PATTERNS AND ROUTINES FOR AMERICAN SWING -copyright Jonathan Tyrone Rowell, 2003 Timing: 34-36 mpm Notes: 1) a variety of rhythms and stylings exist, particularly in the social setting. 2) Single step swing has no chasse, only a slow side step, double step has a tap-step for the chasse (alternatively, kick-step, step-tap, or flex-step), and triple step swing has the chasse. 3) Rock steps may be taken slightly back, taken as a back cross (fallaway rock), or may be substituted with any of the following: kick-ball-change (sometimes called hitch kick), back kick-ball-change (aka break kick or mule kick), double scuff (a personal favorite), heel leans (as a slow), double swivels, Suzy Q's (cross over with back of heel, then pivot on heel to step side. Often repeated), double rocks, double kicks and pauses. Shag flicks are sometimes done at the timing of &QQ, which strikes some judges as very wrong. 4) While upbeat, east cost swing should be danced down in the ground - NOT like Jive. 5) The Swing Family includes (but not limited to): East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Texas Two-Step (a travelling Two-Step Swing), Lindy Hop, Jive, Shag (aka Carolina Shag), and St. Louis Shag (a Lindy derivative). Socially, moves can be interchanged at will between the different styles. 6) Because of the social accessibility of swing, moves have acquired several, sometimes dozens, of names depending on where you learn, and they might be in conflict (Windmill is a big one, Sweetheart is another). Bronze 1) Basic Step - Rock Step, then chasse to one side and then the other. (LF rock for guys, RF for ladies). May be done in closed or open position (aka swing out position). Some rotation can be used during the basic. aka Fallaway Rock when in closed position. 2) Link - transition from swing out position to closed position. J-hook the follower between chasses so that both can back/side chasse in Fallaway. 3) Throwaway - aka Throwout and Fallaway Throwaway. Transition from closed position to swing out. Release and separate between the chasses. 4) Lady's Underarm turn to R - aka Outside or Arch Turn. From either open or closed. Woman turns either between the chasses (sharper) or on the second chasse (more playful). End in Open Position. 4b) Tuck Turn - aka Change of Places R to L. A slight variation of the UAT R from closed position. Use the first chasse to swing woman cleanly square to man. 4c) Double UAT R - extra spin for woman over the second chasse to turn again. Alternatively, insert an extra Step-Step for the turn (Lindy-time). 4d) Tuck with Free Turn - Tuck the lady on the first chasse, releasing the L2R hold. Turn her R using the heel of R hand on her back. 5) Lady's Underarm Turn to L - aka Loop or Inside Turn. From Open Position only. Woman turns L between chasses, or over a chasse (socially). Man should maintain orientation. 5b) Double UAT L - as with Double UAT R 5c) Lady's Passby - aka Change of Places L to R. The lady is led fwd towards man's R side will otherwise dancing a UAT L. Man takes his first chasse fwd, turns R to keep follower in front of him, second chasse in place or to side. 5d) She Goes, He Goes - as the Lady's Passby, but Man will turn himself L under the arms after woman completes her turn. 5e) Spinning Passby - man leads woman fwd, taking the L2R towards his R shoulder and releasing. Both will free spin left as they pass by each other. 6) Hammerlock - A combination pattern of R and L turns. In swing out position with double hold, lead an Lady's Turn R. You will end up with her L arm caught behind her back. This is called hammerlock position (the name comes from a wrestling hold that does much the same). Now Rock Step in this hold, and turn woman L on the first chasse back into swing out. Additional spin may be made, and it may be taken into cuddle position. 7) Guy's UAT L - originally a hustle figure. In swing out with double hold, guy will lead himself to lady's R side under his R arm. Man may keep the L2R hold, in which case he wraps himself, or he may releasing and do a passby. 8) Comb - aka Miami Special, curl. In swing out with R2R hold, lead a Lady's Passby, but turn R under arm after she finishes to arm slide away back into L2R. 9) Trailing - aka Hand Change behind Back. With R2R hold, lead Lady's Passby but without the leader turning. Woman ends up in R Shadow Position behind man. If man turns to his L after woman passes, he will change hands behind his back. If he does not, the couple finishes the basic with a back chasse. The basic as RS - fwd chasse - back chasse can be done repeatedly (this is the actual Trailing - common in Shag). If the Trailing is used, the follower should be brought back in front of man (lady's UAT R or j-hook pivot) over a basic and then again lead the Change of Hands behind the Back over the next basic. 