Swing Dancing: The Fundamentals of Classical Swing Dancing

It seems only yesterday that we were listening to bands such as The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies and The Mighty Might Bosstones on almost every radio station within earshot. Perhaps that's because it was not all that long ago that bands such as these were leading the revival of the Swing culture in America. Although Swing had remained alive through its influence on other dance and musical genres, it was not until a few years ago that the big band sound and dance that defined an era re-emerged onto the American landscape. The contributions of Swing to American dance and music are often overlooked or are too subtle to detect, but there is no question that the influence is very real and very important.

Swing finds its roots in 19th Century youth adaptations of the waltz and polka, where it eventually evolved to influence nearly every generation of dance that would follow. By the 1930s, swing jazz was creating an entirely new entertainment atmosphere, with dance moves and an attitude that the world had never seen before. Swing brought with it a style and a language all its own and it was not long before those unique qualities began to ingrain themselves into the fabric of the American culture.