United States, 1920s-1940s
SWING
The great family of vernacular jazz
Swing is not a single dance but an entire family born in Black America of the 1920s-1940s, to the rhythms of vernacular jazz. It groups together Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa, Collegiate Shag, East Coast Swing, and Boogie-Woogie: so many dialects of one shared culture of bounce, improvisation, and dialogue between partners.
At the heart of Swing is that famous "bounce": a supple knee spring that translates musical swing into the body. A social dance par excellence, it thrives on listening between partners, the musicality of the solo (the shine), and a collective joy that has survived every trend, from Harlem's Savoy Ballroom to the European revivals of the 1990s-2000s.
How it's danced
Technique & figures
Swing dances are danced as a couple, to four-beat jazz orchestras. The basic step varies by style (8-count Lindy, 6-count East Coast, 8-count Charleston), but they share a common bounce and a listening dialogue between leader and follower.
Styles and fundamentals
The body stays supple, knees bent, weight centered. The tension between partners — neither slack nor stiff — allows for the "connection" that makes leading legible and improvisation possible.
Main figures
- 01
Swing out
The signature Lindy Hop figure, over 8 counts, in which the follower is sent out and then called back.
- 02
Rock step
A backward-forward sway that opens most swing sequences.
- 03
Shine
A solo passage in which each partner improvises their own jazz steps.
Reading the music
Swing jazz, big band, hot jazz of the 1920s-1940s, now revisited by neo-swing bands.
Did you know?
Explore the rhythms
Same family
Retro
Cross connections
Styles from other families that share a common language with Swing.