Term 8 Starts November 4th, 2024
West Coast Swing
Classes on Wednesdays from 6.30pm
West Coast Swing (Modern swing)
Unlike other forms of Swing Dancing, West Coast Swing has changed and shifted with the times and popular music.
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West Coast Swing was one of the 3 founding dances of Juan Rando Dance Academy in 1998, with Juan remaining passionately involved in West Coast Swing to this day. Juan and Stephanie still actively attend national and international events/competitions, updating their knowledge and bringing the latest techniques from around the world to Perth.
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Also an active competitor, Juan competes in the Advanced division and has trained many dancers to a high level, for those who are interested in taking their dancing beyond the social level.
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Stephanie has been dancing West Coast Swing since 2012, and loves introducing new dancers to this style! Having trained with Juan since 2014, Steph has also learned from some of the international scene's top instructors, and her knowledge and love of dance connection makes her popular on the social floor with partners of all levels. While she enjoys competing, and has recently been placing well in the Intermediate level, Steph mainly loves creating and connecting on the social floor, and watching her students discover the beauty of this dance.
Our West Coast Swing Classes
Wednesdays (6 week courses)
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Level 1 : For absolute beginners. No need to worry if it's your first time! We'll walk you through the basics.
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Level 2 : Building on the basics - adding turns and whips. You'll stay in level 2 for while until you are confident social dancing the basics.
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Level 3 :Level 3 focuses on more advanced lead follow concepts, such as acceleration, cutoff turns, footwork, extensions and much more. This level will keep you busy for a while, as you gain confidence is social dancing.
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level 4: This is our anything goes level. Lots of creativity and challenges.
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After our classes, from 8:30pm every Wednesday, we have a weekly practice/social session - everyone is welcome to join
What is West Coast Swing/Modern Swing
West Coast Swing (WCS) is a partner dance characterized by a distinctive elastic look that results from its basic extension-compression technique of partner connection and is danced primarily in a slotted area on the dance floor. Within the spectrum of partner dances, WCS is one of the most improvisational.
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 and dancing in many nightclubs began dancing and competing. He would get to know some of the other local dancers, which have been said to have “not seen that style of the swing before, but they liked it very much.” It was very different to what they were doing at the time.