I come from a Salsa/Bachata background and started West Coast Swing a year and a half ago. It was confusing and complicated to understand. And to be fundamentally sound at it is difficult. But during socials, what I found was that it is such a flexible and forgiving dance. In bachata, waltz and other dances, if you are off time or mess up, it's just awkward. West Coast Swing has a bit of room for error that you can sometimes finesse or even style your way out of it. Also, even with some of the best dancers at socials, certain fundamentals seem to either be roughly followed or just go out the window. I see them just doing the starter step, some advanced gymnastics, then the anchor step. 😅
West coast swing is definitely more flexible. However knowing your fundamentals, basics, and basic technique is best.From there you can make things more flexible and try new things but then you know your timing and what you can allow in you flexibility.
Thank you... I’m a lifelong dancer a bit of ballroom, and I pride myself on my rhythm.... but with this dance I really struggle, for all of the reasons you’ve just stated... it’s off phrase and ‘through the music’. And yet, it looks so smooth and laid back and easy. It’s just the opposite and it’s making me feel totally uncoordinated. Your teaching stills and explanations are excellent and the way you break things down is second to none. I appreciate this as I am a ballet teacher. Of, course I will have to start practicing with a hatstand like Fred Astaire did, as I have no dance partner at home.🙄
Hi Lyall, Yes WCS can be tricky... but it's also super versatile and fun. It's well worth the effort to learn! I hope the video helped clear up a few of these tricky spots. We also wrote an article with some helpful resources that you might enjoy: www.westcoastswingonline.com/10-biggest-struggles-of-west-coast-swing-dancers/ Please let us know if you have any specific questions... we probably have a video that answers it :-) -Brian
I knew it! I had suspected that WCS is harder than other dances! At least it always felt that way to me but I couldn’t figure out why. It’s nice to have proof lol
Yeah some people (wcs teachers) get mad when I say WCS is hard. It's not that we can't learn it and be good at it but I just want people to know if they find it tricky that they're normal. Others have the same struggles. Keep up the good work and please let us know if there is anything we can do to help. If you haven't signed up for our move of the week emails... I think you'll really enjoy them! You can sign up here: www.westcoastswingonline.com/free-wcs-videos
I understand what Brian B is saying about the differences between WCS and other dances, Ballroom (Standard & Latin) being a good example for a comparison. Yet, allow me to speak about the term "basic". In place of it, or in conjunction with it, I would like to suggest the word "Fundamental". What I have seen in every dance I have watched and learned about, there are always fundamental elements to the dance, the things that the dance is built on and requires the dancer to learn and practice to perform the dance, whether at competition level or just at the social level. This means the fundamentals can be figures (moves), but it is also technique/methods as well. A fundamental exists in a basic (beginner) level, and exists all the way up to "advanced" level. There are always fundamentals to the dance. If a person sees it that way, as "fundamentals", and not restrict it to a set of figures, then they are on their way to learning (any) dance.
This is such a great explanation of the challenges of the most intriguing and fun dance. Would you add something in about the count- “the and a 1” in WCS. It really is what makes the back and forward connections so cool to watch and do but so hard to learn. It relates to the count not matching the 8 beats of music.
YES!!! I love to hear that. That's the goal. If we can help make the dance journey just a little bit better for you then we're super happy. Thanks for the support!!! Brian & Ms Megan
I like this comparison, but I really hope that you do one on the difference between West Coast Swing and Lindy (for those patterns and tempos where they overlap). I am starting a West Coast swing class, which (somewhat annoyingly) requires me to learn footwork and patterns that any beginner/intermediate swing dancer has done ad nauseum. I asked a friend: "Surely I am not the first LIndyhopper coming to learn WCS", to which she responded "You aren't but most Lindy Hoppers never learn WCS because they think they already know the dance." So I glean that in spite of the apparent overlap between the basic right-side pass, left side pass, sugar push, swingout/whip, basket whip for the two dances, they are actually very different in the connection, which one only learns in a beginner class (because the intermediate classes assume you have it and just teach more choreography). A video showing the difference between these two dances where they superficially overlap would be really useful for swing dancers trying to learn west coast swing. And maybe westies interested in becoming swing dancers.