10) Back Pass - aka Hand Change Behind Back, Waistslide or Belt Turn. Shares an alias with Trailing, but not exactly the same. with L2R hold in swing out, man will take his first chasse fwd turning L like Guy's UAT L. He can either allow the follower's hand to freely trace along his waist during the turn, or he can hand-off her R wrist into his R hand at the start of the spin, and handing-off to his L hand at the end. End L2R in swing out. 11) Double Tuck-in - ?? 12) Wrap - aka Cuddle, Sweetheart, Eggbeater. From swing out with double hold, lead lady to do a Passby without the leader moving. The couple may do basics in this wrap position as in Trailing. The basic Bronze finish is to lead an UAT R. This UAT may be done with a Tuck-in on the first chasse. 12b) Single-arm Wrap - variant of above done only with L2R hold. The free Right arm is used to arrest the lady's movement 12c) Side Switch in Wrap - after wrapping, use the chasses of the next basic to move follower to L side with her travelling in front of man. Use the chasses of the next basic to move her to R side. 12d) Reverse Wrap - Unwrap on the first chasse and continue to turn follower through the next chasse. She ends up wrapped on L side, arms reversed. Exit by reversing the process either swing out position or back into wrap. An extra Step-Step may be inserted between chasses to help. 12e) Wrap Exit with 1 1/2 spins - woman spins 1 1/2R on her exit. An extra Step-Step often inserted. 12f) Wrap Exit with 2 1/2 spins - woman spins 1 1/2R over the first chasse and Step-Step. Guy strongly takes both joined hands down to his left, releases with R hand, and then turns follower L full turn over second chasse (optionally, a second Step-Step may be inserted before the final chasse) - probably silver. 13) American Spin - with either L2R or R2R, lead follower towards man and post the hand. She pushes off for a full turn R either between chasses or on the second chasse. Guy may also spin (to L). Socially, there are variants where the follower spins to the L - sometimes being led to alternate between directions. 14) Rainbow - aka Waterfall, aka Butterfly, aka Slingshot, aka Arms-Over, aka Windmill (not to be confused with Jive Windmill), Double Comb, Arm slide ... Yeah, this one just doesn't know what do with itself. In swing out with double hold, turn during the Rock-Step to L (both). Raise the arms up and take the outside arm behind the head (both) on the first chasse. On second chasse, arm slide with the man relatively in place and the woman doing the separation. End in swing out with R2R hold. Stylistically, extra steps can be used draw out the slide. 14b) Circle Kicks - a shag development of the Slingshot. Don't release the joined hands until after the second chasse is started. With slow separtation, the couple circles L their common center while doing kick-ball-change. 15) Barrell Roll - social figure, sometimes seen on the Bronze floor. With double hold and close to one another, couples will turn under the joined L2R arm and then the R2L. The key is that the guy is slightly delayed from the follower in the turn, and the off joined hands must be down as possible. 16) Hip Bumps and Swivel - primarily social. The Hip Bump can be done as in Jive, or in double hold the couple can come together and swivel L and R between the chasses before moving away from one another. 17) 8-count Basic in Place - the Basic with an extra Step-Step inserted between the Chasses. This timing, 10 steps over 8 beats, is called either 8-count swing or Lindy timing. This figure is really just a rhythm familiarizer. 18) Lindy Whip - aka Lindy Throwout. From swing out with L2R bring follower fwd to man's R side on first chasse. Guy will hook-side like a Natural Top with woman in his arms, releasing with R hand to separate on the second chasse. 18b) Lindy Whip to Closed Position - same as above, but R hand hold not released after the turn, so second chasse back in Fallaway position. 