West Coast Swing can be traced back to the late 1930’s to clubs in the New York, Harlem area.  Its roots are Lindy Hop and Jitterbug.  By the 1940’s, most dance halls and clubs banned these dances, because too many people would hurt themselves and others with the wild throws, tosses, and kicks. As a result, a smoother dance began to take shape.

First called Western Swing by Arthur Murray in the 1950’s, swing had taken a definite right turn.  A “slot” appeared along with the follower’s “walk walk” on the first two steps thanks to Murray’s initial coding of the dance in a studio.

Then came Skippy Blair.  After studying under Arthur Murray in the 1950’s, Skippy became the most influential person to study swing.  She is responsible for renaming western swing to West Coast Swing.  Most of the top competitors have studied under her and most to this day still study with her.   After studying the dance, she observed that only 1 in 500 persons have that natural talent that has a “heart stopping effect” on those who watch.  Furthermore, she began to break down the essence of the lead/follow in an effort to teach the dance to everybody.

Different genres of popular music have influenced styles of West Coast Swing.  The Rhythm and Blues of the 1950’s was very soft and quiet – today most people would probably dance Fox Trot to it, but people who dance swing are still moved by the feel of this music!  Rhythm and Blues has become heavier and louder which has changed sound, but the feeling of Swing is still there.  The 1970’s and 1950’s brought the disco era, Hustle and Latin dances became more popular.  At the same time, the European influence on partnership and patterns became more evident.  Pattern and Partnership Theory made it easier to teach swing to people who did not have “natural” dance talent.  As more people learned to dance, larger groups of people began dance clubs and weekend dance events started to become popular. 

The end of the disco era brought a new genre of music for the swing dancer –Funk and Groove.  While some protest its appropriateness for swing, few developed dancers can resist the feel of this music.  After the competition limelight’s are turned off, most people really enjoy the freedom and inspiration of funk and groove music.  Contrary to the conservative opinion, people who are into funk and groove music generally display the true spirit of original swing quite well.  Swing can be characterized as ‘partnered-jazz dance’.  The "essence" of the dance is full-body experimental rhythmic movements driven by the personal and inter-personal interpretation of the music.  Ultimately, that is where the dance lives.  Patterns are great for learning proper technique for communication of lead/follow body actions, but their overall importance in the dance can be overstated.

Currently, the World Swing Dance Council heads up the government of the competitive side of swing and guides the direction of the dance.  The National Association of Swing Dance Events (NASDE) supports 11 major events each year.  These weekend events feature top level competition, workshops, and exhibitions.  In addition, there are several events around the country that focus more on social dancing.

Today, West Coast Swing styles vary considerably.  At any of the major events, you may see as many as 5-8 styles of swing.  Most of the differences are directly related to geographical area.  Some are very warm and smooth with upright posture while others are sharp and funky.  The commonality among the styles is the ‘play time’ given to the follower to ‘dance’ and, the follower’s ‘walk, walk’ on the first two steps of each pattern.

We recommend that each dancer evaluate and experiment with different styles and techniques, and add those that he or she prefers to his or her own dance repertoire.  It is important that competitive dancers and teachers stay abreast of current styles and trends, as significant differences in style and technique have been observed to take place in only a few years time.  West Coast Swing is a dance that has evolved over time and has been influenced by other dances and musical genres.  The beauty of swing dancing is that this revelation continues and every dancer is a part of it each time he or she steps on the dance floor. 

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