Country Swing?

[eirek]

Is their a specific style to this dance, or is this just some people's name for it?

I am currently teaching my Fiance Swing the way I was taught and my teacher always called it Country Swing. It doesn't seem like ECS, WCS, or lindy very much.

Thank you!

Eirek

 

[Spitfire]

Welcome Eirek,

ECS and WCS are commonly done to C&W music, but what I learned as country swing was something at least known locally as "Rodeo" swing. The pattern was similar to that of hustle and done to the same tempo as for single time swing. Was this what your teacher was teaching you?

I'm not sure if anyone even does this anymore. It was one of the first dances I learned, but it's been nearly ten years since I last did so.

 

[jon]

ECS and WCS in country are a lot like ECS in ballroom and WCS as a standalone form, respectively. There are other flavors like the goat-roaping, er, "rodeo swing" previously referred to, and "Pony", which is a pretty obscure regional swing variant.

 

[eirek]

Lets see

What I was taught was that you grab your companions hands without thumbs and them pull together to the left and then to the right and then do anything similar such as the Candlestick, Pretzel, Up and Down, Yo-Yo, etc...

It seems that what I dance is very similar to the other swings yet also very different. Also what I have noticed is that alot of younger people when I ask them to dance and start to do this they already know the moves so apparently it's something that most people know.

I'm getting the steven sisters video right now so I'll see how similar they are to what they dance.

Thanks

Eirek

 

[Spitfire]

Re: Lets see

What I was taught was that you grab your companions hands without thumbs and them pull together to the left and then to the right and then do anything similar such as the Candlestick, Pretzel, Up and Down, Yo-Yo, etc...

That sounds like a sugar push; what are the feet doing?

 

[swing4life]

When I hear someone say they dance "Country Swing", Country Line Dancing and 2-step come to mind. From the moves you described it sounds like 2-step. Do you travel around the dance floor in a counter clockwise directingion and with the rhythm walk-walk-quick,quick while doing these moves?

 

[Dancelf]

Is their a specific style to this dance, or is this just some people's name for it?

I am currently teaching my Fiance Swing the way I was taught and my teacher always called it Country Swing. It doesn't seem like ECS, WCS, or lindy very much.

It sounds to me like what we called "4 count swing" when I was in Texas, and of a family similar to Cajun Jitterbug (which I was introduced to in upstate NY. go figure).

If it's the same dance, then you would most of the time be in an open dance hold (holding hands), and stepping in a steady rythm (so 1-2-rock-step takes four beats of music).

The bit about pulling the hands left and right I don't recognize.

Names for patterns/moves are often local (when I was first learning west coast, one of the basics was called the Terradactyl). Pretzel is a name I've come across before - usually an intriquete weave of underarm passes (she goes, then he goes, then he goes under the other arm, then she goes under the other arm), and those were common in 4 count swing.

 

[kansas49er]

In the midwest, one of the main differences between Country Swing and West Coast swing is the largeness of the movements. Country Swing is geneally much larger and rounded than West Coast. For instance, in a LH side pass with double turn, in WCS, the turns will be much closer to the leader than in Country, at least as I've been taught. Country swing seems to have much more of an arm lead component, but I don't do much country so it just my observation.

 

[LCbaseball22]

Around here "country swing" is apparently "rodeo swing" or as our instructor likes to call it "cling and jerk", lol. Now I love country music and I love swing but the way many people combine 'em is just stupid. Guys yanking and flinging girls around and there isn't much rhyme or reason to it. As our instructor also likes to say, they don't dance TO the music...the only reason they have music is so they know when to start and stop, lol. There isn't much footwork, and it tends to all be lead from the arms not the body. But seriously, if you're ever seen rodeo swing you probably know what I'm talking about...it's crazy, especially the guys who flip and dip girls. Ugh, it makes me cringe everytime I see it. One of these times one of those girls is going to get seriously hurt or even killed. In fact, our instructor has a newspaper clipping from an Alan Jackson concert where some people were dancing rodeo swing and this one guy threw a girl up in the air and missed the catch and the girl broke her neck, died instantly. Yeah, scary...

As our instructor likes to say, "nobody should get hurt dancing" Please girls, if you let guys do this to you, stop. And guys, if you've ever done this, do you really want to risk killing someone? I think dips could be just as dangerous btw. I see it a lot where guys will only have a hold of the girl by the hands and drop her to the floor and pull her back up. Well what do you think is gonna happen if your hands are a bit sweaty and they happen to slip?

Yep, her head is gonna hit the floor...


I hope I'm just preaching to the choir here. It seems like for the most part people on this forum have more sense and partake in more structured dances. See that's the thing too, is I bet a lot of these girls don't realize the guys at these "country swing" dances don't lead properly and such. They are getting their arms ripped outta their sockets and whatnot but they're dancing and having fun and don't realize there are betters ways, lol.

 

[Spitfire]

Around here "country swing" is apparently "rodeo swing" or as our instructor likes to call it "cling and jerk", lol.

I know Rodeo Swing as similar to Hustle. Is this what you're referring to?

 

[Steve Pastor]

Gotta share this.

Two things in the lyrics: one that disco stole all the moves from country swing, and two the singer hails from Tucson.