Haven't you always wanted to learn how to dance, to take someone into your arms and
listen to that great music and just let your feet go?
With my Learn to Dance Minute series, learning is not only quick, it's easy.
There are several programs, one for every level of dancing and every taste.
The Basic Lesson is the favorite program of all who were once afraid to dance.
It teaches the basic step pattern of each of the ten most popular social ballroom dances.
It's a great start-up program because it breaks down all the basic elements of dance,
like how to lead and follow, timing and rhythm, and many more.
If you like Latin music, then you'll love the Latin dancers.
This program concentrates on the chacha, the rumba, the merengue.
It teaches you short, easy-to-memorize routines that you can have a lot of fun with, and they're
going to make you look great on the dance floor.
The Smooth Dances is the program for anyone who goes to social events, weddings, or who
must dance with the CEO's wives at company functions.
It concentrates on the foxtrot, the waltz and the swing, the three most often played
dances at nightclubs and parties.
Tango is the dance of love, and my tango passion is the most comprehensive tango program ever
put on tape.
This program is great for all from beginners to advanced who want to learn all the different
styles of tango.
This is the tango lover's tape you must have.
For the past two decades, salsa music and salsa dance have been the universal Latin
combination.
My salsa merengue program also includes the full Macarena dance.
This is a great tape with great music and fun instruction.
The Swing is America's native social dance.
Swing medley plays homage to this fun dance.
The swing can be done to just about any style of medium to fast tempo, oldies as well as
rock and pop sounds.
Swing medley is a fun tape that you must have, and all my video programs feature exclusive
learning tools like the animated footprints and the reverse view, which make the learning
steps fast and simple.
And to practice your steps to great music, there's my romantic dance series.
It's a set of six CDs featuring various compilations of the greatest dance songs and dance orchestras
of yesterday and today.
The Swing is America's native social dance.
Hi, I'm Cal Pozzo and welcome to another one of my popular learn to dance in minutes
series, swing medley.
If the swing was the only dance you knew how to do, you could still dance 60 percent
of all the dances played at any party.
You can swing to many of today's rock and disco hits, to country music, and of course
to those great sounds of the big band era.
In the 40s swing gave birth to other popular dancers like the jitterbug, the lindy hop,
the shag, and many others.
Today there are several variations of swing dance.
There's the east coast swing, which some call the triple lindy.
There's also the west coast swing, which you see wherever country music is played.
Then there's the country swing, which combines east and west coast swing with the two step.
And throughout Europe there's the jive, which is a faster version of our own east coast
swing.
In this program we're going to learn a little bit of each of the American styles, so push
that coffee table aside because we are going to swing up a storm.
This program is divided into several segments.
I think the most important one is the first segment, because that's where you're going
to see the basic components of swing dancing.
Two simple moves that will have you doing swing right away.
Review it, go over several times.
The other segments is where you're actually going to learn all the different steps.
Let's get to it.
If you learn just two basic moves, you can do any type of swing, the east coast, the
west coast, and the country swing.
Swing is made up of two steps, a triple step and a rocking step.
Let's do them.
We're going to go in this direction.
I want you to take three small steps to the side, and side, together, side.
Now let's go to the other side, and side, together, side.
One more time, side, together, side, side, together, side.
I want you to notice something, that as I make this side step, my knees continue to
bend and to flex, and that I don't really pick the foot off the floor, I slide it.
So it's slide, together, slide, and slide, together, slide.
Again, come on, slide, together, slide, and slide, together, slide.
I want you to get right behind me, let's do it together, and slide, together, slide.
Watch how the heels come down into the floor with the action of the knees.
I don't pick up the feet, but you actually slide on the floor.
Notice that?
The other thing of the characteristic of the swing is that the body actually swings in
one direction to the other.
In every triple step, especially for the man, when the man goes to the left, he swings down
into the step, and of course the woman does the opposite, she swings to the right.
Let me do a triple step with you, with the body swing, just watch.
