Carolina Shag Dancing
A very popular Swing style from Virginia down the Carolinas into areas of Georgia. Most often danced to “Beach Music” performed by such groups as the Tams, The Embers, The Drifters, and a wide range of “Motown” recording artists. The dance showcases the man and resembles West Coast Swing with the same slot movement, shuffles, coaster steps, and pronounced lean resulting in roll of the partner movement. The music tempo is slow to medium and can be danced comfortably by all ages.
CHARLESTON DANCING
Originated in the early 1920’s in illegal drinking places during the time of prohibition. The combination of a particular type of Jazz music and the highly polished, slippery floors of the Speakeasies gave rise to an in and out flicking of the feet which essentially characterized the dance. It was theatricized and embellished with typical Vaudeville moves in a Ziegfield Follies production in 1921. It has since been feature in many films and theater productions, its most blatant revival being its utilization within the Broadway musical “The Boy Friend.
Lindy Hop Dancing
Named by Ray Bolger after Colonel Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic. This Swing had as much “getting into the air” as possible. However, the violently acrobatic style use for exhibitions is not the same as the quietly rhythmic Lindy enjoyed by good dancers on the ballroom floor. The rhythmic patterns takes place over two measures of music. The more acrobatic version were limited to ballrooms of which the most famous was the New York’s Savoy Harlem. At one time the Jitterbug included the Charleston, Black bottom, Shag and the Lindy Hop. It has now been consolidated in Lindy Hop in the Eastern United States and the West Coast Swing on the West Coast.
Balboa Dancing
A form of Swing popularized during the 1950’s in California.