I'm just about to turn 76. I am not a dancer by any means. What I seem to see here are lessons in rhythm. Something strange to me. But after watching, I tried it. Surprise!!! Not ready for ballroom yet, but it worked.😎🕺(kinda)
@@joshblack2362 Hey Josh, no I wasn't born a dude, I'm a cis-gendered lesbian woman. Not sure why that's relevant for you, but there you go. Also by the way my name's spelled Kris, not Chris :)
Hello, my name is Odysseus Bailer and NYC. I am blues, lindy hop dancer, instructor, DJ and Black American Cultural lecture. I want to first say, great job on the video and really helping to break down what you are teaching based on how you understand it in your own body. There is one thing that stood out that I would encourage rephrasing. You both kept saying things like “self-expression is an important element in Lindy hop.”, “creativity is another element of lindy hop.”, etc. Creativity and self-expression are important values, or as you have said elements, of Black American culture that is expressed through lindy hop and jazz music. By saying something is an “element of lindy hop”, even though that phrasing is quite common and personally i find extremely annoying, it gives off the impression that the music and dance is separate from the culture to which it originated and started from. Thank you for taking the time to read this message and keep teaching and keep being better moving forward.
Hi Odysseus, thanks so much for your thoughtful comment! I gotta say, you are 100% on the nose. I've (Kris, the follower in the video) done a lot of thinking about this over the past while, and if I were filming it today I'd like to think I would've done a much better job of this, and communicate better how much I value not only the great dancers who created lindy hop but the entirety of Black culture that made it what it is. I don't know if or when we'll be able to do more filming and do a better job with this in our videos, but there are definitely a lot of things along this line that I will do differently next time. Meanwhile I can assure you that I'm trying hard to do better in every live class I do. Thanks again for the feedback, I appreciate you taking the time.
I follow the slides with love. There are no dance associations in Turkey who know this type of dance as well as you do. There are several dance schools. they are also focused on money. I learn a lot from your videos by following you.
I took this class before I went to my first ever Lindy Hop Party. Even though I had never danced with a partner before, I could still follow along fairly well because I had aalready learned some steps from this video. Thank you!
I have casually danced (ballroom) for decades. This is an EXCELLENT intro to dance because it doesn't lock a person into patterns - the death-knell of dancing - a prescription for failure. I was taught "rules-based" when it is better to be taught "feel-based" - like this video. Good job.
Thanks so much! That idea, of dancing "feel-based" is I agree really good for any dance. And I think it's especially important for anything connected to jazz :)
My fiancé and I signed up for the online pass and all of the classes have been so awesome so far! We can't recommend this channel and their classes enough if someone wants to learn swing dancing :)
24:17 This is a brilliant online teaching methodology. I’m following the male teacher, solo. Just watching for his improvised body language tells me when to move my foot into the backstep/rockstep. In addition, I’m watching this at .75 speed, perfect for this beginner. Than you teachers for so kindly sharing your time and skills with the world.
Wow! It is amazing the way you are teaching the firsts steps! Me and my wife are having fun with Lindy Hop and this video helps a lot! Regards from Brazil :)
Thanks Pedro, I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. If you'd like more from us you can find full courses over at swingstep.com. Either way, I hope you and your wife keep having fun dancing Lindy Hop together!
You two are wonderful! Your positive energy is incredible, I had such a great time learning this is a cold, rainy day in Argentina. Thank you and greetings!!!
Simply wonderful! This video help me integrate all the pieces together for the learning of swing dance in the last few months, i.e., rhythm, steps, partnership, and fun in artistic expressions. Thank you.
I've ALWAYS wanted to learn swing dance, especially the lindy hop. I did your whole video and I learned SO much! Thank you for making it simple enough to follow.🙏 I actually feel like I know how to dance the basics already and get my groove on to my husband's collection of big band and swing music. Can't wait to follow the rest of your series on your website. 🥰
Thanks Lily, that's great to hear! Glad you're interested in more of our courses - and of course the most important part is that you are already getting your groove on to great music. Keep doing that!
Perfect. I started training Lindy hop last year and my trainers immediately started with triple step. I soon noticed that some songs were too fast for triplstep. Your lessons have helped me reduce the number of steps and play even when the song is at a faster rhythm. Your classes are great, understandable, clear. Thank you. I'm looking forward to watching the second part of your training. Greetings from Serbia, Dejan
Hey Dejan, thank you for your comment, we are glad you could find this video useful :) Currently we are not planning to open Class 2 for free, as this is a product we offer on our online platform - swingstep.tv . There is some info in the video description as well ;) By the way, if you say you already know triple steps, you might want to take a look at Swing2 or Skills&Drills courses - their first classes are available for free as well. And if you want something that has no triple steps, check out Swing 5 (no preview available though). Also, in the nearest future we will post some short snippets here from different courses, we hope you will be inspired by them and will also find them useful (please, consider subscribing to not miss them :) ) Take care and keep swingin'!
Oh boy, this has been so much fun. Thank you. You are great teachers. I am trying to do it with my husband but sometimes it is just me. It gives me a lot of joy and makes me smile when I am practicing, and I need to smile more so this is the perfect remedy for that. Thank you so much. I look forward to the next lessons.
Guys, you both are simply too good. I am from India and a big fan of Lindy hop. In your first lesson, you have focussed on the very basic fundamentals of the Lindy hop which is the Rhythm, Pulse, Groove, timing and partner feel, understanding/coordination etc. All the intermediate & advanced steps can come in later once a learner has the basics in place. You both have structured it very very well. By far the best beginners tutorial I have come across. Thank you so very much. I learnt soo much in a single session.
