By Victor Jean Ouellette, April 29, 2007, updated April 26, 2014

Okay, now I have the Charelston as my favourite dance. See the bottom of this page for some data on the Charleston.

Ladies start dance steps with their right foot and men start with their left foot.

These are five dances that we feel would be good for our crowd to know, so you can dance to most any contemporary band. These following steps are the beginner level. When you get to the Intermediate and advanced steps they break these rules, and when you get into the competitive dance routines sometimes, (well, most times), you can't even see the basic steps at all. For us though, learning the basic steps, with a few intermediate moves, and maybe one advanced move, is all that we will need.

	Dance Name	Count
1.	Balboa	123 slide 576 slide (It can also be called a kick instead of a slide. In the true Balboa the man taps his right toe to his left heel when the lady slides her left foot forward. This gets his foot out of her way as the couple are right in close contact. Similarly the lady taps her right toe to her left heel when the man slides his left foot forward.) This is a closed dance with no space between you and your partner. You are tight, tight, tight. One of the best dances for getting close, real close, as close as you dare to your partner. The slide is a foot slide from the hip, with a semi straight knee, and going straight forward, without lifting the foot from the floor keeping the entire sole of the shoe on the floor. You can use this step to get close to your partner even if the beat is fast. You just need to be able to do the count to the music that's all. There are more subtle advanced moves of the couple going apart a bit and together all the while in closed position and also some contra upper body motion moves a well. There is also a fast bounce involved too, and sway etc. That would all be for later after the basics are mastered.
2.	Lindy Hop	12 (Rock Step)  3&4  56  7&8 You are loosely together. Danced to jazzy type of music when the beat is slow and hard to dance to with other steps. Mans starts with his left foot back on 1 for the rock step, lady with her right foot back on 1. But, becasue the two are in a 45 degree V they are not really going away from each other. 'Dance Attitude' plays a big part of this dance.
3.	East Coast Swing	1&2  3&4  56 The 1&2 are done a bit to the man's left side, the 3&4 a bit to the right, and the 56 is a rock step, either straight back or with the one foot a little behind the other. You will need to be shown how to do this. There is a single step swing dance that is often called the jive. It is a 1, 2 Rock Step, 1, 2 Rock Step that is done to the singe step because the music is so fast that there is no time to get three steps in. Remember that one person can do the single step while at the same time the other person can do the triple step. They are both done to the same beat. You will understand when you are shown.
4.	Disco	12   12   12   12 This is an easy step but, the mans needs to know how to give the lead. There are no little hops like in Cha Cha. It is just a walking step with the man leading the lady. The man needs to know how to lead, and the lady needs to know how to follow her lead hand keeping her belly to her hand and then squaring her shoulders to her man after she is turned. Lady's should most always try to stay square to her man in all dances especially when she is thrown out away from the man. She should not let that left shoulder fall away from the man. That is bad form that will not allow her to get back into position for the next lead. A man can lead two ladies at the same time in this dance quite easily. You have seen me do this on occasion.
5.	West Coast Swing	12   3&4   5&6 This count almost looks on paper like the East Coast Swing steps when they are all strung together, but they are done entirely differently. It is generally considered to be a hard dance to learn. But, when you learn it you find that a whole new type of dance opens up to you when the music becomes that slower offsetting type of beat. It is a sexy focussed dance where 'Dance Attitude' comes into play. You can West Coast Swing to a lot of jazz type, blues type music. West Cost afficionados will West Coast it to almost any type of music. You will need to be shown how to do this dance. It is too difficult to explain on paper how the first 1, 2 lead is performed and how the anchor step 5&6 is done, and how the lady stays in a slot that she goes up and down on, on the dance floor. It is the anchor step where the flair comes into play. Women like this dance because it is not as regimented as the East Coast Swing and women get to let it loose if they should so choose to. A lot of people start by learning East Coast then switch to West Coast. Then there are the 8 beat counts and the 10 beat count moves as well.

Remember, when the man raises the lady's hand it does not mean turn. It means get ready for a turn. The man will send the raised hand a little to the left or right to indicate which way he wants the lady to turn. So, if the hand goes up on the 2 count then the turn starts on the 3 count. If the man does not send the little turn direction signal then he probably wants to turn himself. The lady should not turn if she does not receive the direction signal.

 

The Charleston 1920's to 1940's.

Named after Charles Lindbergh's fight across the Atlantic in 1927.

The Charleston steps have several basic moves and different instructors teach differently as to what constitutes the basics. Charleston, Balboa and Lindy Hop often go together in the same dance and are switched between as the leader feels so inclined. Blues music and Dixieland New Orleans music of the 1920's and 30's are generally where these steps are used. It's best to learn the Lindy Hop and Balboa basics before attempting the Charleston moves.

We are going to add a very basic Charleston Lesson here. Tap, Step, Tap, Step. Without the kicks, all work is done on the odd numbered counts, the 1, 3, 5, 7.

The lead (man) starts with his left foot backward on the 1 tap count. This is always the same no matter where the follower (lady) is. That is, if she is beside him to his right or in front of him in either open or closed position. The lady's start depends on where she is in relation to the man. If the lead starts her beside him, then she starts with her right foot back on the 1 tap. If she is in front of him, facing him, then she starts with her right foot forward on the 1 tap count.

To start, there is a backward tap with the left leg of the man and a downward bounce at the same time as the tap but, the bounce is with the right leg. Then a bounce on the 2 count with the right leg and a bounce on the 3 step with the left leg which is placed back in place where it was originally and both legs bounce downward now on this 3 step count.

Next comes the 5 count with the right leg of the man taping forward with a bounce of his left leg at the same time, and then a bounce of the left leg on the 6 count and a step beside with the right leg on the 7 count as both legs do the bounce again this time. The 8 count count is bounced with the right leg. So each leg actually bounces 5 times but, two of the times are with both legs on the 3 and 7 counts. There are no actual pauses like in Salsa. The moves are to step or tap on the 1, 3, 5, 7 and bounce on all counts 1 through 8. It sounds complicated, but really it is not. It just takes a bit of practice.

Transitions though, take a lot more practice. Transitions are when the man steps in front of the lady or brings her in front of himself. OR, steps behind the lady if she is beside him, OR turns himself 180 degrees if she is in front of him and then does her steps, OR turns her 180 degrees and has her do his steps. Ah, you had to be there, err, have to be there, LOL.

So, the bottom line is that both the man and the lady have to know each other's parts as the 1 count can be with either leg and in either direction depending on the positions and the desire. It's all about the desire. A secret key is that many transition require an extra step by the man so he is synced with the lady, or stays synced with the lady. The kick steps are a whole other ball game as they do require practice and at Lindy Hop dance people are practicing them all the time.

Lindy Hop
In Lindy Hop there are no mistakes. It's all just a learning process. But, in Ballroom there are definite mistakes and some ballroomers get pretty testy when you don't know the moves they know. Thus, Lindy Hop, Charleston and Balboa tend to be a lot more easy going as no one minds mistakes. People will come up to you in the Lindy Hop dances and ask you to show them moves. As a mater of fact, in Lindy Hop dances it is expected that one shows the other new moves. It's the culture of this dance. That hardly ever happens in Ballroom.

Ah, I almost forgot. Its' called Lindy Hop for a reason and that is because there is an actual hop twice on each 8 beat cycle. Once on the 3 count and once on the 7 count. So, watching people switch between the Lindy Hop and the Charleston in the same song is fun and you see these different body candescence moves. And, not everyone will do the hops. Remember we said there are no mistakes in this dance so, we see a lot of variations and that is the idea behind the blues music anyway.