I lean into the step, lean into it, and then I straighten, and lean back into the right.
One more time, go, lean into it, lean into it, and straighten.
So you lean, now here is the swing part, you swing the body into the other direction, and
then move out, and again, go.
Swing left, swing right, and hold it.
So it's a combination of leaning into the step, and then swinging from one side right
up to the other side.
The other component of the swing is the rocking steps.
Now a rocking step is a very short step that can be done either side, you rock your way
between two feet, like a march, or forward, you're coming towards me and we rock the
body back and forth, leaving one foot in front of the other, or back, back and forth.
There's only one difference though, whenever you do the back rock, the back foot never
fully comes down to the floor, it stays at a sort of a half foot level.
It's like a brace, it's actually called a break, because it stops the body from going
farther back.
So a back rock becomes a march where the heel not only never comes down, but the body never
goes back.
Notice that every time I do a rock, the top of my body pretty much stays between both
my feet.
And those are the two components of the swing.
We're going to put it together, so we do a triple with a swing, and a triple, and a rocking
step.
A triple, and a triple, and a rocking step.
And a triple, and a triple, and a rocking step.
A triple, and a triple, and a rocking step.
A triple, triple, and a rocking step.
Now once you get a little more secure, more advanced with the swing, you will notice that
Even though a triple step brings the feet together on the second step, side together
side, or side together side, once you actually get dancing with the momentum and with the
music, it becomes a shuffle.
So although you're doing triple rhythm, you're not really going...
That's just a little too stiff.
into it, and the feet come towards each other, but they never quite come together, especially
when you're dancing to a faster beat.
So it becomes triple, triple.
That's why many people also call it the triple shuffle.
Before we start learning steps, I want to have the pleasure of introducing a fantastic
partner and assistant, Chris Salmon, who's been helping me putting this tape together
and choreographing many of the moves.
The swing basic step is made up of two triple steps and a rocking step.
Let me show it to you.
We do a triple step to the side, another triple step, and a rocking step.
Watch it again, triple, triple, and a rocking step.
In the rocking step is where partners either stay in close position or they break apart,
in which case the swing step becomes an open break.
Watch it again.
Together, on the open break, I move away, and on the triple step, we come back together
into close position.
Watch it from behind, triple, open, and close.
One more time, triple.
What actually happens in the swing is the man, of course, decides when he's going to
break away from his partner, and what he does is he does it gradually.
Many people will try to do the triple step, and then all of a sudden just shove away,
and there's no way that ever can happen.
What you do is gradually, on the right side of the man's triple step, the first half is
with the partner, notice that instead of going sideways, I go sideways at an angle.
That automatically opens the position, makes the arms relax, we do the break, and then
the same thing.
We come together at an angle, and on the side step, we're back together.
One more time, so we go, triple, I break away slowly, come in, and we're back together.
Let's see it again, triple, break away, come in, and from this side, and triple, break
away, I go slowly towards her, my arm goes behind, and we're ready to do a rocking step.
The rock step in the triple can be done either straight back for both the man and the woman,
or with the foot crossing slightly one foot behind the other.
That is called an L break.
Watch it again.
Now we're going to be turning this step around for you so you can see that what happens is
we go from closed position to open.
Also notice that the arms in the swing are held downwards, not like in all the other
dances where you hold it at a shoulder level, it's down, and we open.
Now if I want to go into an open break, on the side I come back, I bring her back in,
and let's look at both those steps with the animated footprints and then in reverse view.
He steps side left, together right, side left, goes to the right, side right, together left,
side right, takes the left foot behind the right foot in the L position, rocks to the
left and rocks on the right.
Let's see it again.
One, two, three, four, five, six, rock, rock.
She steps side with the right, side, together, side, now to the left, side, together, side,
side, together, side, steps with the right foot behind the left foot, rocks back to the
right, rocks forward to the left.
Let's see it one more time.
One and two, three and four, five, six.