Thank you so much Xavier! I'm really glad you liked it. We have the rest of the course, plus a full program including more advanced material, and our live-sessions community, over at swingstep.tv ;)
You two are so much fun to watch and learn from! Thank you sooooo much. Thanks so much for the tips both from the leader's and the follower's point of view. They are very helpful. Hugs!
You only need 7 or 8 different steps on each musics. You will have very nice dance at your home kitchen , basement or dance floors. I call excellent dance sports. I have been doing ball room dancing for many years. My body weight never went up more than 165 Pounds at age of 90.
You guys are really good. I went to a few classes and tried this dance and had a hard time ...but your approach to learn the basics is excellent...much easier to learn your way...Thanks !!
No idea why UA-cam decided to put this in my Recommended but I’m glad they did, I’d never even heard of the Lindy Hop now I’m learning it and loving it 🥰
16:00 on for a couple minutes: I think you two realize how difficult it is to SEE a weight shift. The skills you are teaching are way more subtle than they might seem. So, since I'm using your video mainly for (self) geriatric exercise, I'm patient & enjoying your teaching tremendously! Nice music, as well!
Hey Kathrin, the rest of the course is available at swingstep.com. Or you can try the first class of our other beginners course over here: ua-cam.com/video/X-7DN_nHuSg/v-deo.html&feature=shares
It is really fun indeed :). You'll find Lindy hop communities, with social dances, in so many places around the world - it tends to be kind of hidden, but Lindy hoppers tend to be very present on the internet so if you do a search in your local area you'll probably find something. And/or: what about just dancing jazz solo? Over at swingstep.tv you'll also find full courses dedicated to dancing without a partner.
Glad you liked the video. Don't worry about age -- lots of people start later into adulthood, and at any social dance night you'll see Lindy Hoppers of all ages. Those of us over 40 just need to warm up our knees a little more before we go crazy :)
Glad you liked it. If you enjoy it and want to dance more, why not just invite some friends over and start practicing with them? We know some of the most fun Lindy Hop communities in the world started as just a small group of friends learning from videos and dancing together :)
Thanks for that beautiful dance lesson. You are great teacher 👌👍 Your explanations are so helpful, it made a lot of fun to practice this right with your lesson.
Hey! Glad you liked it. We have a few other free videos here on youtube; the full Swing1 course plus many more are available our website - have a look over at swingstep.tv :)
When changing up the number of slow steps to the quick one, how does your partner know? I’m really enjoying this! You two are utterly charming. I took up tap at 50. Now this at 70. “Life is a banquet,” ❤️
Hey there, Kris here. Glad you like the lesson :) Check out what Ali is talking about and showing from around 12:37, his posture changes a bit when he's about to do a rock step (i.e. "a quick-quick"). You can see his upper body is going backwards just a little, and then good while body is continuing backwards much more than if he wanted to do another slow forwards. With some practice is possible to follow those signals just visually. But when you're physically connected to a partner it's much easier because they can also*feel* whether you're moving backwards or not. So the leader's job is really just to move into each step with rhythm and intention, and that will provide visible information to the follower and also will create a physical connection that they can react to as well. By the way I just recently started tap dancing at 44 years old and i love it!
Glad you like it! It's not easy cost swing but rather the first steps of Charleston as part of lindy hop. In the rest of our course over at swingstep.tv we also introduce triple step footwork, while continuing to mix 6-count, 8-count, and other movements into the dance.
The way you introduced getting into step, rhythm and a little bit of the count is the way I do it too and it's extremely good and very effective.... But instead of going round and round and doing some assistant steps (not the basic Lindy Hope step), I go straight for the basic lindy hop step but I do it very very slowly so the student can do it too. I pick up speed with time. I make sure they understand the counting and also count while they're doing the steps. This way if they make a mistake it's very easy for them to autocorrect or for me to correct them because it's easy to know where and when they made the mistake.
We don't like to begin slowly and build up tempo later, because we want people to be able to dance on faster songs as well. Different strokes for different folks ;)
Glad you liked it! Actually I think it's just a tiny window into the wealth of moves, grooves, and modes of expression that are part of this amazing Black american art form :)
Thanks Hanaa, glad you liked it! The rest of this course is available with an Online Pass over at swingstep.com -- you get access to this and many other courses over there. We also have a few more free videos too, have a look: swingstep.com/classes/free-beginner-lindy-hop-series/
Great, thanks! What's missing is how to deal with musical phrasing while doing 6-count patterns. In this video, you obviously avoid counting it with numbers ;) Do you have another video that explains?
I'm glad you liked it! In Lindy hop we don't restrict ourselves to 6-count patterns at all, and you can fill a phrase in many many different ways. One very simple example using just the moves from this video is the little combo do at the end of the class; we show it around 1:05:00 - there, Ali is counting the length of the moves, but if you count it through musically, or later watch us doing it to the music, you'll see that it fills a phrase very nicely :)
You should wear leather shoes on hard floors. You can spin and slighting “ easier”. Dress up and dance under Blue Moon {NC} in evening. You will love under those musics {NC)
Hi Judy, thanks for your comment. Actually we find that different kinds of shoes can be great for lindy hop. Leather soles as you say are great for more spins and slides, the light running shoes we are wearing are great for absorbing impact and when you want a bit more grip on the floor.
Glad you liked it! Yes we have some playlists - scroll toward the bottom of this page on our site: swingstep.com/this-is-swing/music/ The "medium" and "fast" lists are best for the material in this lesson.
