A Description of West Coast Swing
West Coast Swing is the 'Official State dance of California'. San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles all argue about what city West Coast Swing originated in, however Los Angeles California area tends to win the debate.  Current WCS styles vary considerably. Modern WCS can be conservatively upright-postured, smooth and warm, or a funky, hot partnered-jazz dance. The current "Cosmo-girl" approach in which the woman explores her flirtatious sexuality to the max is by no means universal, although it does have historical precedent in the origins of the dance.

West Coast Swing Music
In the 1940s, the dominant musical style in Southern California seems to have been Country Swing aka Western Swing, the type of music played by Bob WIlls and The Texas Playboys. So it is no surprise that was the name adopted by the Arthur Murray studios for the dance Laura Haile observed. By the '50s Rhythm & Blues had become the standard WCS dance music. Additionally, plenty of WCS dancers still enjoy smooth swing to music that others might use for slow Fox Trot. 112 - 120 bpm for WCS is optimal. Yet, for some, things really heat up at the slower tempos: 90 -100 bpm. In the post-disco era, "groove dancers" thrive on funky non-swing 120-ish bpm disco. Disgusted beginners (and others?) retort, "This isn't swing!." Yet, many of the best WCS dancers today evolved from the disco era, and really dig disco grooves for WCS. And it is incredible to watch them: do they get turned on! Accomplished dancers also relish occasional faster grooves: 140 - 150 bpm. At this point, naive beginners accost the DJ that "this is not appropriated music for WCS."

History of West Coast Swing
When Jitterbug was banned from virtually every serious dance hall in the late '40s (too many injuries to self and others from kicks, jumps, etc.) "Sophisticated Swing" began to flourish. The real push behind its development cames in the '50s, in the studios of Arthur Murray! This man spent lavishly on Research & Development. He can be credited with the first codificatons of West Coast Swing, and its next name of  Western Swing. The followers "walk forward" at the beginning of patterns was standardised in his studios. Where did this "walk forward" derive from? Swing-era leaders infatuated with the "Whip" move, with its follower "walk-walk" (instead of a rock-step) probably helped evolve an entire genre. And followers, if a leader pulls you forward while you are trying to rock back, guess which way you are going to end up going?

Beginner Classes
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Common Beginner's Mistakes
West Coast Swing requires an exceptional sense of timing and connection. Developing the
"connection" may require many hours, perhaps years of practice. Almost all beginners rush the
2 beat and move forward automatically before the "one" beat. This often results from dancing a
"coaster" step (that is, a back-together-forward step) on beats "5&6" rather than dancing an
"anchor step," as should be danced. Developing the feel and the connection is difficult without
private instruction. Another problem: too much bounce. West coast swing DOES NOT have the
lilt of east coast swing. It's a much smoother dance than east coast swing

Intermediate Classes:
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Common Intermediate Mistakes:
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Advanced Classes
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Common Advanced Mistakes:
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