He steps side, together, side, in close position, starts breaking away from her, going side
back, together left, side back, steps straight back with the left foot for the open break
and rocks into the right foot.
Let's see it one more time.
Go to the side, side, together, side, start pulling away, back, together, back, straight
back with the left foot, rock back, rock forward.
She steps side, together, side in a straight line, starts breaking away by going back,
together, back, steps straight back with the right foot and rocks onto the left, you're
now in a part position.
Let's see it one more time.
Side together, side, back, together, back, straight back right and rock onto the left.
Triple to the left, a triple to the right and the rock, rock, triple left, triple right,
rock, rock.
Swing into the triple, lean into it, straighten the body on the right side of it and then
take the rock opening up and one, two, three, four, five, six.
One, two, three, and four, five, six.
In the swing basic, she takes a triple to the right, one, two, three, to the left and
a rocking step and a one, two, three and a one, two, three and a rocking step.
Let's see it again, side, together, side, side, together, side.
She leans into the first triple, straightens in the second triple and the rock step.
Triple to the left, go slightly at an angle going back to get away from the partner, straight
rocking step, retrace your steps.
Triple forward, then back in close position to the rocking step.
Let's see it again, triple, back, open break, triple coming together, now you're together,
fifth.
One more time, triple, moving away, back and triple and again rocking.
In the open break, she does a triple step, angles back on the side step, rocks straight
back, angles to meet the partner and back into close position for the rocking step.
Let's see it again, triple step, triple step, open break and triple step in close position.
One more time, really slow this time, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,
really slow this time, one, two, three, one, two, three, open break, they start coming
together and coming and rocking step.
One more time and slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, slow, quick, quick.
Slow, slow, quick, quick.
Let's dance it to the music.
Once you master the side to side swing basic step, try turning with it to the left.
The turn is always gradual and takes place during the man's first set of triple steps.
Men must remember to keep their foot movements short and tight to allow their partners to
cover a wider angle.
Swing is a turning dance, a dance in which you turn in close position and of course is
a dance where you also turn under the arm, both to the right and to the left.
The most basic underarm turning swing is really easy to learn.
All you have to do is start from the open break, which we learned earlier. Watch it.
I break away from Chris and after we take the rocking step, I start leading her to go
around to six steps, two sets of triple steps.
One, two, three, four, five, six, break and then we go right back into that close position
with that L break.
Let's watch it again.
So I'm triple, break away, I lead around, she comes right back to me, breaks and then
back into the triple.
For you guys, this is very important. Whenever you lead your partner, all you really have
to do is raise the arm and notice that what my hand does is I go inside of her hand and
I follow around and then bring it down.
This was very important to have the arms and the elbows very flexible in the swing.
If you get really stiff, there is no way you can lead and there's no way that she will
be able to follow.
Let's take that again for them.
My hand goes inside, I move her around, break away and then I gently bring it down again
and that automatically brings your partner back to close position without you having
to come in.
One last time and then down with the arm and there you have it.
Let's look at the reverse view.
Do a triple to the left, a triple to the right, do the open break and during the triple step
start bringing the arm down, above, over the lady's head, back down to the side triple
and finish on the rocking step.
Let's see it again and first takes the open break, you're now apart, guide her to go under,
arm goes over her head, back down into the rock and you go right back into the rock and
into your basic position.
And she goes side together, side, open break, triple step with a spin on the third step
and triple step and rock, rock.
Let's see it again and triple, open break and it's one, two, spin, one, two, three,
rock and again and slow, one, two, three, one, two, three, step, step, side together
side, spin and side together side and rock, rock.
Let's dance it to the music.
This next step is really fun. What we're going to do here is change places. After we do an
open break Chris is going to take my place and I'm going to take Chris's place. Watch
and how we're going to do that is through another underarm turn. Again back to that
break, she's going to triple to the left and I'm going to circle around her, change
places and then one more time and then back to the break.