Hello Gisela, thank you for your feedback :) You can find other lessons on our online learning platform - swingstep.tv Please check the video description for all other details :)
Glad you enjoyed it! Take it from someone who has known many many dancers over the years who started with several "left feet," if you stick with it and practice (just a little bit of practice is enough if you do it regularly), you'll grow a right foot in no time ;)
I'm a believer in learning to feel the music. If you learn to swing, you can learn to "swing dance". That's how Frankie Manning would teach in the few lessons I saw him in, as well as other instructors who were good at reaching the "uncoordinated", "klutzy", or "non-musical" students. Feel the music, move to the music. Learn to fit your basic universal moves within the basic style if you want to learn a particular dance.
I agree. It's not only important for reaching "uncoordinated" students, it's important because listening to the music - and having our dancing deeply informed by that listening - is a value of Black culture, which Lindy hop is a part of. You'd get that value reflected in the way Frankie Manning talked, but also other famous elders of the dance like Dawn Hampton (who was practically a preacher of groove as far as I see it), and many more, AND you hear it as a strong value from those dancers and teachers around today who were raised within Black culture. If I were re-filming this class today, that's one of the things I'd like to emphasize more.
Hey Dennis! I am happy that you liked it! There are some more free videos in our youtube channel. But the full course of Swing1, and many other great stuff, is part of our program over at swingstep.tv/.
Hi there! I would like to play your tutorials for youth at a coffee shop. I’m providing popcorn and water and setting up and I need to charge about 8 dollars in order to cover that cost. Can I purchase your tutorials for use with the youth and families? We have a live band practicing as well and when we have a party or event there will not be tutorials. Just for the weekly practice leading up to the event. Thanks for your help!
Hello Clara! Happy that you like keep dancing with us. Would be nice to see you swingstep.tv/ also in our online live activities, then we can dance together.
Amazing and beautiful dance💃🕺👯 video🎥👌 Super like👌👌👌 very interesting and helpful information👍👍👍 provided from start to the end. Thanks for sharing👌 Do keep posting 👌🆕 Warm regards and best wishes The UnknownManCub 👍😎👨🏭
Hi Daniel, thank you so much for your kind comments, glad you found the video useful! There are a few more free videos here on our youtube channel; for more, see our full program over at swingstep.tv/.
We used a few different songs over the course of the lesson, I think in this order: "Boot Heel Drag", Naomi and her Handsome Devils "All of Me", Gordon Webster "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket", Boilermaker Jazz Band "Squatty Roo", Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five "Them There Eyes", Les Haricots Rouges (featuring Benny Waters) If you're wondering about a specific moment of music, give me the time stamp on the video and I can tell you which song that is :)
It is very difficult for me, i am always to slow and feel very unstable. Besides this my knee starts to hurt... are there better exercises for beginners?
Hi there! I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with the material. I think your feeling of being unstable and your knee pain might be related... I would suggest: instead of looking for other exercises (as far as Lindy Hop goes, this is quite easy-going on the body), you might want to do more warming up before you start dancing; for instance you could try some so-called "dynamic stretches". And in your case I would suggest especially looking for warm-up movements that activate your thigh muscles and other muscles around the knee, so that this joint is more protected while you're dancing. Finally: depending on when you experience knee pain, it could be worth thinking about what you wear on your feet while you dance. If you get pain when turning a lot, try putting on leather-soled shoes that give your foot less resistance when you turn, so that your knee doesn't have to do as much work. Or, if you get pain from bouncing a lot, wear well-padded running shoes that can help absorb your movements more. OK finally finally: if you're in pain when dancing, I recommend going to a professional to get personal feedback and advice. For instance a physiotherapist, or a "gait analysis" appointment, can help with this a lot. P.S. I see your username is german... "gait analysis" is a Laufanalyse :) Good luck!
Hey Sera! The rest of this course is available on swingstep.tv. We've put a selection of our content up here on youtube, full courses are all on our website.
Hi Candy, it sounds like you're talking about doing a 6-count basic starting with the forward movement -- i.e. "slow, slow, quick, quick". In that case, as with many other things in Lindy Hop, this does indeed mean that our moves don't stay neatly inside one bar (i.e. 4 beats) of music. For instance, as the name suggests, a "6-count" will cover one and a half bars. Some of the movements we do in Lindy Hop will keep us "inside the bar structure"; usually with moves that take two bars (for an example, see the so-called 8count basic at 42:19 in the video.). But many of them will not; 6 counts is a very common length of move, but there are others too. One thing that you can typically rely on is that our moves will take an *even* number of beats; so that in partnered moves the next move might start on the 1 of the music, or the 3, but not on the 2 or the 4. (Actually there are exceptions to this, mostly because of solo dance movements that we like to bring in to our partnered Lindy Hop... but let's not get too sidetracked :) ) Anyway, this shifting is not a bad thing! :) It shifts the structures of our dancing in a way that is much more interesting than if we were only "allowed" to dance moves that take exactly one or two bars. It means that different moments in our movement will fall on different parts of the music, and this lets us express ourselves to the music in many more ways than if every move was the same length. For an example of that check out the combo we do at the end of the class -- at 1:08:02 we demonstrate it to music, and as we dance it several times on the music you can see that, although the moves "start" on different counts of the music, the overall sequence fills up one phrase exactly, and we can use a fun element (heel-toes) to accentuate the ending of that phrase. Hope this explanation helps!
Hmm, that's a fun idea :). Maybe start with filming yourself dancing swingouts with a partner, so that you can see where your feet tend to land, then put simple stickers on those spots; dance that way a few times, then start playing with adjustments - can you make the spacing of the stickers a bit more even, so that your travel will be even during the swingout, or can you adjust so that your travel will be more up and down a line and not too much "around". Then you can train your footwork with those adjustments. After that though I would also suggest changing it even more and playing with options, to make you more flexible in what you can do during your swingout, to make sure you don't get locked in to only one way of doing it...
