Tampa, FL 33617
West Coast Swing
It is believed that the origins of the WCS are in Lindy Hop. In a 1947 book, Arthur
Murray recognized that, "There are hundreds of regional dances of the Jitterbug
type. Each section of the country seems to have a variation of its own." Dean
Collins, who arrived in the Los Angeles area around 1937 after learning to dance
at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, was influential in developing the style of swing
danced on the West Coast of the United States, as both a performer and teacher.
When his wife, Mary Collins, was asked if Dean was responsible for the emergence
of the dance, however, she said that Dean insisted there were "only two kinds
of swing dance - good and bad". Lauré Haile, Arthur Murray National Dance Director,
and an instructor of teachers documented swing dancing as done in the Los Angeles
area and used the name "Western Swing". Murray had used the same name, "Western
Swing", in the late 1930s for a different dance. Haile included Western Swing
in Dance Notebooks she authored for Arthur Murray during the 1950s. Western Swing
was also called "Sophisticated Swing" in the 1950s. Dancing to musicians wearing
cowboy hats and string ties playing fiddle, steel guitar, etc. Pumpkin Center,
Bakersfield, CA 1950s Western swing, country boogie, and, with a smaller audience,
jump blues were popular on the West Coast throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s
when they were renamed and marketed as rock 'n' roll in 1954. Dancers danced "a
'swingier' - more smooth and subdued" form of Jitterbug to Western Swing music.
West Coast Swing (still known as Western Swing at that time) is the basis for
the dancing in the rehearsal scene in “Hot Rod Gang” (1958). Music is supplied
by rockabilly musician Gene Vincent’s “Dance to the Bop”. The song alternates
between very slow sections and those with the rapid pace and high energy of rockabilly.
Choreographer Dick DiAugustine includes recognizable patterns such as the chicken
walk, swing out from closed position, etc, along with the classic woman’s walk
walk triple step triple step at the end of the slot. On the final step of the
second triple the women are weighted left with the right heel on the floor and
the toes pointed up. Dancers also do classic Lindy flips at the end of the slot,
as well as non partner, non West Coast Swing movements. Murray's taught Western
Swing beginning from a closed position and the possibility of dancing single,
double, or triple rhythm. After a "Throwout" patterns began with the woman "walking
in" and the man doing a "rock step", or step together for counts one and two.
Although the dance remained basically the same, the Golden State Dance Teachers
Association (GSTDA) began teaching from the walk steps, counts 1 and 2. It replaced
Lauré Haile's Coaster Step with an "Anchor Step" around 1961. The name "West Coast
Swing" was used in a little known hand book for Arthur Murray dance studio teachers
in the 1950s, but the Murray studios used the term "Western Swing" on charts.
"West Coast swing" as as a synomym for "Western swing" appears in a 1961 dance
book, and was used in an advertisement by Skippy Blair in 1962 but wasn't incorporated
into mainstream swing circles until the late 1960s. Blair credits Jim Bannister,
editor of the Herald American newspaper in Downey, for suggesting the name West
Coast Swing. The name change came about because she had found that "nothing Western
was really welcome in the city of Downey in 1958". Beginning with the 1967 opening
of the Golden West Ballroom in Norwalk, CA, and through 1980, West Coast Swing
was on the marquee as the dance taught every Wednesday and Friday night. Western
Swing was documented in the 1971 edition of the "Encyclopedia of Social Dance",
listing the "Coaster Step" (with a forward step as the last step of the 2nd triple)
rather than the Anchor Step. The one song that was listed for this dance was "Comin'
On" by Bill Black's Combo (1964). As late as 1978, the term "Western Swing" was
common usage among Chain and Independent Studios to describe "slotted swing".
Circa 1978 "California Swing" was yet another name for West Coast Swing, albeit
with styling that was "considered more UP, with a more Contemporary flavor." By
1978 GSTDA had "some 200 or more patterns and variations" for West Coast Swing."
In 1988, West Coast Swing was pronounced the Official State Dance of California.
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