18c) Double Whip - an extra Hook-Side added during the rotation. Primarily used in Jive. 19) Closed Whip - the Whip from Closed Position. ended either back in closed or in open. 20) Whip with Hand Change - instead of taking a Natural Top hold, reach arms behind follower and switch her R hand into his R hand. She spins as he RF back rocks. chasse to side in swing out. 21) Whip with UAT R - guy's footwork same as normal whip. Woman turns R on her LF as he hook steps. 22) Whip with UAT L - guy's footwork as normal whip. Woman turns L as a Passby over the last step of the first chasse and the extra step-step. 23) Sugarfoot - ?? but not the same as Sugarpush (saw them on the same list) 24) Sugarpush - more familiar to West Coast dancers and some Shaggers. Contraction and expansion of the partnership are the key images, with most of the travelling done by the woman. 24b) Turning Sugarpush - as above with some extra rotation 25) Circle Swivel - ?? 26) Peek-a-boo - aka Stop and Go. Done to 8-count time. lead a single arm wrap, but fwd rock step with RF in front of lady as you still hold her. Lady rocks back on LF. Her free arm should shoot up. Unwrap her on the second chasse. Alternative styling is to let woman do a free spin (like in Spinning Passby) before catching her with R arm. 27) Four kicks - This is the big travelling move for bronze swing, especially in competition. In closed position, instead of taking a Fallaway Rock, both partners take four steps back in Fallaway (QQQQ). Then kick-place with outside foot in PP, again with inside foot turning to face. Now kick-place again with both feet, with the kicks either outside partner or between partner's legs. End/ start next figure with a Fallaway Rock. You need to give some thought to your kick styling. They can be high energy well off the ground, you can do flea hops (a Jive styling), you can do shag flicks just off the ground, you can even do Chicken Walk-like taps (very common at swing speed). Competitively, there is a trend that no matter the styling of the first three kicks, the woman will do a high showgirl kick outside her partner on the 4th kick. 27b) Four Kicks with dip - social variant. After the four kicks, man moves both his arms around follower's back waist. She then rolls her body back and either clockwise (most common) or counterclockwise. The key thing is that the woman rolls herself - not the guy. He's just there for minor support. Also the actual rolling dip is part illusion, with the curving coming from every part of the lady's body from legs to back to neck. This helps avoid injuries to the small of the back. 28) Mooch - the DCDI addendum allows the Mooch, a Jive figure, to be danced in Bronze swing. Competitively, I would say not to use it and stick to the four kicks for Swing. Most places, if they care about Rhythm/Latin distinctions, will not like it there. Socially, mix and and match to your heart's content. 29) High horseshoe - This odd name is the name of a position where the man has L2L and R2R hold, lady in front and to the right, both facing the same direction. His R arm drapes over her shoulders. It is entered by J-hooking with a R2R hold. It is exited by leading either an UAT L (perhaps with a Merengue-style double neck hug/comb over man's head) or as an American Spin, leading from her R shoulder. Position aka Sweetheart. 29b) Horseshoe variations - almost every variation in wrap can be done in horseshoe. Routines Master of Bronze Syllabus Routine (42m) Closed Basic, Tuck Turn, Stop and Go, Loop Turn, Waistslide, Comb, Lindy Whip, Open Basic, Hammerlock, Wrap, Side Change x2, Reverse Wrap, UAT L to unwrap, Rainbow, Change of Hands Behind Back, Whip with Hand Change, American Spin, Whip with UAT R, Whip with UAT L, Whip to CP, Four Kicks, Throwout, Link 1. (24b) Closed Basic, Throwout, Open Basic, Link 2. (30b) Closed Basic, Tuck Out, Loop Turn, Open Basic, Link 3. (36b) Open Basic, Lady's Passby, She Goes He Goes, Spinning Passby, UAT R, loop turn 4. (36b) Open Basic, Hammerlock, Link, Throwout, Spinning Passby 5. (48b) Open Basic, Guy's UAT L and Lady's Passby x2, Guy's UAT L, Wrap, Tuck Turn 6. (36b) Closed Basic, Throwout, Open Basic, Back Pass, Waistslide, Change of Hands Behind Back 7. (42b) Closed Basic, Throwout, Open Basic, Waistslide, Comb, Link, Tuck 8. (42b) Closed Basic, Throwout, Open Basic, Wrap, Side Switch x2, Unwrap 9. (36b) Open Basic, Wrap, Unwrap, Hammerlock to Wrap, Unwrap with 1 1/2 turn 10. (48b) Open Basic, Wrap, Reverse Wrap, Double UAT L (to unwrap), Wrap, Unwrap to Hammerlock back to Wrap, Wrap Throwout (release hold with R hand) 11. (36b) Open