Katz Corner

Hey Katz,
After Alot Of Reading And Way To Much Information Here Is The Story About West Coast Swing – In Short A Dance Created From Lindy Hop By One Man Who Made It Look Different To Suit The Camera! (Looked Nothing Like The Majority Of What You See Today).

The History Of West Coast Swing:
West Coast Swing originated from an earlier dance known as the Savoy Style Lindy, which was done at the Savoy Ballroom in New York in the early 1930′s. Although WCS was not invented by, it was indirectly spawned by a man whose name was Dean Collins, who also danced at the Savoy while living in New York.

Collins came to California in the 1930′s to get into the movie business and brought with him ‘his version’ of the “Savoy Style Lindy.” Collins, after dancing in Hollywood for a couple years started dancing in many nightclubs began competing. He would get to know some of the other local dancers, which have been said too have “not seen that style of swing before, but they liked it very much.” It was alot different than what they were doing at the time (which they called the “Whip”). When Collins started winning contests everyone wanted to learn his style. Dean’s partner Jewel McGowen was the hottest female swing dancer who had ever “Switched” (swivel back and forth) with Dean. They made many movies apart as well as together. When Dean would be asked what style of swing he was doing he would say “there is no style, there is only Swing.” He never said there is only Lindy Hop or West Coast or Jitterbug, there is only swing. And being a true master of swing he realized that “Swing is Swing”… period!

Collins started teaching “his version” to L.A. and soon everyone on the West Coast was doing it. Dean finally got his break and started doing many Hollywood movies in the 1940s and 1950s. (There were basically three styles of swing done in the movies of the time: 
1) Lindy Hop, 2) West Coast Swing, 3) East Coast Swing. Although the Sugar push is said to have existed before it was not portrayed in the other styles on film). He brought many local swing dancers who he had taught this “new style” with him into these movies as well. During this time, the movies billed this dance as “Jitterbug or Rock and Roll.” Many soldiers danced this version of swing in W.W. II. The soldiers and U.S.O. took “West Coast Swing” and other forms of swing all over the world … disguised as the newer term of Jitterbug or Rock and Roll (before these titles swing was known as the Lindy Hop). Dean past away in 1984.

The Slot: is not original to West Coast Swing but is strongly linked to it today. West Coast Swing, which is a strictly slotted (a 3′X6′ or 3X8′ rectangular dance space) which has the leader dance in place while the follower travels back and forth. This style of swing has some to say that this slot was born out of “WIDE ANGLE LENSES” not having been invented yet! (not totally true). The Directors needed to put the dancers in straight lines to get them all in the camera. However, many swing movies only had “one couple dancing” at a time and many previous movies of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers will show a slot being danced (for the camera) This “Slot” idea was to get the profile of the dancers rather than the backs of the dancers to the camera. If the dancers rotated while dancing it would not have shown the movie-goer much dancing. This “slotted-style” eventually caught on as the norm and stayed Strickly sloteed! When West Coast is danced socially. The film “Don’t Knock the Rock” strongly features the WCS Slot that California dancers prided themselves on by dancing on a couch, coffee table etc.

Yet, another story is that because Los Angeles had many small nightclubs, and there was a huge migration happening in California at the time. The L.A. dancers had to squeeze together and thus maintained a “Slotted type movement” to avoid hitting each other. The two above ideas merging together would be the main reason people today dance slotted swing socially

Style And Footwork influences have been many from tap, to Latin & The Switches, along with whatever music was popular at the time and of course aerials.

In one of Arthur Murray’s dance books in the mid 1940′s, Murray describes a dance called “Rock and Roll dancing.” It names the “Under Arm Pass, the Whip and the Sugar-Push.” and describes the “Coaster Step” and “Anchor step” very clearly. Later he would call this style of “Western Swing” “Sophisticated Swing.” Today there are eight basic steps that the whole dance revolves upon.

