I'm not saying that Lindy doesn't suit swing music - I'm saying exactly the opposite.Originally posted by Lindsay
Nope- suits both! Variety is the spice...
Lindy Hop tends to be danced in 6 or 8 beat phrases so it's nice to fomulate your own patterns within that, such as syncopation, changing beats, pausing for a few beats, etc. For me, it then looks and feels much more interesting, and there is loads of room for expression on both sides.
There are a lot of people who can explain what defines music that swings, and how as a result dances like Lindy and West Coast Swing really suit the music. I agree with them. The first beat runs into the second, and encourages you to move on the first beat, and pause on the second. Or move on the first few beats in a bar, and pause on the 8.
If you see good Lindy (or WCS) dancers, they will do this, whether they are doing normal moves, or improvising. The exception is when there is a break or a highlight, which are almost always on the odd beats.
Jive is different - you move on the even beat, and pause on the odd beats. (In this way, it has more in common with some latin dances, rather than swing dances.) So dancing off-beat in jive is the same as dancing on-beat in Lindy.
On-beat in jive is 1,3,5 & 7. Off-beat in Jive is 2,4,6 & 8
But
On-beat in Lindy is 2,4,6 & 8. Off-beat in Lindy is 1,3,5 & 7
(Dancing on-beat means that I complete a step at the right time in the music. Dancing off-beat means I complete a step at the wrong time.)
So the question is - if the music is 'swinging', why do a dance like jive that tries to get you to fight the music? Or put it another way - if you have music that doesn't 'swing', and doesn't emphasise the even beats (like cha cha cha), would you try to do Lindy to it? Would you want to do a Lindy Whip with the timing '2 3 4&5 6 7 8&1'?
The only answer is that it can still be fun to do. If you like swing music, and like dancing jive to it, don't let anyone stop you. All this theory means nothing compared to personal preference!
David
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