This dance is the European version of East Coast swing. Six and eight count patterns make up this dance, as in East Coast swing but it is quite bouncy with very sharp kicks and flicks. Unlike East Coast swing, Jive is danced to a faster tempo swing music and is meant for competitive style dancing.

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A HISTORY OF JIVE:

The Jive Dance was first popular in the 1940's. The Jive was originally the European's (U.K.) version of the American Jitterbug and/or East Coast Swing during WWII. Cab Calloway's Hepsters Jive Talk, made the term Jive be associated with the Swing Dance. During the war, much of this Jive Talk was being spread around, even in Europe.

So technically, The Jive dance is European, not American. However, it did have roots in America. Today, (in the USA) it is taught by the ballroom dance studios only in the Latin section. It is basically a backwards or rock first "East Coast Swing," with an exaggerated bounce and kicks using a Latin flair. However, it is a fun swing form to learn, and is fun to watch.

Most Europeans do what they call the "American Jive" a name that came briefly from WWII when the Jitterbug was called Jitterbug-Jive. When the war ended, the term Jitterbug-Jive ended as well in the States. The Europeans however kept using the name Jive, which is their version of what is done here in the states.

Modern Jive or "French Jive" in the UK was introduced In the 1950's to make it easier to teach people to do swing in the clubs. The dance is taught with no footwork, just walking the patterns which can be many. The names of modern Jive usually come from the club or association that taught the version being done and usually leads into a more structured form of swing dance as time goes on. It is similar to what people do here in the states before they learn a structured form of swing which we call just 'winging it', which has no form, lead or follow skills etc., although in the Modern Jive it is taught with patterns, lead and follow, timing rather than just the 'winging it' above so there is some structure to it more than one might think. The music is similar to the West Coast Swing format of dancing to all styles of music rather than just one specific genre/era with their dances or socials being called Freestyles.

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