Let's see it from here. I circle around, arm goes up, arm comes down. I do it one more
time and of course the timing still is slow, slow, quick, quick. Let's do it and slow,
slow, quick, quick, slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, slow, quick, quick.
For those of you who want to count beats, this is the count. One and two, three and
four, five, six, one and two, three and four, five, six, one and two, three and four, five,
six, back to close, two, four, five, six. The six count of the swing is something that's
really very typical of the swing. It's the only dance in which its basic step has six
counts, however swing music is four count music. The same goes for the foxtrot. So the
two original American dancers but they both have that odd type of timing system. A six
count step to a four count rhythm. In the change places turn, we're going to the triple,
to an open break. I take a curve to the left, change places and I move another curving step
to the left, change places and we're back in front of each other. Let's do it again.
One, two, three, open break, rock, curve, she turns, curve and rock, rock, I curve, turn
her under on that second triple, back and then right back into the basic step. Let's
see it again. Triple, triple, back, triple, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back,
triple, back, curving, curving, back, basic, basic, rock step. In this step she dances
a triple and a triple, makes a quarter turn to the left, continues the turn, steps to
the side facing the partner, makes another quarter turn to the left and continues to
the left and rock, rock. Let's see it again. And triple, triple, rock and goes left and
under and rock, rock and left and back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back, back,
one more time and slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, slow, quick,
quick. Let's dance it to the music.
Okay, now we're going to get a little fancier, all right? This is called a talk-in. Ladies
love this step because it gives them a chance to spin and show off and dress swirls. Watch
it, all right? Here we go. And we're going to do a double, triple, triple, back, back,
turn and show off and dress swirls. Watch it, all right? Here we go. And we do an open
break but before we take the rocking step I change hands and we will both break with
my right hand and her right hand. I let her take a triple step towards me as I lead her
out and as she takes that triple step I spin her around, make sure I grab her and then
we do the rocking step. Watch it again. It's one, two, three, one, two, three, I change
hands, one, two, three, one, two, three and out. Let's do it from here. And one, two,
three, one, two, three, change hands, she comes into me, I spin her, move around and
then we go right back into the basic. Let's look at that in a slow motion so you can really
see where that spin is taking place. And she goes triple right, triple left, rock, rock,
triple right, spins on the right foot all the way around, triple left and rock, rock.
Let's see it again. And triple right, open break and triple, spins on the right foot
to the right and to the open break. One more time and one and two, three and four, five,
six, one and two, three and four, five, six. In the talk in I go into a triple, open break
with a change of hand, my right hand with her right hand, I let her take the break with
me, I do a triple, one, two, on three I spin, I come close to her and we're back together.
Watch it again. So it's triple to the right foot, one, two, three, one, two, three, one,
I come close to her and we're back together. Watch it again. So it's triple to the left,
change of hands on the triple to the right, rock, rock, bring her in, spin her, take the
next step and step out. Watch it one more time. One, two, three, change hands, the rock,
she spins on three, one, two, three, back and back into the close basic.
Back in the 40s there used to be a dance called the sugar foot. This is a dance that
actually originated from the swing and had a typical step which even to today you see
in movies, commercials and dancers love to do it. Let us show it to you first.
Recognize it. I know you've seen it. It's a very, very simple step. Watch. Again we
go back to the open break. Slowly I break away from her. Everything happens after the
rock. That gives you guys sort of a chance to think what's the next step, what's the
next move that I'm going to take. She takes the rock and immediately I not only lead her
out but I lead her at a faster speed so that she doesn't go into another triple step and
I keep leading her to me and then I take her right into that triple step. Watch it one
more time. Let's take it from this side and triple and I go out, in, out, in, out, in.
Out, in, out, in. We don't get to do the sugar foot. They get to do it. In the sugar foot
all the man does is a basic step. He does a basic break and right after the rocking
step he swings the arm to the left as he walks back with the left foot to the right, walks
back with the right, to the left, to the right and back into the basic triple step. So both
the arm and the feet coordinate. Let's see it again. One, two, three. One, two, three.