In the 1940′s Ms. Laurie’ Haile was hired by Mr. Murray to document the dances set in Murray’s curriculum and the current dances being done around town. This was no easy task, but she did it beautifully. She knew Dean Collins and some of the other dancers and documented what they along with the Sailors in San Diego and Long Beach were doing at the time. She called it “Western Swing” which is were we get the name “West Coast Swing.”

Myrna Myron of Myron’s Ballroom in Los Angeles, California coined the term “Sophisticated Swing” in a conversation to Arthur Murray years earlier by describing what she saw being done in and around Los Angeles in the early 1950′s. Although a song title with that name did exist earlier, it was not associated with swing as a dance but rather a musical style. West Coast did not look like the reckless abandon of the previous swingers and looked much more smooth, polished and stylish. Murray used this term quite frequently to describe West Coast Swing.

During the 1960′s, Television put dancing on the back burner. Most people did not have to leave their homes for an evening’s entertainment as in the past. Televisions were now affordable and almost in everyone’s home. Since these dancers were not going out and dancing and leading the way, newer dancers generally did not know what or how to do the dances of the past. In walks a dance called the “Twist, Frug, Hully Gully etcetera” plus “dancing in the sand” at the beach would be the death blow to most structured partner dances and no one had to learn anything, just flap your arms, shake your hips or twist and shake the night away”

West Coast Swing has found a way to adapt and evolve through each decade and musical style  picking up moves “patterns” from newly formed dances along the way Eg: 70’s disco, Hip Hop. It is said “Modern” West Coast dancing has up to 5000 patterns with a strong latin american ballroom dancing look to it now losing some what of its classical style.

Retro-Swingers recently started to use a term called “Hollywood Style Lindy” before they realized it was basically “Hollywoods West Coast Swing they were doing.” They now just call it Hollywood Style Swing with the term being coined by Erik and Sylvia Robeson. This Hollywood Style Swing was actually the original form of West Coast Swing, as done by Dean Collins and Jewel McGowen, Gil and Nikki Brady, Lou Southern etc. and others of days gone by. Many of the old time West Coast Swingers who are still around today have helped them with this “authentic style”.

So There It Is A Dance Made For The Camera – j

What Is The JitterBug ?

Well Essentially The Jitterbug Is Not A Name For “A“ Specific Dance. So With That Being Said Let The Story Unfold

The Jitterbug! (What a strange but unique name) all people attribute Cab Calloway (1907-1994) as coining the term. However, he was not the one. As you will see, Harry Alexander White (b.6/1/1898) who was also known as “Father White” by his peers coined the term “Jitterbug.” White was a trombonist, drummer and arranger on the “Keith Circuit” in 1914 as well as working with Duke Ellington (1899-1974) and Elmer Snowden, later White, would work with the renowned Cab Calloway. 

 Calloway’s trumpeter, Edwin Swayzee, overheard Mr. White using the term “Jitterbug,” which apparently was unheard of during this period. Swayzee wrote the song entitled “The Jitterbug” for Cab Calloway after hearing White’s use of the word. Calloway recorded the song in January 1934, which made it a household name. Sooo White coined it, Swayzee used it, and Calloway made it famous.

Jazz lingo played an important part as well (Daddy-O, Icky, Reefer, Hep-Cat, etc.) and was big during the Jazz era. Here are some of its stories:
1) One description is that it meant a man or women, suffering from alcoholic or drug nerves. 
2) Another story has Jitterbug associated to the English word “Bugger or Bugging” (a sexual act,) and was used to characterize someone suffering from Syphilis. 3) Another is of racial nonsense (resembling the preceding) was used to characterize a man or woman, who was sexually active with a dissimilar race (Black and White,) and/or who had the “Jitters from Drugs, Alcohol or Syphilis and was “bugging” them a Jitterbugger! 
4) Some of the stories were comical, such as; the dancers looked like jitterbugs – because they bounced. So, whatever the original intent of the word may have been, it is now, to be known as a dance.

