I was previously told that Lindy is different than East Coast Swing. But I now have two books, one the Fred Astaire Dance book and the other Betty Whites "Dancing made easy" and both describe the steps to the east coast swing as the Lindy. So what had changed?

Jerry,

It depends on who you talk to. EC Swing as danced by ballrom dancers is very different from the EC Swing as danced by Lindy dancers.

If a ballroom dancer were to look at an EC Swing as danced by a Lindy dancer, he/she would probably call it Lindy. On the other hand, if a Lindy dancer were to look at an EC Swing as danced by a ballrom dancer, he/she would probably call it a Jive or a Ballroom Swing. So the answer depends on what kind of EC Swing you had in mind.

Some people will say that EC Swing is based on 6-count figures while Lindy is 8-count figures, but it's not quite as simple as that. Yes, the basic fundamental steps which define each dance follow this structure, but above and beyond that, you can use both 6 and 8-count figures in either dance, plus any other combination of rhythms as long as it suits the style.

Generally, Lindy is thought of as the authentic style of Swing, the granddaddy of all swings. EC Swing is considered more of a spinoff. It's not a bad idea to learn both, so that you can have some first-hand experience, and so that you will be compatible with any group of people that you may go out dancing with.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Atkinson

Jerry,
The last poster was right. I'll try to shed a little more light on how these "two" dances came about. Lindy as you must know came about in the very late 20's and was danced through the 30's 40's and right into the earyl 50's. ECS is what you would call the Jitterbug today (before mid 50's the Jitterbug wassn't a dance but a nickname for a swing dancer). ECS or the Jitterbug is a 6 count basic step, with triple-steps. That's the difference. In lindy, the 6 count step that looks like ECS is usualy done single. Now yes you can do single or triple in either. But these differences add to the look of each individual dance. ECS is bouncy and early rock-and-roll dancing. While Lindy can be and is done to solid swing, but can be done to rock just as ECS can be done to "pure swing". So to totaly answer your questions, no they are not the same dance. They both have different styles, one was created many years after the other. Today people use them interchangeably, which is good. Just as people use Sagg or Balboa and Lindy togeather. But the more you dance swing you get to see the difference in style (or usualy ECS dosen't use that many 8 count steps, and if you see 8 count and 6 count mixed it's usualy Lindy, as a rule). Think of it as: if there is a swing out (the Lindy basic) it's lindy, if not it's not Lindy (whatever it may be). I hope this helps, it is very very confusing! But just think about the time thing, ECS just wassn't around when Lindy was (the 6 count steps were but not as their own basic and dance). Wow, it's late and I'm really tired, so I'm sorry if this message is liek all over the place. Good Luck!

MATT BROGAN
Snow8517@email.com

Bringing an old thread back to life...

First a disclaimer: lots of people define swing dances and styles in different ways. This is my definition made from personal experience and the comments of others.

Ok. In the beginning (of this story at least) there was lindy. Then east coast people took what they liked from lindy and made it ECS and west coast people did the same to make WCS. Lindy incorportates 6-count steps (which some people label as a different dance: ECS or WCS) as well as the 8-count steps that some think are all there is to lindy. Meaning, ECS and lindy are the same thing except ECS doesn't use as many moves. Of course, then people started thinking of ECS as its own dance form and building off of that which may explain why it is usually more bouncy.

There is a discussion at the message board at www.lindycafe.com if you want more views. It would be under a thread called "is this even a word" or something like that...its near the end of the thread

------------------
Trees are people too!
¡Viva los árboles!