West Coast Swing Patterns

I have been going to the Bay Area Whip Dance Club for a couple of weeks. Classes are divided in levels and instructors rotate so they can teach different levels. So far our instructor for level 1 classes has been Chuck Anders. He knows how to dance Salsa, Bachata, Tango, Polka, Waltz, Rumba, Two Step, West Coast Swing, and East Coast Swing. If I remember correctly, he said he began dancing when he was about 14 years old. Luckily Chuck was also my instructor for Level 2.

I have learned or reviewed the following steps there:

• Sugar push
• Left side pass
• Sugar tuck
• Reverse sugar tuck
• Reverse sugar tuck to close position: put fingertips in between shoulder blades as the follower rotates.
• Right side pass (underarm turn)
• Right side pass to close position: put fingertips in between shoulder blades as the follower rotates.
• Right side pass with leader turn: drop hand on 4 and turn left on the 5&6
• Closed position to passing tuck turn
• Close position to the left side pass
• Basket whip
• Whip
• Inside turn AKA left side pass with an inside roll (left side pass variation)
• Passing tuck turn (left side pass variation)
• Free spin

West Coast Swing elements #

There are many elements in West Coast Swing dancing:

• Musicality: are the dancers synchronized to the music?
• Rock-and-go: are the dancers able to combine patterns without doing an anchor?
• Repetition: Are the dancers able to take a basic pattern, split it into increments, and repeat those increments?
• Tension and compression: Is the leader and the follower connected? Are they reacting to each other or dancing independently? Is the leader prepping correctly?

General dance knowledge #

• Aim to have fun, stay safe, and dance every song
• An inside turn is a left, counterclockwise turn
• An outside turn is a right, clockwise turn

General West Coast Swing knowledge #

• There are 5 pattern types:

  • side passes (6 beats)
  • sugar pushes (6 beats)
  • side pass with a roll (6 beats)
  • wrap in and wrap outs (6 beats)
  • and whips (8 beats)

• A prep does not happen on step two, it happens between step 1 and 2, when the follower’s left foot is floating and pulling on the arm would cause a rotation on the follower’s right foot. In other words, it is 1-prep-2-3&4 as opposed to 1-prep-3&4.

• Side passes are named from the leader’s perspective. For example, in a left pass, the follower passes by the leader’s left side.

• The forward and backward directions are named from the follower’s perspective. When a follower and leader move forward, it means the follower is moving forwards while the leader is moving backward.

Musicality #

• Music is commonly written in the 4/4 time signature and commonly structured in sets of 8 beats
• A major phrase is 32 beats
• A minor phrase is 16 beats (usually) or 8 beats (rarely)
• All ballroom dances except Waltz are written in 4/4 time and can be danced using 8 beat patterns:
  • Bachata: 4- or 8-beat patterns
  • Chacha: 4- or 8-beat patterns
  • Country Polka: 4- or 8-beat patterns
  • Country Two Step: 4- or 8-beat patterns
  • Salsa: 8-beat patterns
  • West Coast Swing: primarily 6- and 8-beat patterns, with 10- and 12-beat patterns requiring a rock-and-go
  • Waltz is written in 3/4 time signature and has 6-beat patterns

Rhythm #

Not really WCS related, but …

I have been told contradictory information about Rumba and Waltz:

• Rumba and Waltz have a box step, but the Rumba rhythm is slow, quick, quick, while the Waltz rhythm is even because all steps are the same speed
• Rumba and Waltz have the same rhythm: slow, quick, quick

Rock-and-go (RAG) #

A rock-and-go (RAG) combines the last two steps of a pattern with the first two steps of the next pattern.

A RAG reduces the beat count by 2, e.g:

• two 6 step patterns become 10 counts instead of 12
• an 8 beat whip and a 6 beat basic become 12 counts instead of 14
• an 8 beat whip and an 8 beat whip become 14 counts instead of 16

When leading a rock-and-go, do not let the follower settle back on the anchor step. The RAG must happen quickly so the anchor step — which usually happens in place — turns into triple step that moves the follower forward:

• In a basic 6 count pattern, the RAG replaces steps 5&6 and turns into the count 1 2 3&4 5&2 or 1 2 3&4 rock-and-go. The RAG must happen quickly so the follower does not settle on steps &6, but instead moves forward.
• In a basic 8 count pattern, the RAG replaces steps 7&8 and turns into the count 1 2 3&4 5 6 7&2 or 1 2 3&4 5 6 rock-and-go. The RAG must happen quickly so the follower does not settle on steps &8, but instead moves forward.

Handhold configurations #

The palm of the hand can point in four general directions:

• upwards (supination)
• inside (facing the interior)
• downwards (pronation)
• outside (facing the exterior/posterior)

Handhold configurations do not have formal names, but I refer to them like so:

• right to right: handshake handhold
• left to left: scout handshake handhold
• left to right: regular handhold
• right to left: goofy handhold
• left to right and right to left: double handhold
• left to left over right to right: cross-up handhold
• right to right over left to left: cross-down handhold

Examples:

• A double handed sugar tuck into a hammerlock.
• A double handed sugar push inside turn into a sweetheart.
• A crossed-up sugar push inside turn into a cross-down handhold.¹
• A crossed-down sugar push outside turn (sugar tuck) into a cross-up handhold.¹
• A double handed sugar tuck with a left hand release into a goofy handhold.¹

Stance configurations #

Stance configurations define how the leader and the follower stand relative to each other and what handhold configuration they are in.