- There were distinct forms of Lindy and Shag already being done at such places as the Savoy Ballroom. Today, the Jitterbug as a dance, is also known as: Hollywood Style, Lindy Hop, East Coast, West Coast, Push, Whip, Jive, Shag, New Yorker, Bop, Ceroc, Leroc, Rock and Roll etc. Jitterbug was a slang or umbrella term for what we call “Swing dancing” today with the term Jitterbug initially enveloping all styles of swing. Depending on what City or State you came from and what year you danced in. Each variant of swing that was danced was called the Jitterbug at one time or another. Today some people are trying to maintain it is only “Single or double rhythm East Coast swing” (Well … yes it was!, as well as all the other forms mentioned above.) The W.W.II and the U.S.O. spread the Jitterbug all over the World.

Benny Goodman (1909-1986) is credited with establishing the Swing Craze as well as helping make the word jitterbug a household name. Goodman was signed to perform on the “National Biscuit Saturday Night ” radio broadcasts in New York. Goodman would perform popular standards during the day for the popular radio hours in New York, but late at night, when New York was asleep, he would play some of his own music. Because of the national time difference, California being three hours behind, many younger Californians did lend an ear.

During the spring of 1934, RCA-Victor Records Company signed Goodman’s Band. That Summer he went on the road and toured the Ballrooms, despite having his own music, he was told to play the standards, as earlier attempts to play his music found much displeasure by the older ballroom dancers. This was to lead to a procession of failures (flops) on his tour, as no one eventually came. Nevertheless, when Goodman hit California, there was about to be a transformation.

 The first stop was Sweet’s Ballroom in Oakland, Ca. young adults lined up for blocks to hear and dance to Goodman’s new music, They Jitterbugged all night long. This was ACTUALLY the first “Un-official” start of the Jitterbug craze and the Big Swing Bands. (Goodman wouldn’t believe his success, thought it was some flook.) Descending the coast to his next and final, would be permanent stop on his tour was in Los Angeles at the “Palomar Ballroom.” This would become the first “Officially recorded start of the Jitterbug” and Swing Bands.

 Originally, before his successfulness at Sweets ballroom, the Palomar Ballroom was to be the final stop of Goodman’s tour (as well as to be their final gig, forever, due to all his previous touring failures.) The show at the Palomar was jammed with young adults that were listening to Goodman’s prior New York broadcast’s on the radio, due to the earlier time frame between New York and California, the young adults on the East Coast didn’t listen to his music. Benny Goodman became a TREMENDOUS sensation at the Palomar (to his surprise); these ‘West Coast kids’ and adults were jitterbugging all night long and loving it. The newspapers loved it as well and reported on the “jitterbugging” done at the Palomar.

 From there, Goodman went on to Chicago (a success,) then finally arriving back in New York, where he formerly had his first dismal turnout after the Palomar on this “would be” famous tour. In the summer of 1936, the Paramount Theater in New York, on hearing of his achievement in California, hired his band to play. Goodman’s West Coast success at the Palomar was rivaled only by the Paramount Theater as the kids were “Jitterbugging in the Isles.” The newspapers reported on his band’s success and about the dancing. Again, the reporters used the term “Jitterbug” in their columns and the term “Jitterbug,” after that day, publicly was here forever.

So if you “Swing Dance,” whatever style it may be You are a Jitterbug, “Believe it or Not!”

What The Dictionary Said :

Jitterbug can be used as a noun to refer to a swing dancer or various types of swing dances, for example, the Lindy Hop,[1] Jive, and East Coast Swing. This has led to confusion within the dance community, since jitterbug can refer to different kinds of swing dances. It can also be used as a verb to mean the act of dancing to swing music.

Various editions of Arthur Murray’s “How To Become a Good Dancer” contain the following text. “There are hundreds of regional dances of the Jitterbug type”, “A favorite with young New Yorkers is the Lindy Hop” (1947), “Whether it’s called Swing, Lindy or Jitterbug..” (1954). “Formerly called Jitterbug, Lindy Hop and various other names in different parts of the country… Swing is the newer title”(1959).”

So Now You Know The Story Behind “The Jitterbug”. j