@@SwingStepTV Thank you for your reply. Sadly the reason I want one is because no one ever does video from above and I can’t figure out where my feet should go. I have taken group classes but everyone teaches the same , watch me and copy, and a lot of us don’t learn that way!
@@zandra7966 I hear you. Watch-and-copy is one good way to learn dance, and a useful skill to have, but it's definitely not the only way and didn't feel as natural to everyone. We have a course that's mostly dedicated to swingouts over at swingstep.tv. There are definitely "watch-and-copy" moments in that course, but hopefully enough other ways that could work for you :)
Many great dancers don't you know many variations of a step or a figure.... They know the basic and one or two variations and when they are on the dance floor they might use just the basic step and one variation. Knowing several variations of a step or the basic step is great but not necessary. Time and practice will teach you many of the various variations.... But to concentrate on the several variations of the basic step for a beginner is really a mistake because that only confuses him /her. They can always learn the variations later on but at the beginning they need the one basic step so that they can dance without confusion.
We disagree. Another important part of the dance - a really important value of lindy hop - is self-expression and improvisation. And that needs to be part of the learning from day one so that each dancer will always be working with their own style and creating their own version of things, not just copying what others do.
I'm just about to turn 76. I am not a dancer by any means. What I seem to see here are lessons in rhythm. Something strange to me. But after watching, I tried it. Surprise!!! Not ready for ballroom yet, but it worked.😎🕺(kinda)
Hi Robert, so glad it worked for you! I agree with you, these are indeed lessons in rhythm. Lindy Hop is aaaall about rhythm :)
@@SwingStepTV was Chris born a dude?…
@@joshblack2362 Hey Josh, no I wasn't born a dude, I'm a cis-gendered lesbian woman. Not sure why that's relevant for you, but there you go. Also by the way my name's spelled Kris, not Chris :)
Hello, my name is Odysseus Bailer and NYC. I am blues, lindy hop dancer, instructor, DJ and Black American Cultural lecture. I want to first say, great job on the video and really helping to break down what you are teaching based on how you understand it in your own body. There is one thing that stood out that I would encourage rephrasing. You both kept saying things like “self-expression is an important element in Lindy hop.”, “creativity is another element of lindy hop.”, etc. Creativity and self-expression are important values, or as you have said elements, of Black American culture that is expressed through lindy hop and jazz music. By saying something is an “element of lindy hop”, even though that phrasing is quite common and personally i find extremely annoying, it gives off the impression that the music and dance is separate from the culture to which it originated and started from. Thank you for taking the time to read this message and keep teaching and keep being better moving forward.
Hi Odysseus, thanks so much for your thoughtful comment! I gotta say, you are 100% on the nose. I've (Kris, the follower in the video) done a lot of thinking about this over the past while, and if I were filming it today I'd like to think I would've done a much better job of this, and communicate better how much I value not only the great dancers who created lindy hop but the entirety of Black culture that made it what it is. I don't know if or when we'll be able to do more filming and do a better job with this in our videos, but there are definitely a lot of things along this line that I will do differently next time. Meanwhile I can assure you that I'm trying hard to do better in every live class I do.
Thanks again for the feedback, I appreciate you taking the time.
I follow the slides with love. There are no dance associations in Turkey who know this type of dance as well as you do. There are several dance schools. they are also focused on money. I learn a lot from your videos by following you.
I'm so glad you like them! If you want to learn more, we have full courses over on our website: swingstep.com
P.S. the website has our Online Pass, but also has some free stuff too ;)
I'm very impressed! I can't believe I actually learnt Lindy Hop steps after just one class
Glad you liked it Nicholas!
I took this class before I went to my first ever Lindy Hop Party. Even though I had never danced with a partner before, I could still follow along fairly well because I had aalready learned some steps from this video. Thank you!
That's fantastic Karyn, glad to hear it :)
Oh that’s so cool Karyn, plus the dancers make it look so easy and they are having a blast!!!!
🤸thank you so much for sharing your fabulous video i enjoyed your Technics 🤸🍀🌈andy
Thanks Andy I'm glad you liked it!
This is just the nicest guy instructing here... gentle, patient spirit - so on it for who don't know the steps yet.\!
Kris here, and I'll just say: he's pretty fun to dance with too ;)
Wonderful teaching methodology. Thank you!
Thanks so much! Feel free to check out more classes on our website:)
I have casually danced (ballroom) for decades. This is an EXCELLENT intro to dance because it doesn't lock a person into patterns - the death-knell of dancing - a prescription for failure. I was taught "rules-based" when it is better to be taught "feel-based" - like this video. Good job.
Thanks so much! That idea, of dancing "feel-based" is I agree really good for any dance. And I think it's especially important for anything connected to jazz :)
Finally, a teaching video made with love . .
Aww, thank you!
This looks easy to follow and doable! I am so happy and grateful that you put this video online! Such great vibe you two have!
Thanks! Glad you liked it :)
My fiancé and I signed up for the online pass and all of the classes have been so awesome so far! We can't recommend this channel and their classes enough if someone wants to learn swing dancing :)
Oh wow thanks Matt! Glad you're enjoying the classes!
24:17 This is a brilliant online teaching methodology. I’m following the male teacher, solo. Just watching for his improvised body language tells me when to move my foot into the backstep/rockstep. In addition, I’m watching this at .75 speed, perfect for this beginner.
Than you teachers for so kindly sharing your time and skills with the world.
So glad it's working for you! Keep it up and enjoy your practice :)
I have taken 8 years of ballroom and because of COVID restrictions, that hasn’t happened in over a year...you guys are fabulous teachers!
