tension should be a relaxed and you should not lock your arm, and it should be no more pressure/streng than necessary.

DevilsBSD said:

The swing club, by the way, died after one meeting.

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:cry:

DevilsBSD said:

and hip-hop isn't really a partner dance thing,

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Actually, a lot of Hip Hop has a nice steady beat to it. And these songs, in suitable tempos, are just great for at least some kinds of swing, like the Lindy Hop.

DevilsBSD said:

But leading is all about pressure, right?

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We like to use words like connection, tension and frame. (See page three on the subject 'What makes a good swing dancer' for my personal take on it)

DevilsBSD said:

So how would my partner know to step back or let go when i push, or whatever?

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That's a tough one for me. Basically you and your partner should meet each others tension levels. That means, when you increase the tension, she should do the same. But when you (smoothly, not jerking) pull her forward she should follow your lead, and not just stand on the spot pulling the other way. So there's a balance her.

For example a normal lead would be for you to lead her forward by pulling her towards you. In this example you start in an open position, she is facinf you, your left arm is held forward and her right hand is in your hand. Both your arms are relaxed, but you have a certain degree of connection/tension so that she is able to feel what your doing. When you pull, you move both your body and your arm away from her. Did I mention it should be smooth? Since the follower has tension in her arm, both her arm and her body starts coming forward. As the girl starts moving forward you move slightly to the left to give her room to pass you by. At the same you lift the connected arms. This will give her room to walk/dance underneath your arms. As she passes you by, you rotate with her, 180 degrees to your right. When she has passed you by, you lower the arms again. Now this will basically make her move into her arms. But if she has connection and frame, she stops her self from collapsing into her arm, instead she allows her body to make a 180 degree turn to the left, ending up facing you as you were before this simple pattern started (but both turned 180 degrees).

DevilsBSD said:

and does the leader determine the step and when it changes too?

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Yes, and no. It's up to the girl to determine her step. But from your lead, and from knowing the basics of following, her steps will come naturally from your lead. 8)

The pattern described above can be danced in both six count (back-step, tripple-step, tripple-step) or eight count (back-step, tripple-step, walk-walk, tripple-step) variations. It comes basically from how quickly the leader leads the woman, and how well she follows. But changing between six count and eight count basics are not for the absolute beginner, I think.

Actually, an experienced couple can dance the simple pattern above in quite a lot of different variations, by varying when the arm is lifted and lowered, the amount of tension given, by prolonging the pattern further than eight counts, by adding twists and turns etc. etc. But don't worry about that, it's not relevant at the moment. :headwall:

Basic change of place and under-arm turns like the one described above can be done in several different directions. And you can lead it with both your left and your right hand. And you can have a lot of fun dancing based on that alone. :banana:

Yeah, and btw: Don't be too caught up in tehcnique. Play around, flirt, smile, laugh and have fun. That's the main goal, and the real key to a successfull night!

Flat Shoes said:

For example a normal lead would be for you to lead her forward by pulling her towards you. In this example you start in an open position, she is facinf you, your left arm is held forward and her right hand is in your hand. Both your arms are relaxed, but you have a certain degree of connection/tension so that she is able to feel what your doing. When you pull, you move both your body and your arm away from her. Did I mention it should be smooth? Since the follower has tension in her arm, both her arm and her body starts coming forward. As the girl starts moving forward you move slightly to the left to give her room to pass you by. At the same you lift the connected arms. This will give her room to walk/dance underneath your arms. As she passes you by, you rotate with her, 180 degrees to your right. When she has passed you by, you lower the arms again. Now this will basically make her move into her arms. But if she has connection and frame, she stops her self from collapsing into her arm, instead she allows her body to make a 180 degree turn to the left, ending up facing you as you were before this simple pattern started (but both turned 180 degrees).

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Thanks for the new dance move! Wow, I envy you experienced dancers. (/me makes mental note to go take lots of dance lessons this summer)

But hey, I can always do the electric slide... :tongue:

This doesn't go along with swing, but with the slow dances, is there anything more interesting to do than just rock back and forth and go roundie-roundie?

Flat Shoes said:

Yeah, and btw: Don't be too caught up in tehcnique. Play around, flirt, smile, laugh and have fun. That's the main goal, and the real key to a successfull night!

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I will definitely have a good time! It's senior year, so it's all good! And there'll be plenty of stumbles and mistakes to laugh about.

That banana emoticon reminds me of something else too...
:banana: Bananas of the world unite! Peel to the left! Peel to the right! Peel down the center and TAKE A BITE!!! :banana:

DevilsBSD said:

Wow, I envy you experienced dancers. (/me makes mental note to go take lots of dance lessons this summer)

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My work is done here :lol:

DevilsBSD said:

This doesn't go along with swing, but with the slow dances, is there anything more interesting to do than just rock back and forth and go roundie-roundie?

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Well... rock back and forth in different directions and with different tempos. Go roundie-roundie in different tempos.

True! You can add variation be doubling/halving the tempo, you can break the rythm by rocking to the same side twice. You can rock back and forth, sometimes taking a small step. You can rotate faster and slow down. All of this should be done listening to the music. Feel the music in all you do.

You can also do a simple dip to the left.

You can now and then break away, do a couple of underarm turns and cath her in your arms again. I like to cath the woman into a fast roundie, go a couple of times fast and then slow down into a comfortable rocking again.

Listen to the song when doing this stuff. Don't mind the rythm so much.

How was the prom? Do tell. 8)

prom debriefing

Wow. that was the most fun i've had in.... well, a long time! if not ever! the dj didnt seem to be listening to requests for slow songs or any kind of swing music that night (well, any music that i could swing to). There was about one non-hip-hop song the whole night, and I tried some of the swing steps and such. It went pretty well until I attempted the sweetheart turn, and then i turned the wrong way, and bumped some people... and by the time we sorted out the knot, the song was over... Pretty funny stuff!
For the rest of the night, I put my dance dance revolution practice to good use and combined the best of the hip movements with the ddr footwork! I think it turned out pretty well. teehee. Not many people were partner "dancing" per se, but most people were just in a group of friends with their dates and just going with the music. I also can't remember the last time i sweated that much, and i work out at the Y a lot.
Thanks so much for your help guys, but im sorry i wasnt able to put the swing stuff to more use.

Hey there pygmalion!
One last thing I forgot to add... The pictures will be up somewhere on my website (http://devilsbsd.mg2.org) eventually. I took a lot though, (50-ish) and lots of them have really bad redeye, so I need to go through and photoshop all of them.

Cool. There'll be another opportunity. It sounds like you've been bitten by the dance bug. Try a local college. The college scene, at least around here, seems to be big on swing.

Glad you had fun.