Open break and left, right, left, right and back into the basic step. And triple step
triple step. The rock swivels to the right and swivel. Two, three, four and triple and
triple. One more time. And swivel. One, two, three, four and triple and triple and back
step. Back and swivel. One, two, three, four and triple and triple and back step.
Now that you've seen all six steps, we're going to dance them for you. Why don't you
dance right along with us? First I'll call them out as we're doing them and then we're
just going to go right on our own. Ready? And basic. Remember keep those arms down and
let the body really swing into the step. That's why it's called swing. On the triple, to the
left and straight. The open break and then coming close. Open break and then coming close.
Now the underarm turn and up, up and back to the swing and again. Now the turn where
we change places and then back to close. And now the tuck in and spin and then back to
close. And again, change hands and let her go. Back to close. And the sugar foot. And
back to close. Now let's do the mall again.
And there you have all six steps to the east coast swing. In this group of steps, we're
going to be learning the eight count swing, which some people call Lindy count. Let's
look at the basic step first. It starts with a triple step just like the six count. Triple
step. But instead of going into another triple step, we do a rocking step. Two rocks. And
then we go back into a triple step and the same rocking step that we did in the first
group of steps. So it is a triple step with a rocking movement in between and then you
go back into the second half. Watch it again. Triple step, rock, rock, triple step, rock,
rock. So it's one and two, three, four, five and six, seven, eight. What that eight count
step does is adds an extra swing on the rock. So you swing into the triple, you rock slightly
to the rocking step, you swing into the other triple and then you take the rocking step.
Watch it from this angle. And one and two. Triple, rock, rock, triple, rock. Triple, rock,
rock, triple, rock, rock, triple, rock, rock, triple, rock, rock, triple, rock, rock, rock.
Now I'll count for you. It's one and two, three, four, five and six, seven, eight. Or
slow, quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, slow, quick, quick. Do a triple
step, rock to the right, rock to the left, a triple step and a back rock. Again, one
and two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One and two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight. Let's see it again. One and two, three, four, five and six, seven, eight. One and
two, three, four, five and six, seven, eight. She goes side together, side, rock, rock,
side together, side, rock, rock. And again, triple step, rock, rock, triple step, rock,
rock. And it's one and two, three, four, five and six, seven, eight. The basic eight count
starts from an open break. First we'll do the regular swing open break and we're both
apart. She takes a triple step into me, we take the rock together and she takes a triple
step back out again. Watch it again. We take triple, open break and here's the count. One
and two, three, four, five and six, seven, eight. You will notice that I do a side rock
while she does a back rock. We'll take it from this angle. One more time. Now, I'm going
to do that again. One more time. Now, in order for her to do that turn without going into
another triple, what I must do is after the open break, I place my hand behind her to
stop her from going into another triple step. She takes the rocking step, I go with her
and then I lead her right into the next triple step. Look at it from here. She takes the
triple, I stop her and then I send her right back into it again. One more time. And one
and two, three, four. So, if the man has his right arm ready, what will happen is she sort
of bounces from there on the rock and then you send her right out again. One more time,
Chris. And of course, same technique for the underarm turns. You bring the arm over and
bring her down so that she's there, protected in that position, and then moving out and
out again. One more time. One and two. Do a basic Lindy. One and two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 23, 24,
24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 33, 34, 34, 35, 36, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 39,
40, 40, 40, 40. And open break. Turn a quarter to the right. Do the triple step in place.