Hey Angela, thank you so much! If you want more you can find us at swingstep.tv/. There are some more free lesson in higher levels...
You began and i think, Super!
Feel the rhythm, one two and go to the room.
Experience with me and the step. The best to feel this music.
Wow! It is amazing the way you are teaching the firsts steps! Me and my wife are having fun with Lindy Hop and this video helps a lot! Regards from Brazil :)
Thanks Pedro, I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. If you'd like more from us you can find full courses over at swingstep.com. Either way, I hope you and your wife keep having fun dancing Lindy Hop together!
It’s really nice to see such a development in teaching techniques since when I learned. You two are fantastic it teaching the dance part.
Thanks :)
You two are wonderful! Your positive energy is incredible, I had such a great time learning this is a cold, rainy day in Argentina. Thank you and greetings!!!
Wow thank you!! I'm so glad we could boost your mood today. Keep practicing and have fun! -Kris
The two of you are such wonderful teachers!
Thank you so much!
Guys , thank you so much for this helpful video. I was struggling in my classes and couldn’t follow anymore. Feeling much better now .🙏💃
That's great to hear!
Simply wonderful! This video help me integrate all the pieces together for the learning of swing dance in the last few months, i.e., rhythm, steps, partnership, and fun in artistic expressions. Thank you.
Wow, that's great to hear!
I've ALWAYS wanted to learn swing dance, especially the lindy hop. I did your whole video and I learned SO much! Thank you for making it simple enough to follow.🙏 I actually feel like I know how to dance the basics already and get my groove on to my husband's collection of big band and swing music. Can't wait to follow the rest of your series on your website. 🥰
Thanks Lily, that's great to hear! Glad you're interested in more of our courses - and of course the most important part is that you are already getting your groove on to great music. Keep doing that!
Perfect.
I started training Lindy hop last year and my trainers immediately started with triple step.
I soon noticed that some songs were too fast for triplstep.
Your lessons have helped me reduce the number of steps and play even when the song is at a faster rhythm.
Your classes are great, understandable, clear.
Thank you.
I'm looking forward to watching the second part of your training.
Greetings from Serbia,
Dejan
Hey Dejan, thank you for your comment, we are glad you could find this video useful :)
Currently we are not planning to open Class 2 for free, as this is a product we offer on our online platform - swingstep.tv . There is some info in the video description as well ;)
By the way, if you say you already know triple steps, you might want to take a look at Swing2 or Skills&Drills courses - their first classes are available for free as well. And if you want something that has no triple steps, check out Swing 5 (no preview available though).
Also, in the nearest future we will post some short snippets here from different courses, we hope you will be inspired by them and will also find them useful (please, consider subscribing to not miss them :) )
Take care and keep swingin'!
u want a friend reply
Oh boy, this has been so much fun. Thank you. You are great teachers. I am trying to do it with my husband but sometimes it is just me. It gives me a lot of joy and makes me smile when I am practicing, and I need to smile more so this is the perfect remedy for that. Thank you so much. I look forward to the next lessons.
It makes me very happy to see that this brought you lots of joy! Thank you for sharing!
Guys, you both are simply too good. I am from India and a big fan of Lindy hop. In your first lesson, you have focussed on the very basic fundamentals of the Lindy hop which is the Rhythm, Pulse, Groove, timing and partner feel, understanding/coordination etc. All the intermediate & advanced steps can come in later once a learner has the basics in place. You both have structured it very very well. By far the best beginners tutorial I have come across. Thank you so very much. I learnt soo much in a single session.
Thank you so much Xavier! I'm really glad you liked it. We have the rest of the course, plus a full program including more advanced material, and our live-sessions community, over at swingstep.tv ;)
You are wonderful teachers, never had better! Just making a long video so we can practice directly is perfect. I'm looking for the next class!
Hi Ulrike! Glad you like our teaching and the video format. If you want to continue the course, come over to our website, swingstep.tv :)
You two are so much fun to watch and learn from! Thank you sooooo much. Thanks so much for the tips both from the leader's and the follower's point of view. They are very helpful. Hugs!
thanks a lot! We try hard to make sure there's good info for both roles, so everyone has something to work on. Glad this worked for you :)
First time with you tonight and you are fab teachers ...I've really missed my dancing over covid so grateful to have found you...THANK YOU X
Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed the class. Keep putting on swinging music and dancing :)
You only need 7 or 8 different steps on each musics. You will have very nice dance at your home kitchen , basement or dance floors. I call excellent dance sports. I have been doing ball room dancing for many years. My body weight never went up more than 165 Pounds at age of 90.
You guys are really good. I went to a few classes and tried this dance and had a hard time ...but your approach to learn the basics is excellent...much easier to learn your way...Thanks !!
Thanks so much, glad it worked for you!
This video is absolutely brilliant. The instruction is so so clear and you made it fun thankyou
Thanks a lot, glad you enjoyed it!
No idea why UA-cam decided to put this in my Recommended but I’m glad they did, I’d never even heard of the Lindy Hop now I’m learning it and loving it 🥰
That's great to hear!
16:00 on for a couple minutes: I think you two realize how difficult it is to SEE a weight shift. The skills you are teaching are way more subtle than they might seem. So, since I'm using your video mainly for (self) geriatric exercise, I'm patient & enjoying your teaching tremendously! Nice music, as well!
Thanks Samantha! I'm glad that the details are working for you, we think they're important too :)
I’m so excited. I’m bookmarking this so I can do this with my husband! Just subscribed!
Glad you found us - have a great time with it :)
Trying it tonight with my boyfriend! ❤️ thank you for the amazing tutorial
You're so welcome! You can find the rest of this and other courses on our website, swingstep.tv.
