Wow, a lot of stuff was covered on this thread! I'd just like to add that charleston, which strongly influenced the style of lindy hop, is also an eight count dance and is thrown into every dance as well. I'd also like to add (since music form was brought up) That you can seriously lindy to ANY thing! Hip hop, backstreet boys, britny spears.. Ricky Martin is fun, and Santana would be fun if they weren't so annoying- Lindy fits perfectly with almost everything, 6 count east coast is more awkward with anything but swing (It even feels funny with Ska, which some people would argue is almost swing) That's why I like Lindy better- you can do it anywhere anytime.. six count was a dance made specifically for swing music though, so it's not as flexible as Lindy! I'm just babbling on now, so I'll end this post
-Jess

Actually, in the beginning was a dance - swing, and the music was called swing music because of the dancing, not the other way around. Lindy Hop is first recorded as early as 1926, and the Savoy Ballroom is credited as it's birthplace. (The term Lindy Hop is credited to Shorty George Snowden. In 1927, he was asked by a news reporter the name of the dance a group was doing. Near him was a newspaper with the headline "Lindy Hops the Atlantic" in honor of Lindberg's flight to Paris. Shorty George answered "Lindy's Hop" and thus the name. [Some account's drop the possessive to Lindy Hop] ) The first recorded performances of Savoy - style Lindy are in A Day at the Races (1937) and Hellzapoppn' (1941), the second film is credited as the first choreographed routine by Frankie Manning. The Lindy basic (whip) is an 8 count move.

In the late 1930s the American Society of Dance Teachers began developing the Jitterbug/East Coast swing syllabus which is credited as being taught nationwide in 1942. From that was born the ballroom style of East Coast, of which the syllabus was 'published' in 1952. That syllabus was created to tame the dance as it was done in the nightclubs. The East Coast basic is a 6 count move. (Also called Jitterbug)

Dean Collins moved Lindy into the slot, and this style is alternately called Smooth Style Lindy, or Hollywood Style (a teaching style credited to Eric Robison and Sylvia Skylar sometime around 1997). Dean became a choreographer for Hollywood, and the slot was essential for turning a dance of concentric circles (Savoy) into one that worked better for film editors - the slot kept people in essentially the same place, essential when you have background dancers surrounding a close up of the stars in a scene. Also - he was innovative, and took the dance from it's street origins, creating a method for teaching. (Arthur Murray took private lessons from him.) See him in the 1941's "Buck Privates", 1942's Springtime in the Rockies or his choreography in 1945's "Junior Prom".

Then came West Coast Swing. According to Lindy dancers, WCS is the grandchild, or at least the youngest son, of Lindy. (Where does that put East Coast?) WCS is the hybrid, a good mix of the street air, but with the detailed teaching syllabus of the ballroom community. Thank you, Skippy Blair! That makes sense, as she was an instructor in the Arthur Murray system through the 1950s. She took the slot, and the freedom and exuberance of Dean's Lindy, and also freed dancers from rigidity - WCS has a long history of accepting new styles, new moves and modern music. (It is also the official state dance of California.)

Simply put:
-ECS primarily is a 6 count dance, and can have single, double, or triple steps. It can be both a street or ballroom dance. Can be done to less than 60 beats per minute to 200BPM, though most ballroom trained EC will not reach the higher tempos (typical competition tempo approximately 140 BPM, social floor dancing can exceed that).
-Lindy is both a 6 and 8 count dance. The basic, however is 8 counts. 2 main forms are Savoy (circular) or Smooth (slotted). Tempos range from slow (less than 140BPM) average (200 - 230 BPM) fast (230- 250 BPM) and ridiculous (over 250 bpm, typically moves then to Balboa or Collegiate Shag, if you haven't already.)
-West Coast Swing alternates between 6 and 8 count as well, with the whip being 8 counts. Tempos range from under 100 bpm to 120 for most social dances. In competition it will rarely go above 150 bpm unless in a showcase division.)

One very important name missing from your " piece ", that of Laure Haille.

She was the one responsible for annotating and devising the step list for A/M.
She was, in the late 40s/ 50s, the Regional Dance Director for the A/m chain in calif.( and I believe National DD )
I had the pleasure of coming to know her in the late fifties, and have judged with her on occasion.
I believe she still holds the world record for the continuous number of pivots.
One of the nicest people ever to grace the industry .

My apologies, terence2. In my research, Laure Haile was credited in various dates and with various people, and some sources did not mention her work with Arthur Murray. Even the biographies of Mr. Murray gloss over the development of the East Coast syllabus, if it is mentioned at all.

As I am not affiliated with Arthur Murray, and teach the "nightclub" version of East Coast and Lindy, I preferred to remain in the generalities for that section rather than include any false information, or at least information that I was not able to verify. However, as you personally know her, I will add her to my own person history files as the person who did indeed create that syllabus and thank you for adding her name in the response so anyone else looking will have the benefit of a more complete history of the dance.

Best,
Laura

Hi kowloontong,

Would you by chance be willing to write the history and description articles for Lindy, WC Swing and possibly EC Swing on Ballroomdancers.com? I need someone knowedgeable in these areas, as my background is almost exclusively ballroom.

Regards,
Jonathan

Jonathan,
I would be willing and happy to do so. Do you have a preferred email address I should use to submit these to?

Laura

Do me a favor and send me a note through the "contact us" link. I'll write you back with my email addy.

Thanks, I appreciate it!

Regards,
Jonathan

So where does Jive fit into all this? My understanding was the G.I.s came to Europe during WWII, bringing their version of swing with them, and when they left, Jive arose out of that. But it's all hearsay, so I don't know if there's any truth to it.

Quite true-- I, among many of my colleagues, were witness to, and became part of that new paradigm.

What you might find interesting-- in the public dance halls ( of which there were many ) Jive/ beebop, was prohibited-- one such venue, roped off a section of the floor where " Jivers" could dance .
It , of ,course, became socially acceptable with time , after severe modification.

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