Crawls are simultaneously basic and really complex. So many elements of solo and partner dancing rely on these skills. So jump in and go for it. Depending on your previous movement training/practice these steps might seem easy and fun or difficult and frustrating.
Jo uses the Swing Out framework and some set styling options as a way to establish a base of movement so followers can eventually create their own variations. It's important to practice the movement solo initially before attempting with a partner. Once you have a willing Leader, ask them to lead short sequences of just Swing Outs so you can really burn into muscle memory each new variation.
Texas Tommy is also called 'Apache' or 'Hand Shake Behind the Back.' We ultimately don't care what you call it. We predominantly use the name Texas Tommy because if pays homage to the fact that the orginal Texas Tommy dance came out of San Francisco, California and traveled to New York City via two visiting dancers during the early Jazz era. In good lindy hop tradition, the key element of the dance was then borrowed/stolen for Lindy Hop. Now we have a ton of variations based on the original concept. The most important thing is that ithe way it looks is different than how it feels. That illusion is part of the magic, but also part of the danger. It's too easy to make this a painful move so focus on the friendly/soft technique from the beginning to really make this move work on the social floor.
Lasy Fast dancing can look simple, but the technique is critical to making it feel comfortable. To be succesful with this, foucus on getting the mechanics right. We view this as early style lindy hop when the traditional jazz music was using more of a two beat feel and was typically played at upper tempos. With two beat style jazz music, we are less inclined to triple step, but often we are 'lazy' about using full charelston kicking for the entire song. Hence lazy fast dancing can be a comfortable method for long nights of social dancing.
The global phenomenon of Lindy Hop means that there are lots of style and technique variations of the Swing Out. Our experiences of dancing and teaching in over 30 countries we have helped us understand the major variations and how to make them compatible with each other. We believe that lindy hop is one dance that can be shared by everyone regarless of your style choices or regional variations. Let's all dance together because we all live in the same world.
Jo breaks down some sweet variations for followers to use during Swing Outs. It's important to practice the movement solo initially before attempting with a partner. Once you have a willing Leader, ask them to lead short sequences of just Swing Outs so you can really burn into muscle memory each variation.
These are super fun. Once you've mastered each variation you can mix and match them fluidly. In modern times Swing Outs are usually taught as a 360 degree rotation, but traditionally a Swing Out could be underrotated or over rotated depending on the tempo, space on the dance flloor or dynamics with your partner. If you plan to perform or compete, mastering these techniques can be super helpful.
Here's a plethora of drills and concepts to help you better relate your dancing to the music. They are designed as technical exercises to push your understanding of how musical structure and dancing structure can be intergrated.
This is were we push the boundries of a traditional Swing Out. We use the basic shape of a Swing Out, but then vary the counts and the rythms to create new variations. We hope you will take these concepts and create your own.
This Challenge incorporates standard charleston figures and lead and follow partnered charelston figures. We suggest you move through this progressively so that the higher level figures make more sense. Many of these moves take inspiration from orignal 1920's Charelston and work well for Great Gatsby and Prohibition themed parties and performances.