I loved the way you got on with it and with music as well. Well worth it. I
Thanks so much!
Thank you for this! We've never dance before and this video was easy to follow along with and so much fun.
So glad you liked it Sara! If you pop over to swingstep.tv and sign up, you get the full course plus live support and other activities :)
This class is the most fun!!! Thank you for the clear instruction and examples.
You are so welcome!!
Wonderful easy instructions with plenty of repetitions and practice possibilities! Thank you. Does it exist there a next video step?
Hey Kathrin, the rest of the course is available at swingstep.com. Or you can try the first class of our other beginners course over here: ua-cam.com/video/X-7DN_nHuSg/v-deo.html&feature=shares
Really good breakdown of essentials; and both of you have excellent communication skills and " teaching language". Thanks!
Thanks a lot David! We really care about being clear and breaking things well, so that's a great compliment for us to get :)
@@SwingStepTV You deserve it. I know good teaching when I see it...!
Thank you. I will need to learn this. Never know when I’ll get to dance this ever, but should be fun to learn.
It is really fun indeed :). You'll find Lindy hop communities, with social dances, in so many places around the world - it tends to be kind of hidden, but Lindy hoppers tend to be very present on the internet so if you do a search in your local area you'll probably find something. And/or: what about just dancing jazz solo? Over at swingstep.tv you'll also find full courses dedicated to dancing without a partner.
Absolutely FABULOUS!
You both are absolutely great ! I am really getting it with you !!!!!🙂
Thank you so much!
Superb presentation and teaching skills. Highly enjoyable 👌
Wow, what a compliment; thanks!
Great instructional video. Spoke very well and I cannot wait to more videos.
Thanks! We have a full suite of courses, including the further swing1 classes, over at swingstep.tv :)
Brilliant.. so easy to follow, thank you.. wish I took this up in my 20s and not late 50s..👍🏻
Glad you liked the video. Don't worry about age -- lots of people start later into adulthood, and at any social dance night you'll see Lindy Hoppers of all ages. Those of us over 40 just need to warm up our knees a little more before we go crazy :)
@@SwingStepTV 😂yor right about the knees..
LOVED THIS! Super insightful as I am new to Lindy Hop. It really complemented my in-person class. Many thanks :)
That's great to hear! Have fun at your next class :)
The best and most useful tutorial that I've ever seen 👌 👏 thank you 😊
Thanks a lot!
Such a good video for those of us who are intimidated by dance
Hello Barbara! Thank you, so happy to hear that!
As a Comprehensive Dancer.your instruction technique is the best.Thanks
Thanks very much :)
Thanks for generously sharing your talent with me. 💕
Oh what a lovely thing to say, you're very welcome :)
Clear instructions makes me want to try this
Thanks, glad you liked it - you don't have to wait to try it out... just push the couch table out of the way and start moving ;)
Enjoying this
thanks, glad you like it :)
Thank you. In my country I will probabely never take part at a LIndy Hop Party. However I´m glad to know the s teps. Thank you very much
Glad you liked it. If you enjoy it and want to dance more, why not just invite some friends over and start practicing with them? We know some of the most fun Lindy Hop communities in the world started as just a small group of friends learning from videos and dancing together :)
Excellent class! Really enjoyed. Where can I find lesson 2?
Hey Jackie, I'm so glad you liked it! The rest of this course, along with lots of other great stuff, is part of our program over at swingstep.tv :)
That was really great and fun to watch the two of you together thank you again
Glad you enjoyed it, we had fun filming the classes :)
Thanks for that beautiful dance lesson. You are great teacher 👌👍 Your explanations are so helpful, it made a lot of fun to practice this right with your lesson.
Thanks so much, glad you had fun with it!
Loved it! Great class!
Thanks!
Nicely done and well presented. Thank you so much!
You're very welcome!
Great teachers! ❤️
Thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing more tutorials of this kind
Hey! Glad you liked it. We have a few other free videos here on youtube; the full Swing1 course plus many more are available our website - have a look over at swingstep.tv :)
loved this tutorial... but can't find the other classes!
Glad you enjoyed it! The rest of this course is on our website: swingstep.com/classes/online-pass/
When changing up the number of slow steps to the quick one, how does your partner know?
I’m really enjoying this!
You two are utterly charming.
I took up tap at 50.
Now this at 70.
“Life is a banquet,”
❤️
Hey there, Kris here. Glad you like the lesson :)
Check out what Ali is talking about and showing from around 12:37, his posture changes a bit when he's about to do a rock step (i.e. "a quick-quick"). You can see his upper body is going backwards just a little, and then good while body is continuing backwards much more than if he wanted to do another slow forwards. With some practice is possible to follow those signals just visually. But when you're physically connected to a partner it's much easier because they can also*feel* whether you're moving backwards or not. So the leader's job is really just to move into each step with rhythm and intention, and that will provide visible information to the follower and also will create a physical connection that they can react to as well.
By the way I just recently started tap dancing at 44 years old and i love it!
Amazing. Gorgeous. First steps and I'm a profesional. It is east swing, isn't? It is a litle rock. It is easy for moment, I can danse easy.
Glad you like it! It's not easy cost swing but rather the first steps of Charleston as part of lindy hop. In the rest of our course over at swingstep.tv we also introduce triple step footwork, while continuing to mix 6-count, 8-count, and other movements into the dance.
Really neat. I love it. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks!
The way you introduced getting into step, rhythm and a little bit of the count is the way I do it too and it's extremely good and very effective....
But instead of going round and round and doing some assistant steps (not the basic Lindy Hope step), I go straight for the basic lindy hop step but I do it very very slowly so the student can do it too. I pick up speed with time.