Rock with her. Let her go and do the triple step again to the open break. Let's see it
again. Triple. Triple. Rock. Rock. Triple in place. Right there on the spot. Right there
rock with her. Let her go with your right arm. Let her turn. And one more time. One
to the left. Open break. Quarter turn to the right. Triple step. Side rock. Quarter turn
to the left. And you're ready to start together again. And one and two, three, four, six,
and triple step. And triple step. Back step. Triple and rock. Rock and triple. Back step
and triple. Rock, rock and triple. Step, step. As I said earlier, swing is made up of triple
steps and rocking steps. Now, not all rocking steps are the one we take from the basic step
or the one we take from the open break. So this would be a back rocking step and this
would be a left open rocking step. In the eight count, we also take rocking steps in
close position. So we would be rocking with her right forward, my right forward in that
position, keeping the knees sort of close together. This next step is called the eight
count rocking turn. Watch it, alright? One and two. Take the open break first. I bring
her in on the one and two. I have her in position. I rock with her and then I move right out
so she goes back into the triple step. Let's see it again. And one, two, three, four, six,
eight. She goes right out so she goes back into the triple step. Let's see it again.
And one, two, he goes into the eight counts. One and two, three, four, triple step and
out. Notice that right after that rocking step, as I move in with Chris, my momentum
is taking me to the right and that's what makes it easy for me to speed so she goes
right into that next triple step. It's very important that the man swings his body to
the direction that he's turning because that lets her know that she must continue going
otherwise she may just go into another type of triple step. Watch it one more time. Here's
the momentum. I swing to the right and if you see our feet, they stay in that rock position
and then right into a triple step. The rocking turn. Triple step basic. Open break. Curve
to the right. Triple step. Rock, rock. Continue the triple step so she goes back into the
open break. Let's see it again. Triple step. Rock, rock. Triple step. Open. Triple step.
Rocking turn to a triple step. Out and in. One and two, three, four, five and six, seven,
eight. The triple step. The turning rock into the triple step and the open break. One more
time and side together side. Rock, rock. Side together side and the triple step and the
rock, rock and the triple step and the open break. Okay, now we're going to get fancy.
This step is called the toe heel swivel. Watch it. From an open break, Chris and I will
cross over and do a triple step. Instead of doing a rock step, I bring her towards me,
we touch the floor with the toe and then with the heel and then we go across again and do
a triple step and with the toe, with the heel and then cross again. Notice that we have
a two hand hold and what we're doing here actually is applying a little bit of pressure
to support each other in order to swivel our hips to make that toe swivel happen. So I
do a triple step and as I swing towards her and then swing away, swing one more time to
come across. So I swivel in with the heel and triple step. So it's toe, heel, triple,
toe, heel, triple and after any one of the triples, all I'm going to do is give her a
little extra push back and then we can go right back into the swing rhythm. Watch it.
We'll go from an open break, triple, open break, two hand hold, one. Notice what I did
is I take one hand up, one down. That indicates immediately to her that that's the direction
I want her to go. Let's do that again and one and two, four and triple, toe, heel,
triple, toe, heel, triple, toe, heel, triple and rock, rock. One more time. Open break
and triple, toe, heel, triple, toe, heel, triple, toe, heel, triple, step, step. Swing
is full of swivel movements and what a swivel is, it's placing the weight of the body on
the ball of the foot and like in all dances, turning the body to whatever direction you
want to swivel. So you want to swivel to the left and you're in your left foot, swing the
right side around to the left in opposition. You want to swivel to the right, you step
with the right and swing in opposition. So it's that opposition movement that makes the
swivel happen. Watch again. I'm stepping with my left but I'm swiveling by moving my
shoulder into her and then away and then again. Swivel, swivel, triple, swivel, swivel,
triple, step, step. Triple step, rock, rock, open break, cross the left foot across, do
a triple, triple step, toe, heel, triple step, toe, heel, triple step, swivel, swivel, triple
step, rock, rock. Let's see it again. One and two, five and six, one and two, five and
six, eight, one and two, five and six, seven, eight, and triple step, rock, rock, triple
step, rock, and triple cross, toe, heel, swivel, cross, toe, heel, swivel, cross, toe, heel,
swivel, triple step, back rock, back rock. Let's see it again. And rock, rock and a triple
and a rock, rock crawling across and toe, heel going across and toe, heel going across, toe,
heel going across and rock, rock. Okay, to music. Ready? Here we go. And one and two.