Basic, American Spin x2 ended R2R, Loop Turn with hand change, waistslide, American Spin ended L2R 12. (36b) Open Basic, Rainbow, Comb, Single Arm Wrap, Wrap Tuck Turn, Link 13. (48b) Open Basic, Rainbow, American Spin ended R2R, Comb, UAT R, UAT L x2, Link 14. (36b) Closed Basic, Throwout, Open Basic, Rainbow, Change of Hands Behind Back, Link 15. (32b) Closed Basic, Throwout, Lindy Whip, Loop turn, Link 16. (34b) Closed Basic, Throwout, Lindy Whip, Loop Turn, Lindy Whip to CP 17. (38b) Closed Basic, Tuck Turn, Lady's Passby, Whip w/ hand change, American Spin, Link 18. (50b) Closed, Throwout, She Goes He Goes, Wrap, Unwrap, Lindy Whip w/ UAT R, Spinning Passby, Link 19. (46b) Closed Basic, Throwout, Hammerlock, Lindy Whip, Whip w/ UAT L, Link 20. (50b) Open Basic, Loop turn, Whip, Stop and Go x2, Lady's Passby, Whip to CP 21. (48b) Closed Basic, Tuck Out, Stop and Go w/ free spin x2, American Spin, Whip w/ UAT L, Link 22. (42b) Closed Basic, Four Kicks, Closed Basic, Throwout, UAT L, Link 23. (56b) Open Basic, Hammerlock, Lady's Passby, Link, Four Kicks, Throwout, Whip to CP 24. (68b) Open Basic, Whip, Whip to CP, Four Kicks, Tuck Out, Stop and Go x2, Lady's Passby, Link 25. (42b) Link, tuck Turn, Waistslide, Back Pass, Gent's UAT L, Rainbow, Comb 26. (68b) Link Four Kicks, Throwout, Whip to CP, Tuck Turn, Stop and Go x3, She Goes He Goes 27 (38.5m) Turning basic, throwout and loop, waist slide and behind back change, link and tuck out, rainbow and american spin, wrap, unwrap, wrap reverse wrap, rewrap, tuck out, stop and go, loop to link, 4 kicks, tuck out and link, turning basic, throwout, outside turn, slide and comb, hammerlock, whip, whip with hand change, american spin, link to kicks Silver 1) Kick Ball Change - often listed as a Silver feature. It is Bronze by everyone's standard. 2) Shoulder Spin - as the Jive figure 3) Toe Heel Spin - ?? possibly some type of hook spin 4) Lindy Variation - ?? There are some Lindy listings for Silver, but it may be like the Kick Ball Change. 5) Promenade Walks - aka Promenade Swivels. As the Walks in Jive 6) Back to Back Swivel - ?? different from Back to Back? 7) Swing Hop - ?? 8) Swing Slide - ?? 9) Hesitation-ISTD ?? 10) Back Shuffle-ISTD ?? possibly another name for Sailor Shuffle 11) American Spin - sometimes, the guy's spin is considered Silver. 12) Rolling off the Arm- Do a wrap walk (optional in swing, required in Jive), and unroll follower on the second chasse to R2L hold. Follower may be led to either a Left Side Passby, or rewrapped with a j-hook lead. 13) Spin Whips- advanced form, aka Texas Tommy. After the whip with hand change, continue to turn follower R under R2R hold on second chasse. 14) Toe Heel Swivels- as the Gold Jive figure. 15) Wrap Walks - aka Flirtations or Pinwheel. Guy wraps the follower through the first chasse, and then starting with RF, walks fwd 1 beat per walk. woman will be walking backwards. Walk an even number of steps, and then chasse. Can be ended with a Rolling off the Arm. The wrap spin itself you might get away with in Bronze. 16) Sliding Doors - in swing out or open LSP with L2R, you will be using 8-count rhythm. Rock step, and chasse with woman crossing in front. Release hold to pick up R2L and rock step with off foot. Chasse again with Man crossing in front of woman, dropping hold to take up L2R. This may be repeated. To end, either dance a loop turn or catch the woman on the shoulder as she comes across and spin her by the shoulders on the step-step-chasse (1 1/2R). 17) Tunnels - use a Whip Spin and a foot fake to get into Tandem, guy in front. just stepping, with L2L and R2R hold, walk woman around L side, turn her to face in opposite direction and arch your left arm concave down. Woman will duck under arm, walk sideways back to back of man, and the walk backwards under his R arm. He releases with L hand. chasse to finish as she walks. 18) Sailor Shuffles - as the Cha Cha figure. May be done facing, or in Tandem with same foot. 19) Chicken Walks - as the Jive figure. 20) Tandem Chicken Walks - in Tandem position same foot, both partners chicken walk fwd. Typically used as an intermediate step between Tandem Sailor Shuffles and the Tunnels. 21) Back to Back - In closed Position, use the chasses to spin R (L for woman). Catch her L arm on or under your R arm. If hers is on top, both double kick the do spinning chasses back to closed Position. If his is on top, both rock step fwd then do the spinning chasses.