Look folks...
A jitterbug, is what you call the dancer. The dance of course is Lindy Hop. And the music is called Swing, opposed to ragtime, bop, or progressive.
So here it is.. easy as 1,2,3

Jitterbugs dance Lindy Hop to Swing Music.

Of course, Squares used all of these names to describe the dance, as well as many other.
All swing dance came from Lindy/Charleston.. ok.. I I do have an open mind.. so are other possibilities.. but things are like so as I know it.

Jitterbug, sometimes called East Coast Swing, is a repeating pattern of 4 steps. Men start with a left step and the ladies start with a right step. Regardless of where you may be turning (or being turned), the feet keep the same pattern and rhythm.
In jitterbug/E.C. Swing, timing is unisex - the same for man and woman, though the woman is on her left foot when the man is on the right, and vice versa (of course!). Since you are facing your opposite sex partner, in a sense, each is a mirror-image of the other. Timing wise, both go slow, slow, quick -quick. The quick-quick is on the back-step and the slows correspond to the lefts and rights.

Do you know that in 1934, Cab Calloway had described this dance as "like the frenzy of jittering bugs", therefore the dance has its name as that. Its has many allophones like Swing, Boogie-Woogie, Beach Bop, Rock & Roll, Twist, Disco, Hustle, Ceroc.

Ah, so that's the name for the abomination that makes dancing quickstep such a floorcraft challenge at social venues.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary: Jitterbug is "a strenious dance performed to quick-tempo swing or jazz music and consisting of various two-step patterns embellished with twirls and sometimes acrobatic maneuvers".

Unfortunately, this definition is in my opinion quite ambiguous....and for many reasons:

1. The tempo of modern jazz music is no longer a tempo of swing.

2. Swing is danced on several counts:

(a) The single step swing (East Coast Swing)is danced on a six count tempo: 1=rock (this is the back step, left foot for the leader, right foot for the follower), 2=step, 3 and 4 = slow, 5and 6 = slow

(b)The tripple step swing (also East Coast Swing), is also danced on a six count: 1=rock, 2=step, 3 and 4 (where "3"= left foot for the leader/right foot for the follower, "and" = right foot for the leader/left foot for the follower, "4" = left foot for the leader/right foot for the follower are each consisting of one step), 5 and 6 (same as for 3 and 4, however right and left foot are exchanged).

(c) The tripple jumped step swing, where the tripple steps 3 and 4/5 and 6 and the rock step (1, 2) are replaced by a combination of kicks and jumps. The tripple jumped step swing is very difficult to explain in just a few lines. When done correctly, legs act as a shock absorber such as to continuiously maintain the shoulders of the dancer at an even distance with respect to the floor (as opposed to bouncing up and down). To learn these jumped steps may take several months. The dance becomes extremely athletic, and is usually executed on a rock'n roll tempo (Elvis style).

(d) The Lindy Hop is danced on a count of 8.
1 = rock; 2 = step; 3 and 4 (a tripple step); 5, 6
(two steps); 7 and 8 (a tripple step). The Lindy Hop or 8 count swing presents many more pattern opportunities than the 6 count swing. This is because it has more steps. Also, being danced on an 8 count tempo, it allows to make patterns which closely spouse the phrase of the music (the phrase of the music coincides with an 8 count). Conversely, 6 count swing patterns do not always correspond to the phrase of the music. When one starts the count of 6 at the beginning of a phrase of the music, it takes 3 counts of 6 to retrieve the beginning of another phrase! That is a challenge for choreographers.

To be continued.

Ooopsss! I did discribe Single time swing.
You are correct Ditz (is that how we should address you or should we type "The Ditz")?
Where I use to take my dance lessons we counted swing/jitterbug like this: 1,2,3, hold 4, 5,6 or rock step.
I found this on a website:
Jitterbug An older style of Swing danced in single-rhythm, to very fast big band jazz music of the thirties and forties
I also found the following: In the mid 1930's, a bouncy six beat variant of Lindy Hop was named the Jitterbug by the band leader Cab Calloway when he introduced a tune in 1934 entitled "Jitterbug".
However you discribe it, it's a fun dance!!