Here's your basic eight count. One and two, three, four, open break and the turn and again.
One more time. And comes the rock. And again. It goes fast. And again. And the swivels.
And there you have it. Eight count Lindy steps. Great steps to do. The main difference between
East Coast swing and West Coast swing is that in the East Coast swing, partners dance facing each
other and go side to side for the most part as you have already seen. It starts with a triple
step and another triple step and they break open only during the rocking step. The West Coast swing,
the man stays always in the center and the woman dances around him. So she walks in a
slot or in a straight line from one position back to the opposite position. She does the same step
most of the time. The only thing that changes is the man's position is how he uses his hands.
Watch. Let me show you the basic West Coast swing. Starts with a walking step. Remember the East Coast
starts with a triple step, triple step and then a rocking step. In West Coast there are no rocking
steps. Instead of rocking steps, we do walking steps. She's going to walk in front of me two steps
and she's going to gradually turn, one half turn, doing two sets of triple steps. One triple step
and another triple step. That's called an anchor step, which we're going to break down later.
Watch it again. I'm holding her with my left. She goes walk, walk, triple step, triple step.
She's now in this position and she will do it again. Walk, walk, triple step, triple step.
Walk, walk, triple step, triple step. Now I'm going to make that step look totally different.
She's going to be doing exactly the same thing. Now watch. I'm going to change hands.
Walk, walk, triple step, triple step. I bring her in, give my back to her. She comes from behind
and triple step. Now I'm going to do exactly the same step again. I'm going to change hands one more time.
She's going to go walk, walk. This time I'm going to loop my arm over. And she does.
One, two, three, one, two, three. It looks like a totally different step, but it really is not.
Here we go. And walk, walk. One, two, three. Now I change hands. Walk, walk.
Again, she's doing exactly the same thing. I change hands again. I get out of her way.
And she moves from here into that position. One more time. And left. Walk, walk. One, two, three.
Notice that I just stay right here in this spot. I change hands. And I stay right in my spot.
Let's break the steps down for you, alright? Man walks back left, back right. It's a triple step in place.
Triple step and a triple step with the feet in a rock position. Triple step.
Walk, walk. Triple step, triple rock. Walk, walk. Triple step, triple rock.
Walk, walk. Side together, side. Back together, together. And walk, walk.
Side together, side. Back together, together. And walk, walk.
Side together, side. Back together, together.
Let me remind you that the lady dances the same step throughout all three of the man's basic variations.
In the left hand pass, the right side pass, and the loop underarm turn.
In the left hand pass, the lady is dancing past the man's left side. He holds her right with his left hand.
In the right side pass, she's dancing past his right shoulder. He has changed hands and is holding her right in his right.
In the underarm loop turn, he's holding her right with his left and steps out of her way to let her pass on his right side.
Let's take a look at the animation of the man's basic passes.
He goes back with the left foot, turns in with the right foot, turning a quarter to the left.
Side together, side, completing the quarter turn, and the triple rock straight in one spot.
Let's see it again. He goes back left, turns in right, triple with the left, side together, side, small steps, and rocks in place, right, left, right.
The man's footwork is the same as that for the left side pass, but let's see it one more time.
He goes back left, turns in right, triple step, side together, side, and the triple step in place while she does the anchor or coaster step.
Let's look at the reverse view.
The man steps to the side, turns to the right, loops the left arm over on the triple step, and finishes the triple rock.
Let's see it again. He steps side, away from his partner, forward, loops over on the triple step, and finishes on the coaster or anchor step, which is the triple rock.
One more time. Side, forward, turns, and triple step.
In the right side pass, the man steps back, back, triple step, triple rock, walk, walk, triple step, triple rock.
Walk, walk, triple step, triple rock.
Now that you've seen the three basic West Coast swing passes, three basic steps, let me show you one step which the man and the woman come back and forth to each other.
It's called a sugar push. Let me show you.
I bring her into me, go, walk, walk, I have a two-hand hold, I tap close to her, and I sort of give her a light push to go back and do a triple step.