I make sure they understand the counting and also count while they're doing the steps. This way if they make a mistake it's very easy for them to autocorrect or for me to correct them because it's easy to know where and when they made the mistake.
We don't like to begin slowly and build up tempo later, because we want people to be able to dance on faster songs as well. Different strokes for different folks ;)
Very comprehensive!
Glad you liked it! Actually I think it's just a tiny window into the wealth of moves, grooves, and modes of expression that are part of this amazing Black american art form :)
Love you guys
Thanks so much!
Gosh. This is good.
Thanks!
Great Class! Thank you so much! Where can we find the following classes (Class 2 of 6 etc.)?
Thanks Hanaa, glad you liked it! The rest of this course is available with an Online Pass over at swingstep.com -- you get access to this and many other courses over there. We also have a few more free videos too, have a look: swingstep.com/classes/free-beginner-lindy-hop-series/
@SwingStepTV when is the rest of this course coming out? Loved the first lesson, can't wait for more!
Really glad you enjoyed it! The full course is over at swingstep.tv :)
Great, thanks! What's missing is how to deal with musical phrasing while doing 6-count patterns. In this video, you obviously avoid counting it with numbers ;) Do you have another video that explains?
Y
I'm glad you liked it! In Lindy hop we don't restrict ourselves to 6-count patterns at all, and you can fill a phrase in many many different ways. One very simple example using just the moves from this video is the little combo do at the end of the class; we show it around 1:05:00 - there, Ali is counting the length of the moves, but if you count it through musically, or later watch us doing it to the music, you'll see that it fills a phrase very nicely :)
You should wear leather shoes on hard floors. You can spin and slighting “ easier”. Dress up and dance under Blue Moon {NC} in evening. You will love under those musics {NC)
Hi Judy, thanks for your comment. Actually we find that different kinds of shoes can be great for lindy hop. Leather soles as you say are great for more spins and slides, the light running shoes we are wearing are great for absorbing impact and when you want a bit more grip on the floor.
Great intro - learning to dance here in Denmark solo, before the beginners class starts. Do you have a playlist by any chance?
Glad you liked it! Yes we have some playlists - scroll toward the bottom of this page on our site:
swingstep.com/this-is-swing/music/
The "medium" and "fast" lists are best for the material in this lesson.
very good, learn some steps !
So cool!! Nice easy moves...where are the other Lessons?
Hello Gisela, thank you for your feedback :)
You can find other lessons on our online learning platform - swingstep.tv
Please check the video description for all other details :)
I have 3 left feet, but this was fun!
Glad you enjoyed it! Take it from someone who has known many many dancers over the years who started with several "left feet," if you stick with it and practice (just a little bit of practice is enough if you do it regularly), you'll grow a right foot in no time ;)
@@SwingStepTV Thanks 🙏
Can also be sped up for bill Haleyesque dancing
Love it !!!
I'm a believer in learning to feel the music. If you learn to swing, you can learn to "swing dance". That's how Frankie Manning would teach in the few lessons I saw him in, as well as other instructors who were good at reaching the "uncoordinated", "klutzy", or "non-musical" students. Feel the music, move to the music. Learn to fit your basic universal moves within the basic style if you want to learn a particular dance.
I agree. It's not only important for reaching "uncoordinated" students, it's important because listening to the music - and having our dancing deeply informed by that listening - is a value of Black culture, which Lindy hop is a part of.
You'd get that value reflected in the way Frankie Manning talked, but also other famous elders of the dance like Dawn Hampton (who was practically a preacher of groove as far as I see it), and many more, AND you hear it as a strong value from those dancers and teachers around today who were raised within Black culture.
If I were re-filming this class today, that's one of the things I'd like to emphasize more.
Really enjoyed this. Thank you so much. Can't wait for the next class.
Hey Dennis! I am happy that you liked it! There are some more free videos in our youtube channel. But the full course of Swing1, and many other great stuff, is part of our program over at swingstep.tv/.
Whoppidoooooo 💘
Hi there! I would like to play your tutorials for youth at a coffee shop. I’m providing popcorn and water and setting up and I need to charge about 8 dollars in order to cover that cost. Can I purchase your tutorials for use with the youth and families? We have a live band practicing as well and when we have a party or event there will not be tutorials. Just for the weekly practice leading up to the event. Thanks for your help!
@@splendidformation3268 what a great idea! Can you send us an email so we can discuss it further? dance@swingstep.com
I just subscribed and would love to keep dancing with you.
Hello Clara! Happy that you like keep dancing with us. Would be nice to see you swingstep.tv/ also in our online live activities, then we can dance together.
Amazing and beautiful dance💃🕺👯 video🎥👌
Super like👌👌👌 very interesting and helpful information👍👍👍 provided from start to the end.
Thanks for sharing👌
Do keep posting 👌🆕
Warm regards and best wishes
The UnknownManCub 👍😎👨🏭
Hi Daniel, thank you so much for your kind comments, glad you found the video useful! There are a few more free videos here on our youtube channel; for more, see our full program over at swingstep.tv/.
@@SwingStepTV oh... Yes I will surely check them out..
Do keep posting👌🆕
Warm regards
The UnknownManCub 👍😎👨🏭
I love it! Thank you
You're so welcome, glad you liked it!
Are there rest of the series? class 2-6 i mean
The rest of the series is on our website, swingstep.com/classes/online-pass/ along with all our other courses :)
Love it.
Very glad to hear that!
Could you please give me the name of the singer who performs the song Them there Eyes in 54 minutes ? Thank you
Hey René! I love this version: it's Benny Waters performing with Les Haricots Rouges, a live performance on their 40th anniversary double album.
