WEST COAST SWING DANCE | Hit The Breaks in WCS

[@CraftCraver1]

It would be great if at the end of each training session, you put all the moves together with a song so we can see what it looks like.

[@countrydancex]

Thank you for watching and contributing! That's a great idea, and we have been doing that at the end of every video where we are teaching specific moves for several months. This video, however, isn't really teaching dance moves so that's why we didn't think to include it. Check out any of our other videos we've posted for the last several months where we're teaching a pattern and you'll see that at the end. Thank you again!

[@Bettanny]

This video is Genius!! You two are so creative.

[@countrydancex]

Awww shucks. Thank you for being here!

[@stuartj1968]

Some great tips and nailed at 12.30s BABY STEPS!!!!! Keep working on rock solid fundamentals and playtime becomes a lot easier and better on the eye.

[@countrydancex]

Totally agree with that! Thank you for contributing :-)

[@roberteskut5195]

Very nice! Still using your baby steps on the road to success. Definitely different on top of 10 years of international Latin.

[@countrydancex]

Awesome! WCS is a different philosophy than International Latin for sure. Not more difficult... just different

[@tysonharris1697]

Great ideas. Much better than trying to count the phrasing all the time and planning specific count patterns ahead on the fly.

[@countrydancex]

Agreed

[@FilipedeBarrosDance]

Thank you guys, appreciate you! 🤗

[@countrydancex]

Our pleasure!

[@whitelily569]

You are the cutest dance couple ever!

[@countrydancex]

You are the sweetest person ever!

[@dianalammermeier5052]

Love all your videos. Simplified and the videography is excellent. Thanks for sharing your talents. Hope you can do more ballroom videos like waltz and foxtrot

[@countrydancex]

We're so glad you enjoy them :-) As this is a country dance based channel, it is unlikely we'll specifically post ballroom dances... but waltz is essentially the same.

[@Garybe441]

Love your videos because, you speak in an easy to understand way and make it clear that we are adults, ( language) . The few mistakes that you make, are things all of us do. I am 74 and learning new moves / concepts/understanding dancing is motivating. Thanks, Gary

[@countrydancex]

Thank you so much for watching and contributing. Let us know if we can help in any way!

[@thatgrumpyindian]

This is brilliant advice. Thanks

[@helenewild9233]

"This doesn't make sense, but let me explain" is one of my favorite phrases almost all dance teacher use at some point We all do it, every single one

[@countrydancex]

Hahaha

[@normanrehme3836]

Soooo good. I think I can make musicality work for me now. I like the approach. Also want to practice your tip of pulling blinds to try! Just have to stay focus and not get distracted.

[@countrydancex]

Go for it! We're so glad it was helpful!

[@roberteskut5195]

I didn’t start ballroom until age 50. Started competing 13 months later. Started international Latin age 53. It’s not difficult, but at a social dance there will only be 1-2 partners. West coast, more options for partners. I sent your link to my teacher, and she loved it. Keep up the good work! Blessings

[@llRoyalty]

Easy to do but hard to do well

[@szilviapapp842]

Hey Rose and Anthony, we love your videos and west coast swing as well. In this video we find the background music very cool and we would like to know the name of the song. Could you help us, please? Best wishes from York and Szilvi

[@countrydancex]

Hey guys! We use royalty free music. Honestly not sure which one this is haha. I bet if you “Shazamed” it, you’d find it though

[@daveboo7002]

Soul Salsa by King Flamingo - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnjXomuEg8ecZsU

[@iwenliueva]

Well said of everything especially about the baby steps! Love ALL of your WCS videos! Great jobs done! Thank you for sharing!^^

[@countrydancex]

Thank you so much for joining us and for your positivity :-) We really appreciate that. Let us know if we can help with anything!!

[@donstoddard8458]

I really enjoy watching your videos very informative. Thank youI really enjoy watching your videos very informative. Thank you

[@countrydancex]

Thank you for watching! (2X)

[@cortniloveridge5409]

This video is amazing. So glad I found you guys :)

[@countrydancex]

That’s makes us so happy to hear. We’re so glad you’re here!

[@tybaldt]

Very well presented, great video

[@countrydancex]

We’re so glad you liked it! Thanks for joining us here

[@NonSequitur314]

I really like the steps you guys laid out! Gotta build a foundation before putting a roof on 😆 Only thing that threw me off was when you mentioned 4/4 time in the beginning; the first (top) 4 means there are 4 beats in a measure yes, but the second (bottom) 4 actually tells us which type of note gets the beat, in this case a quarter note, not how many measures are in a phrase. So each measure/bar (they’re colloquially the same thing) is made up of 4 beats, and small phrases are usually made up of 4 measures, which is where the 16 beats come from, and it’s also why even larger phrases almost always have a beat count that’s a multiple of 4. But with all that said, it doesn’t really matter in social dancing! Just wanted to clarify on the musical definition of a time signature 😁

[@countrydancex]

Hey there. That's interesting! Thanks for that. I do have a question about that... if WCS time signature is 4/4 and the bottom "4" is to indicate quarter notes... waltz is danced in 3/4 which would mean that the bottom "4" still being a 4 is that a quarter note "gets the beat"?

[@NonSequitur314]

Yes! And V Waltz is typically 6/8, which means there are 6 beats in a measure, eighth note gets the beat. That’s why it’s usually counted 123-456 instead of 123-123. Hope that makes sense!