As far as I understand Jitterbug is a fast form of swing usually faster than Jive. The versions I have seen have been based on single time swing with a lot of stylistic kicking involved almost like the Lindy. If you watch the movie Swing Kids you will see what I am talking about.

I think twinkle is describing single-time swing.

Thsi is the full text I was trying to post:

According to the American Heritage Dictionary: Jitterbug is "a strenuous dance performed to quick-tempo swing or jazz music and consisting of various two-step patterns embellished with twirls and sometimes acrobatic maneuvers".

Unfortunately, this definition is in my opinion quite ambiguous....and for many reasons:

1. The tempo of modern jazz music is no longer a tempo of swing of the thirties, fourties and fifties.

2. Swing is danced on several counts, and not just on two step patterns:

(a) The single step swing (East Coast Swing)is danced on a six count tempo: 1 = rock (this is the back step, left foot for the leader, right foot for the follower); 2 = one step; 3 and 4 = one slow step; 5 and 6 = one slow step. Often, beginner students are tought this step on a slow music, just because it is simple and provides some background for more complex steps to be learned in the future. The single step swing is also danced on very fast tempos, when multiple step swing becomes too strenuous.

(b)The tripple step swing (also East Coast Swing), is also danced on a six count: 1 = rock; 2 = step; 3 and 4 (where "3"= left foot for the leader/right foot for the follower, "and" = right foot for the leader/left foot for the follower, "4" = left foot for the leader/right foot for the follower are each consisting of one step); 5 and 6 (same as for 3 and 4, however right and left foot are exchanged).

(c) The tripple jumped step swing, where the tripple steps 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and the rock/step (1, 2) are replaced by a combination of kicks and jumps. The tripple jumped step swing is very difficult to explain in just a few lines. When done correctly, legs act as shock absorbers such as to continuiously maintain the shoulders of the dancer at an even distance with respect to the floor (as opposed to bouncing up and down). To learn these jumped steps may take several months. The dance becomes extremely athletic or strenuous, and is usually executed on a rock'n roll tempo (Elvis style).

(d) The Lindy Hop is danced on a count of 8.
1 = rock; 2 = step; 3 and 4 (a tripple step); 5, 6
(two steps); 7 and 8 (a tripple step). The Lindy Hop or 8 count swing presents many more pattern opportunities than the 6 count swing. This is because it has more steps. Also, being danced on an 8 count tempo, it allows to make patterns which closely spouse the phrase of the music (the phrase of the music coincides with an 8 count). Conversely, 6 count swing patterns do not always correspond to the phrase of the music. When one starts the count of 6 at the beginning of a musical phrase, it takes 3 counts of 6 to retrieve the beginning of another musical phrase! That pesents interesting challenges to those interested in choreography.

The Lindy Hop style reached its peak in the thirties, following the roaring twenties, during which the Charlestone (an 8 count dance style)was king. Often, Lindy Hop borrows Charlestone steps and incorporates them in 8 count swing coreography. But Lindy Hop is also often intermixed with 6 count swing. That's when the challenge reaches it's apex in terms of leader/follower communication.

(e) The West Coast Swing is danced on a six count or 8 count tempo as well. The main difference here is that the rock/step combination is replaced by a triple step, and are followeds by two steps and another tripple step. West Coast Swing is danced on more modern music, typically slower than East Coast/Lindy Hop tempos.

(f) The Hustle also belongs to the family of swing. Its tempo goes as follows: And 1; 2; 3. where the length of these three components is equal. The Hustle and the West Coast Swing (also called "the Whip" in the South and Southwest) can be danced on the same tempo.

3. Acrobatic figures executed in East Coast and Lindy Hop are different than those executed in West Coast swing. The later are called "lifts", whereas the former are called "aerials". Aerials can be executed on both East Coast and Lindy Hop tempos. For more information on these two terms, you might want to search this same database. I have attempted to provide explanations.

I wonder whether the inspiration that brought the term "jitterbug" to life was not the jittery motions of the body that the East Coast and Lindy Hop swing cause, in particular the jumped steps!