Unfortunately we do not dance lindy hop. We might be able to connect with a lindy couple at some point to make a video. There may be other videos on youtube that could help 🤷♀️. It is a great idea.
So true my friend. Some people hate that I say WCS is hard... but I say it because we've learned so much about the struggles people have and we just want people to know that they are not alone. I always appreciate your feedback Forrest. You've taught me a lot and I've got A LOT to learn from you! Talk soon - Brian
It's the negative, null, positive, null connection that seems hardest around here. It's the only dance we do where the connection literally disappears from the very beginning. Yes, it happens in other dances, but not until upper bronze and silver. So, not only is it positive and negative, sometimes the connection has to go away and it does it so the dancers have some autonomy. Again, WCS has made every one of our other dances so much better. Viennese Waltz has these Canter Spirals and Cha Cha has that Turkish Towel...oh that slight bit of neutral where you have no connection. #trust
Thanks for sharing! Years ago I had that discussion with a professional american rhythm dancer. We thought that our exposure to WCS really gave us a leg up in our connection! Keep up the good work. Best wishes, Brian
Wcs is somewhat hard due to its variable step counts, but you see that in other dances too. Tango timing is way harder, step on the one, or the two? Lets do both! International Foxtrot, now that is a hard dance
Reason #1 - teachers like YOU make it hard by y'all teaching different things that you think are important that other teachers contradict. OK, fine, maybe its harder than Merengue, that's it. ANY dance can be very sophisticated depending on who is dancing it.
"Every dance is easy to do...Every dance is hard to do well." I like that quote. Actually this video topic came after we surveyed over 10,000 WCS dancers to determine the struggles they were having (so we could provide some videos to help) We also receive 20-30 emails per day from dancers who share their stories. We just want to help provide as many resources to make the path to learning WCS as easy as possible. Yes you're correct that dance teachers dance differently. There are a lot of us. I think the overwhelming majority of them are trying their best to share what they know to help people learn quickly so they can enjoy the the dance style as much as possible. At WCS Online we just try to do the same with our videos (and obviously our teaching in person here in Louisville) Best wishes, Brian
@@WestCoastSwingOnline A guy is attending M.A.D.Jam, getting ready for the Newcomer J&J, his 10th attempt! He steps out of the hotel to get some air, when a dude approaches him, wearing a black suit, black tie, black shirt, black hat, carrying black briefcase. the dude says 'I can make you the greatest West Coast Swing dancer this world has ever seen. ' "Starting today, every competition of any kind that you enter, you will always win. By the end of this month, you will progress to All Star. You will compete in Invitational J&J's , and of course you will always win. All the big pros will be your best friends, and everyone at every level of dance will adore you." "You will start a dance studio, and every class will be filled. Your students will progress with lightning speed. You will be a coveted workshop instructor at every major WCS event in the world." "You will constantly be inventing new and amazing moves that everyone at every level will want to copy. " "All I need in return is your soul, and the souls of your children, grandchildren, great-grand children, and so on for the next 25 generations." The first guy says, " Well, ok. But...... what’s the catch?"
I come from a Salsa/Bachata background and started West Coast Swing a year and a half ago. It was confusing and complicated to understand. And to be fundamentally sound at it is difficult. But during socials, what I found was that it is such a flexible and forgiving dance. In bachata, waltz and other dances, if you are off time or mess up, it's just awkward. West Coast Swing has a bit of room for error that you can sometimes finesse or even style your way out of it. Also, even with some of the best dancers at socials, certain fundamentals seem to either be roughly followed or just go out the window. I see them just doing the starter step, some advanced gymnastics, then the anchor step. 😅
West coast swing is definitely more flexible. However knowing your fundamentals, basics, and basic technique is best.From there you can make things more flexible and try new things but then you know your timing and what you can allow in you flexibility.