[@countrydancex]

Learnin' stuff!

[@NonSequitur314]

Me too! Glad I could help a bit in return :)

[@stevelucas3287]

Love your videos. Would be nice to see you putting your points in action to some music - even for a couple of minutes at the end of your videos - freestyle.

[@countrydancex]

Thank you so much. That’s a great idea!

[@tstoutmn]

Great job, been following you for awhile and like how you teach the basics. This one on basic musicality explained a lot. Thanks. I’ve got some questions for you. I’ve been taking East Coast (single & triple time) and West Coast long enough to do well when I’m in class and the teacher is selecting the music that follows what she taught. However, last night at a wedding, the DJ played typical rock & roll dance music. People mostly were doing freestyle on their own. When I tried to add in some of what I’ve learned, it seemed like East Coast Triple fit the best because the music was fast and bouncy. Most of the songs seemed too fast for WCS. Here’s my questions: how do I know what style of dance to use given the music being played? If music fits EC Triple, does it also fit WCS? Thanks for any help Thomas

[@countrydancex]

Hi Thomas! Thanks for being here and for reaching out. ECS music tends to be a bit faster than WCS music, yes. Outside of that, WCS is quite a bit more versatile in regards to music. I could be 60bmp or 130 bpm. It could be blues, rock, country, jazz, r&b, hip hop, or pretty much any genre. Our suggestion, outside of bmp, is do what feels best :-)

[@777cf]

quel est le titre du morceau svp? super video !

[@CliffHousego]

Great YT! You gave up a lot of great WCS secret nuggets of knowledge. ( I plan to steal them)

[@countrydancex]

Ha! They're all yours :-)

[@JennyDurling]

it would really help if you demonstarted these moves with some music so we could see how it actually works

[@charlessmith263]

Keenly, since I had been dancing socially for years (and competitively too), my own meaning of "hitting the breaks", is this.... The dance couple reacts musically to the "break" in the music. These are usually 2-measure breaks in a 4/4 swing, when all of the instruments stop except a solo instrument, and then usually a bass line and/or a drum fill comes in and the instruments come back again, finishing that "break". The focus is on any swing music that has a shuffle feel, but straight eighth swing music can also be used in hitting the breaks, for instance - the 2-measure break that starts off "Splish Splash", a famous rock-and-roll swing dance number. The couple reacts usually with an advanced move, flair, or hot flash, such as a meltdown, a ronde, a dip, a drop, a body isolation or isolations, or if you are very daring--a lift.

[@kestrelfalcon5558]

What song is that?

[@countrydancex]

Hi there. Sorry... we use royalty free music. It’s not a “real” song hahaha

[@liamcarey1085]

Ya ENTIRELY OBLIVIOUS here, looking to be a finder 😂

[@dijonswing]

very interesting can you explain why we dance Rock, lindy... etc on 6 while the phrasing is on 8 (!?) nobody answers

[@countrydancex]

The answer is actually simpler than you think. Swing music is typically in 4/4 time signature ... but swing dancing is counted in 2s. There are both 6 and 8 count patterns in swing and some pattern may be 10,12,14,or even 24 beats. We realize that’s a common question for those with a music background, but there is a 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2 beneath everything. Or, a down beats and an up beat. Any pattern can start on any odd count. 8 count phrasing is irrelevant when doing general lead and follow dancing. In fact, 4/4 is 16 beats not 8... but who’s counting? ;-)

[@dijonswing]

@@countrydancex thank you from France

[@tybaldt]

Dij' On Swing my theory is that during slavery, in most of the US, there was an attempt to destroy all traces of African cultures- language groups were broken up, drums were forbidden, with the result that coherent musical structures didn’t get passed on. In many places in the Caribbean and South America (as well as in French New Orleans) slaves were ‘allowed’ to play drums on Sundays, musical structures persevered, especially Yoruba. So the dances created in these places fit in the meter of the music (2 of the dance is 2 of the music). But in US dances, the rhythmic sensibility in African-American dances resulted in dances which often changed rhythms (6’s and 8’s) and often crossed the musical structure, which most US dances do. (the Swings, Hustle, Peabody, most 2 Steps, Quickstep, beginning American Foxtrot)

[@dijonswing]

@@tybaldt thank you very much !

[@LindaDotson-yd4vp]

Texas Tornado cake

[@senpintravelsandmore]

Having a hard time learning WCS.

[@countrydancex]

Totally get that. It can be pretty overwhelming if approached in the wrong way. If you haven’t already, watch this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnbdqodmga9rfJY

[@BasicYTHandle]

Just like any dance - or anything new, for that matter - LEARNING is the hardest part. The DOING is the enjoyable part. To me, wcs has 3 major components (#s 1 & 3 are different from other dances): 1. Understanding of stretch and compression (and how they apply to wcs), then doing both with a partner. 2. The basics: (a) sugar push (together, then back to original places), (b) passes (exchange of places) and (c) whip (VERY simplistically, combination of a & b, i.e., together, exchange of places, then back to original places). Then put these together with #1. Once you can do these reasonably well, the variations are just that. 3. Musicality. You can take a zillion workshops and/or watch a zillion videos - which can assist (a basic understanding of music can also really help) - but it pretty much just takes TIME, i.e., just do it and do it and do it. Not unlike learning a foreign language until it comes naturally (that you don't have to translate in your head), when you realize that you've stopped counting, you've got it!