Swing Dance

Swing Dance  explores the vibrant contemporary swing-dancing scene, looking at the different dance styles and the associated culture, community and fashion. Illustrated with vintage and contemporary photography.

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With all things vintage enjoying a boom worldwide, swing dancing has well and truly swung back into fashion. From vintage festivals and tea dances to weekend socials and hundreds of weekly classes held around the world, multiple forms of the dance that was created in 1930s Harlem by Frankie Manning are growing ever more popular.

This beautiful photographic overview explores the vibrant contemporary swing-dancing scene, looking at the different dance styles and the associated culture, community and fashion. Illustrated with vintage and contemporary photography, as well as specially commissioned step-by-step guides, it provides everything you need to know, whether you fancy kicking up your heels in the Charleston or mastering the Lindy Hop ‘swing out’.

​The four major dance styles are covered – Charleston, Collegiate Shag, Balboa and Lindy Hop, including the Strolls, which are guaranteed to fill the dance floor. With an overview of the fascinating evolution of the dance style at the start of each chapter, the book examines the fashions for guys and girls, including hair and make-up, and a clothing, shoes and accessories checklist, as well as suggesting top ten tunes to practice to. There's a breakdown of the basic step patterns upon which the dance is built, a guide to some of the key moves plus insider tips from old-timers and today’s leading swing dancers. Video demonstrations of the dances produced exclusively for the book are embedded in the pages and easily accessible via scannable QR codes. This book is all you need to get your dancing shoes on and start swing dancing!