It's also the most fun dance, I think. You can be very creative and make up moves as long as you stay with the music, connection and basics. :)
It's a really fun dance and the Juice is worth the Squeeze in learning it! -B
Thank you... I’m a lifelong dancer a bit of ballroom, and I pride myself on my rhythm.... but with this dance I really struggle, for all of the reasons you’ve just stated... it’s off phrase and ‘through the music’. And yet, it looks so smooth and laid back and easy. It’s just the opposite and it’s making me feel totally uncoordinated.
Your teaching stills and explanations are excellent and the way you break things down is second to none. I appreciate this as I am a ballet teacher. Of, course I will have to start practicing with a hatstand like Fred Astaire did, as I have no dance partner at home.🙄
Hi Lyall, Yes WCS can be tricky... but it's also super versatile and fun. It's well worth the effort to learn! I hope the video helped clear up a few of these tricky spots. We also wrote an article with some helpful resources that you might enjoy:
www.westcoastswingonline.com/10-biggest-struggles-of-west-coast-swing-dancers/
Please let us know if you have any specific questions... we probably have a video that answers it :-) -Brian
I knew it! I had suspected that WCS is harder than other dances! At least it always felt that way to me but I couldn’t figure out why. It’s nice to have proof lol
Yeah some people (wcs teachers) get mad when I say WCS is hard. It's not that we can't learn it and be good at it but I just want people to know if they find it tricky that they're normal. Others have the same struggles. Keep up the good work and please let us know if there is anything we can do to help. If you haven't signed up for our move of the week emails... I think you'll really enjoy them! You can sign up here: www.westcoastswingonline.com/free-wcs-videos
I understand what Brian B is saying about the differences between WCS and other dances, Ballroom (Standard & Latin) being a good example for a comparison.
Yet, allow me to speak about the term "basic". In place of it, or in conjunction with it, I would like to suggest the word "Fundamental".
What I have seen in every dance I have watched and learned about, there are always fundamental elements to the dance, the things that the dance is built on and requires the dancer to learn and practice to perform the dance, whether at competition level or just at the social level. This means the fundamentals can be figures (moves), but it is also technique/methods as well. A fundamental exists in a basic (beginner) level, and exists all the way up to "advanced" level. There are always fundamentals to the dance.
If a person sees it that way, as "fundamentals", and not restrict it to a set of figures, then they are on their way to learning (any) dance.
Absolutely. Great thoughts. I actually use 'foundation' in a video thanks to you.
This is such a great explanation of the challenges of the most intriguing and fun dance. Would you add something in about the count- “the and a 1” in WCS. It really is what makes the back and forward connections so cool to watch and do but so hard to learn. It relates to the count not matching the 8 beats of music.
Thanks Nancy! Your wish is my command. We did a whole video on this: ua-cam.com/video/Yor7NPm-JXE/v-deo.html
thanks for theoretical approach, it is really rear among dancers
Thanks for noticing :-) I try to be part theoretical & practical. I hope that covers it for most people. Happy dancing. -B
Great vid you guys rock- these help so much
YES!!! I love to hear that. That's the goal. If we can help make the dance journey just a little bit better for you then we're super happy. Thanks for the support!!! Brian & Ms Megan
I like this comparison, but I really hope that you do one on the difference between West Coast Swing and Lindy (for those patterns and tempos where they overlap). I am starting a West Coast swing class, which (somewhat annoyingly) requires me to learn footwork and patterns that any beginner/intermediate swing dancer has done ad nauseum. I asked a friend: "Surely I am not the first LIndyhopper coming to learn WCS", to which she responded "You aren't but most Lindy Hoppers never learn WCS because they think they already know the dance." So I glean that in spite of the apparent overlap between the basic right-side pass, left side pass, sugar push, swingout/whip, basket whip for the two dances, they are actually very different in the connection, which one only learns in a beginner class (because the intermediate classes assume you have it and just teach more choreography). A video showing the difference between these two dances where they superficially overlap would be really useful for swing dancers trying to learn west coast swing. And maybe westies interested in becoming swing dancers.
