Improvisational Dance: West Coast Swing

Here the couple dances to a song picked randomly by the DJ. Their job is to do a lead-and-follow dance in the style of West Coast Swing and interpret the song on the fly. Mistakes can happen as well as magic.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• mike
• topel
• sheli
• schroeder
• west
• coast
• swing
• strictly
• improvisation

[Aner2557]

Mike

Any comment on the "formal dance training" thing discussed below...  I would be curious to hear your answer.

[mickeytopogigio]

@Aner2557 Sure thing...I'll take a crack at replying to the post(s)...check back in a little bit.

[reisstefan]

Who's the singer?

[mickeytopogigio]

It's Roomful of Blues

[HunterstonB]

The posture is spot on if you are a Shag dancer :-)

[mickeytopogigio]

@joshdance The key is to bend the knee enough to maximize the amount of hip flexion, counterbalanced by a capable, trained partner--here, Sheli. If both partners employ nearly equal flexion, quick contraction of hip muscles (glutes, abductors, adductors, etc.) can launch whichever partner "releases" (rolling quickly through their foot--analogous to stretching/releasing a sling-shot), in the direction of the "grounded" partner's flex.

[mickeytopogigio]

@joshdance Josh, Aner2557 was interested in hearing a reply to you about this. Hunterston is seeing a little Shag there, but I'm not originally a Shagger. A smidge of Lindy too. Correct about the posture--it should be better, but I almost never think about my posture when I'm creating on the fly like in this video (it's usually much better in a showcase routine). What the observers are seeing is the West Coast Swing version of connection coupled with body flight...(cont'd)...

[HunterstonB]

Well looking at the way he dances I'd say he was orginally a Carolina Shag dancer :-)

His posture is definitely not formal ballroom or ballet. . . . . which is what I meant when I said 'formal'

[joshdance]

lol, of course there's formal dance influence there... people don't "just dance" and do so fluidly. Any good dancer knows this... it's those who think they look good but really don't who think this way. Perhaps the dancer who posted this could comment?

[HunterstonB]

Where did the lead learn to move like that? It's so fluid, there's no formal dance influence there.