East Coast Swing Beginner Group Class

Understanding the different group classes

• This class is designed to appeal to the beginner and intermediate alike.
• Our beginner classes trend towards more foundation information
• Our intermediate classes trend towards challenging the student
• Our styling classes focus more on an artistic aspect of the dance
• Our Series classes build towards the same goal from week to week.
• Students should approach a group class setting at Social Graces with the idea that they will gain something rather than everything.  Every student will take something different as everyone as different tastes and goals.

Cost

Drop in fee is $15 and active students can attend this group class for free.

Dress code

We do not have a dress code, but we encourage you to dress for comfort.

Singles and couples welcome

You do not need a partner to attend any class at Social Graces.

History

East coast Swing traces its roots to the original swing dance, Lindy Hop.  Lindy Hop was created in the last 1920s by African American youth at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem.  Danced to the swing and jazz music of big bands such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Benny Goodman, Lindy Hop was, and remains, a dynamic, athletic dance.

By the mid-1930s, Lindy Hop (also called Jitterbug and Swing) had captured the imagination of young people everywhere.  It was widely danced in the U.S. and Europe through the end of World War II.  In the early 1940s, Lindy Hop was tamed and simplified by dance schools to become a ballroom dance called Eastern Swing.  In the late 1970s, the name was changed to East Coast Swing.

Dance Characteristics

East Coast Swing is a fun, upbeat, non-progressive dance, distinguished by its bounce, back break (also called a “rock step”), and “swing hip action”.