So I'm walking back, together, tap, leaning into her, so always a little bit of pressure from the arms so that she can go right back.
The sugar push gives the West Coast also the name of push swing, which is used in the West Coast.
Watch again. Walk, walk, touch, step, one, two, three, walk, walk, touch, step.
The last triple is called the anchor step. The man does it in place, the woman goes back, together, together.
Watch it again. Walk, walk, touch, push, one, two, three, walk, and then from here we can go right back into the basic passes.
Walk, walk, one, two, three, one, two, three, walk, walk, one, two, three, one, two, three.
Once you get comfortable with West Coast, the man doesn't really have to do the triple step.
Let me show you how he fakes that movement. He takes a walking step. Instead of taking the triple step, he does tap, step, and does the triple step.
Watch it again. Walk, walk, tap, step, triple step. Now watch it together. Walk, walk, tap, step, triple step.
And also notice how the arms come down so that as I'm leading her to go to my left side, I get out of her way on that triple.
She finishes it, and then we finish it together. On the underarm it's exactly the same thing.
I get out of her way, I can do a tap, step, and then join her on the triple step.
So it's walk, walk, tap, step, triple step. Walk, walk, tap, and on the right side pass the same thing.
I change hands and I go walk, walk, tap, step, triple step.
More advanced West Coast dancers will change the second triple step that the woman does, in which case she will do a walk, walk,
and instead of doing a triple step with the feet coming together, she goes forward and pivots on the second step,
finishes the third step, and then does the triple step. And it becomes walk, walk, one and two, three and four.
Walk, walk, one and two, three and four. Walk, walk, one and two, and that's where the turn happens.
See, walk, walk, one and two, three and four.
In the sugar push, the man goes walk, walk, touch, step, triple step.
Again, walk, walk, touch, forward, triple step.
Walk, back, touch, forward, triple step.
Forward, forward, tap, step, back together, together, and forward, forward, tap, step, back together, together.
Forward, forward, tap, step, back together, together.
Okay, how about if we do them all with music for you, all right?
And there you have four basic steps of the West Coast Swing.
You know, country music is so popular today, and what dancers do is they do a little bit of East Coast, a little bit of West Coast,
and they mix it together with a two-step, which becomes a country-western swing step.
Let me show it to you. It's very much the same as the East Coast Swing.
Remember again, East Coast Swing travels side to side, a triple step, and then it has a rocking step.
In country swing, dancers move down the line of dance, and what they do is they do the first triple step turning.
One, two, three, they turn the second triple step, one, two, three, and they walk instead of doing a rocking step.
Rock, rock. So it becomes swing step, swing step, walk, walk, swing step, swing step, walk, walk, swing step, swing step,
which would be like slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, slow, quick, quick.
Let's put music on, and let's do a little bit of East Coast, a little bit of West Coast, and we'll finish with a country swing.
And West Coast.
And then we go into a little bit of country.
Country.
And there you have three different types of swing. Take a little practice, but go to it, you'll have lots of fun.
I know I have given you a lot of material, but that's what each of my Learning to Dance in Minos programs is all about.
You get a few minutes of concentrated instruction for what I know will be hours and hours of fun and pleasure.
Learning to dance is easy, but becoming a good dancer takes practice.
My old time idol, Mr. Fred Astaire, once said that all of the good dancers he ever met received some type of instruction.
I know that to be very true.
And there's another lesson I hope you've learned from this program.
It's that social dancing is more than just the ability to memorize and do a few patterns.
Dancing is one of the most complete forms of mind-body fitness because it combines all the factors essential to our physical and mental well-being.
Posture, proper breathing, coordination, strength, flexibility, communication, and most important, fun and laughter.
It's the real fountain of youth.
From our Hollywood Make-Believe Ballroom, we both thank you for your time.
And remember, whenever life doesn't seem to be going well for you, take a partner.
Dance! It's the greatest.
Thank you.