Closed position

The leader’s right hand is on the follower’s back (on the left shoulder blade), and the follower’s left arm rests on the leader’s right arm. The leader stands face-to-face to the follower, sort of like the characters ||.

Starter position

The handwork is identical to the closed position, but the leader stands perpendicularly to the follower’s left side, sort of like the characters _|.

Open position

The leader’s left hand ring finger and middle finger (pointing in) are held by the follower’s right hand (pointing down) at waist level, sort of like the characters |¯|.

Hammerlock position

The leader stands slightly to the left of the follower, maintaining a double handhold where the leader’s hands point down and the follower’s left hand is behind the back pointing outside while the right hand is pointing down.

Back-to-front position

The follower and the leader face in the same direction while the follower stands in front of the leader while holding the leader’s hand in a regular handhold at waist-level.

Leader left-shoulder lock position

A closed position variation. The leader stands face to face with the follower, but the leader is offset about one foot to the left of the follower because the leader holds the follower’s right hand with the left hand from a shoulder lock position. The leader places the back of the right hand on the follower’s right shoulder in order to lead a whip or some other pattern. This position can be reached by the leader by starting from an open position and performing a right side pass inside turn with a leader clockwise turn without releasing the follower’s hand.

Leader right-shoulder lock position

A closed position variation. The leader stands face to face with the follower, but the leader is offset about one foot to the right of the follower because the leader holds the follower’s left hand with the right hand from a shoulder lock position. The leader places the back of the left hand on the follower’s left shoulder in order to lead a whip or some other pattern. ¹

Preparation variations #

A prep is used to rotate the follower clockwise or counter-clockwise.

J-hook

Used to rotate the follower clockwise 180 degrees into a starter position during a whip.

Piston

Used to rotate the follower clockwise 180 degrees into a back-to-front position during a single-arm turn-in. In a regular handhold, it consists of pulling the follower’s arm on 1 and pushing it on 2.

Left

Used for the left pass inside turn, right pass inside spin, handshake reverse whip, and free spin. Forward on 1, prep slightly to the left between 1 and 2, and rotate counter-clockwise on 3.

Right

Used for the right pass outside spin. Forward on 1, prep slightly to the right between 1 and 2, and rotate clockwise on 3.

Pattern count combinations #

Many popular songs are composed such that each phrase is 32 beats. The leader can use this knowledge to sequence his/her patterns such that they add up to 32 beats, leading to sequences that consistently end on a phrase change.

If you start dancing at the beginning of a phrase change, then you must sequence your patterns to add up to 32. If started late by two steps, then you sequence must last 30 beats, etc.

The equations below split up the total number of beats into chunks that can be translated into specific patterns. For example, the equation \(32=6+6+6+8\) could be translated into \(4\) basic patterns and \(1\) whip.

$$ \begin{aligned} \\ 32&=6+6+6+6+8 \\ &=6+8+8+10 \\ &=8+8+8+8 \\ &=8+12+12 \\ \\ 30&=6+6+6+6+6 \\ &=6+8+8+8 \\ &=6+12+12 \\ &=8+10+12 \\ &=10+10+10 \\ \\ 28&=6+6+6+10 \\ &=6+6+8+8 \\ &=8+10+10 \\ \\ 26&=6+10+10 \\ \\ 24&=6+6+6+6 \\ &=8+8+8 \\ &=12+12\\ \\ 22&=6+6+10 \\ &=10+12 \\ \\ 20&=6+6+8 \\ &=8+12 \\ &=10+10 \\ \\ 18&=6+6+6 \\ &=10+8 \\ \\ 16&=8+8 \\ &=10+6 \\ \\ 14&=? \\ \\ 12&=6+6 \\ &=12 && \text{When doing a 6+RAG+8 pattern} \\ \\ 10&=10 && \text{When doing a 6+RAG+6 pattern} \\ \\ 8&=8 \\ \\ 6&=6 \\ \\ 4&=? && \text{Not including 4-beat starter steps} \\ \\ 2&=? && \text{Not including styling variations} \\ \end{aligned} $$

I am not sure whether 4-beat or 2-beat patterns exist in West Coast Swing. There are starter steps that are 4-beats long, but they are only used to start the dance. Also, 6-beat and 8-beat patterns may be lengthened via styling to make them 2 beats longer, but I have never heard of a standalone 2-beat pattern.

Some ways to lengthen a pattern by 2 beats are:

• Replace the 2-beat anchor step with a 4-beat, slow, and smooth ronde
• Replace the 2-beat anchor step with 4 small steps, 1-beat each
• Split the 6-beat or the 8-beat pattern into 2-beat increments, and repeat any 2-beat increment. For example, a 6-beat pattern can be split into 2-beat increment like walk-walk triple-step triple-step, and then lengthened by 2-beats by adding another walk-walk at the beginning or another triple-step any time after the initial walk-walk. It is a subtle form of copy-and-paste.