What song is being used for this lesson? :)
We used a few different songs over the course of the lesson, I think in this order:
"Boot Heel Drag", Naomi and her Handsome Devils
"All of Me", Gordon Webster
"I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket", Boilermaker Jazz Band
"Squatty Roo", Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five
"Them There Eyes", Les Haricots Rouges (featuring Benny Waters)
If you're wondering about a specific moment of music, give me the time stamp on the video and I can tell you which song that is :)
Wow.
It is very difficult for me, i am always to slow and feel very unstable. Besides this my knee starts to hurt... are there better exercises for beginners?
Hi there! I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with the material.
I think your feeling of being unstable and your knee pain might be related...
I would suggest: instead of looking for other exercises (as far as Lindy Hop goes, this is quite easy-going on the body), you might want to do more warming up before you start dancing; for instance you could try some so-called "dynamic stretches". And in your case I would suggest especially looking for warm-up movements that activate your thigh muscles and other muscles around the knee, so that this joint is more protected while you're dancing.
Finally: depending on when you experience knee pain, it could be worth thinking about what you wear on your feet while you dance. If you get pain when turning a lot, try putting on leather-soled shoes that give your foot less resistance when you turn, so that your knee doesn't have to do as much work. Or, if you get pain from bouncing a lot, wear well-padded running shoes that can help absorb your movements more.
OK finally finally: if you're in pain when dancing, I recommend going to a professional to get personal feedback and advice. For instance a physiotherapist, or a "gait analysis" appointment, can help with this a lot. P.S. I see your username is german... "gait analysis" is a Laufanalyse :)
Good luck!
I can't find class 2. Everyone, you need to type in "Kris and Ali Lindy" to find other videos, but these are few.
Hey Sera! The rest of this course is available on swingstep.tv. We've put a selection of our content up here on youtube, full courses are all on our website.
Doesn't double-step on 5th beat mess up the 4-beat music time?
Hi Candy, it sounds like you're talking about doing a 6-count basic starting with the forward movement -- i.e. "slow, slow, quick, quick". In that case, as with many other things in Lindy Hop, this does indeed mean that our moves don't stay neatly inside one bar (i.e. 4 beats) of music. For instance, as the name suggests, a "6-count" will cover one and a half bars.
Some of the movements we do in Lindy Hop will keep us "inside the bar structure"; usually with moves that take two bars (for an example, see the so-called 8count basic at 42:19 in the video.). But many of them will not; 6 counts is a very common length of move, but there are others too.
One thing that you can typically rely on is that our moves will take an *even* number of beats; so that in partnered moves the next move might start on the 1 of the music, or the 3, but not on the 2 or the 4. (Actually there are exceptions to this, mostly because of solo dance movements that we like to bring in to our partnered Lindy Hop... but let's not get too sidetracked :) )
Anyway, this shifting is not a bad thing! :) It shifts the structures of our dancing in a way that is much more interesting than if we were only "allowed" to dance moves that take exactly one or two bars. It means that different moments in our movement will fall on different parts of the music, and this lets us express ourselves to the music in many more ways than if every move was the same length.
For an example of that check out the combo we do at the end of the class -- at 1:08:02 we demonstrate it to music, and as we dance it several times on the music you can see that, although the moves "start" on different counts of the music, the overall sequence fills up one phrase exactly, and we can use a fun element (heel-toes) to accentuate the ending of that phrase.
Hope this explanation helps!
Hey someone knows where I can find musics that are used here ? A playlist or some differents artists? Thanks a lot !
Hey Jonathan! Have a look at our website, we have a few music suggestions there :) swingstep.com/this-is-swing/music/
I'm looking for a Lindy Hop 8 count follow swing out foot placement decal or guide for my floor do you have any ideas?
Hmm, that's a fun idea :). Maybe start with filming yourself dancing swingouts with a partner, so that you can see where your feet tend to land, then put simple stickers on those spots; dance that way a few times, then start playing with adjustments - can you make the spacing of the stickers a bit more even, so that your travel will be even during the swingout, or can you adjust so that your travel will be more up and down a line and not too much "around". Then you can train your footwork with those adjustments. After that though I would also suggest changing it even more and playing with options, to make you more flexible in what you can do during your swingout, to make sure you don't get locked in to only one way of doing it...
@@SwingStepTV Thank you for your reply. Sadly the reason I want one is because no one ever does video from above and I can’t figure out where my feet should go. I have taken group classes but everyone teaches the same , watch me and copy, and a lot of us don’t learn that way!
@@zandra7966 I hear you. Watch-and-copy is one good way to learn dance, and a useful skill to have, but it's definitely not the only way and didn't feel as natural to everyone.
We have a course that's mostly dedicated to swingouts over at swingstep.tv. There are definitely "watch-and-copy" moments in that course, but hopefully enough other ways that could work for you :)
I can't find class 2! Can you tell me where it is?
Hi June! I'm glad you enjoyed class 1 :) We have the full course available on our website, check out swingstep.tv.
Numbers are useful
?
Many great dancers don't you know many variations of a step or a figure....
They know the basic and one or two variations and when they are on the dance floor they might use just the basic step and one variation.
Knowing several variations of a step or the basic step is great but not necessary. Time and practice will teach you many of the various variations....
But to concentrate on the several variations of the basic step for a beginner is really a mistake because that only confuses him /her. They can always learn the variations later on but at the beginning they need the one basic step so that they can dance without confusion.
We disagree. Another important part of the dance - a really important value of lindy hop - is self-expression and improvisation. And that needs to be part of the learning from day one so that each dancer will always be working with their own style and creating their own version of things, not just copying what others do.