Swing Dance Lesson #1
One of the drawbacks to taking dance lessons is that if you don't practice what you learned, you can forget pretty quickly. So I'm going to be posting some YouTube videos of dance instructors teaching the steps we learned in class. If you took the class, you can use these videos to practice. If you didn't take the class, you can use these videos to learn the same steps that we learned in class and then you'll be caught up with everyone else.
At the bottom is a playlist of music to dance to at home. In fact, even if you're not dancing, just play the music and move around your house, maybe while doing chores or standing in front of the stove or something, stepping to the beat of the song in the rhythm of the dance. Remember, you can practically make stuff up as you go, as long as you keep your feet moving in the proper rhythm. So drill this beat into your heads & listen to the music so that when you're out in public, when a song comes on that has a good dance beat, you'll be able to recognize it and do the proper dance to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTrz76bG-Jc is the basic step - both single & triple.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2NhnaidFMo is the underarm turn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciIFIrV1CsQ is the cuddle & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF_DFVIiDdQ
Every time they do a triple step (wherever he says 1-a-2, 3-a-4, rock step), you can do a single step on the 1, 3, rock step, or slow, slow, quick quick (and vice versa). Which one you do depends on the speed of the music. If it's a fast song, it's easier to do the single step (slow, slow, rock step) and when it's a slower tempo it's easier to do the triple step.
If you would like some swing dance music to practice to, you can use my playlist on YouTube, which has all of the music we used in the lesson, plus a whole lot more. Some of it may be too fast for you, but there are slower songs mixed in:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB2FF1261CBC9C404
At the bottom is a playlist of music to dance to at home. In fact, even if you're not dancing, just play the music and move around your house, maybe while doing chores or standing in front of the stove or something, stepping to the beat of the song in the rhythm of the dance. Remember, you can practically make stuff up as you go, as long as you keep your feet moving in the proper rhythm. So drill this beat into your heads & listen to the music so that when you're out in public, when a song comes on that has a good dance beat, you'll be able to recognize it and do the proper dance to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTrz76bG-Jc is the basic step - both single & triple.
Click to viewhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2NhnaidFMo is the underarm turn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciIFIrV1CsQ is the cuddle & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF_DFVIiDdQ
Every time they do a triple step (wherever he says 1-a-2, 3-a-4, rock step), you can do a single step on the 1, 3, rock step, or slow, slow, quick quick (and vice versa). Which one you do depends on the speed of the music. If it's a fast song, it's easier to do the single step (slow, slow, rock step) and when it's a slower tempo it's easier to do the triple step.
If you would like some swing dance music to practice to, you can use my playlist on YouTube, which has all of the music we used in the lesson, plus a whole lot more. Some of it may be too fast for you, but there are slower songs mixed in:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB2FF1261CBC9C404