Unfortunately we do not dance lindy hop. We might be able to connect with a lindy couple at some point to make a video. There may be other videos on youtube that could help 🤷♀️. It is a great idea.
Thank you. The last one: I’m oblivious.🎉😻Will keep working on it.💃🏽
Download this video - it should help fill in the blanks: www.westcoastswingonline.com/musicality-video -Brian
been looking for videos of WCS that shows the basic steps. There seem to be none. Now, I know why.
They're not easy but worth learning!
Here is my favorite basics video...ua-cam.com/video/S46CehHc8cM/v-deo.html
Different games different rules. Apples and oranges my friend. Being an Olympic level basketball player won't mean much on the gymnastics team.
So true my friend. Some people hate that I say WCS is hard... but I say it because we've learned so much about the struggles people have and we just want people to know that they are not alone. I always appreciate your feedback Forrest. You've taught me a lot and I've got A LOT to learn from you! Talk soon - Brian
It's the negative, null, positive, null connection that seems hardest around here. It's the only dance we do where the connection literally disappears from the very beginning. Yes, it happens in other dances, but not until upper bronze and silver. So, not only is it positive and negative, sometimes the connection has to go away and it does it so the dancers have some autonomy. Again, WCS has made every one of our other dances so much better. Viennese Waltz has these Canter Spirals and Cha Cha has that Turkish Towel...oh that slight bit of neutral where you have no connection. #trust
Thanks for sharing! Years ago I had that discussion with a professional american rhythm dancer. We thought that our exposure to WCS really gave us a leg up in our connection! Keep up the good work. Best wishes, Brian
Wcs is somewhat hard due to its variable step counts, but you see that in other dances too. Tango timing is way harder, step on the one, or the two? Lets do both!
International Foxtrot, now that is a hard dance
Yes.... Every dance is easy to do... Every dance is hard to do well :-)
Reason #1 - teachers like YOU make it hard by y'all teaching different things that you think are important that other teachers contradict. OK, fine, maybe its harder than Merengue, that's it. ANY dance can be very sophisticated depending on who is dancing it.
"Every dance is easy to do...Every dance is hard to do well." I like that quote. Actually this video topic came after we surveyed over 10,000 WCS dancers to determine the struggles they were having (so we could provide some videos to help) We also receive 20-30 emails per day from dancers who share their stories. We just want to help provide as many resources to make the path to learning WCS as easy as possible.
Yes you're correct that dance teachers dance differently. There are a lot of us. I think the overwhelming majority of them are trying their best to share what they know to help people learn quickly so they can enjoy the the dance style as much as possible.
At WCS Online we just try to do the same with our videos (and obviously our teaching in person here in Louisville)
Best wishes,
Brian
@@WestCoastSwingOnline A guy is attending M.A.D.Jam, getting ready for the Newcomer J&J, his 10th attempt! He steps out of the hotel to get some air, when a dude approaches him, wearing a black suit, black tie, black shirt, black hat, carrying black briefcase. the dude says 'I can make you the greatest West Coast Swing dancer this world has ever seen. '
"Starting today, every competition of any kind that you enter, you will always win. By the end of this month, you will progress to All Star. You will compete in Invitational J&J's , and of course you will always win. All the big pros will be your best friends, and everyone at every level of dance will adore you."
"You will start a dance studio, and every class will be filled. Your students will progress with lightning speed. You will be a coveted workshop instructor at every major WCS event in the world."
"You will constantly be inventing new and amazing moves that everyone at every level will want to copy. "
"All I need in return is your soul, and the souls of your children, grandchildren, great-grand children, and so on for the next 25 generations."
The first guy says, " Well, ok. But...... what’s the catch?"
@@bejingmao This is amazing! Just amazing :-)
ill fix ur engrish, more challenging, more rewarding not harder w an actual senseo
Thanks for the feedback. 😉