Posts Tagged ‘East coast swing dancing’

What did you do last night?

When someone refers to the good time they had out on the dance floor, typically a story about swing dancing will follow.  The term “swing dance” can refer to any of 40 or more dances currently seen out on the dance floor today.  For those who do not dance, the term “swing dancing” may bring to mind images of Lindy Hop, Charleston, Jitterbug and the Boogie Woogie dancing they watched their parents or grandparents dance at weddings and family reunions. 

I went Swing Dancing!

Once exposed to the Swing Dance World, dancers learn that swing also includes, Carolina, Collegiate and St. Louis Shag, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Hand Dancing, Jive, Bop and Balboa just to name a few.  Your local “Swing Scene” may have wide variety of dances offered or have more of a specialized community that focuses on only one or two swing dances.  The focus of this blog is that of East Coast Swing dancing and dancers. 

Granddaddy of Swing Dancing

In order to understand the current form of East Coast Swing, as it is danced today, you must understand its rich history and growth through time.  Lindy Hop came from Partnered Charleston.  Lindy Hop was developed and enjoyed in the late 1920s and early 1930s.  Traditionally, Lindy Hop had and an 8 count circular basic known as a “swing out”.  In time, Lindy Hop dancers were allowed to improvise dance moves and adapted dance steps and moves that included 8 count and 6 count patterns.  Through improvisation, variations in the dance were created and independently became quite popular. 

East Coast Swing gets its start

One of the popular and simple 6 count variations developed into its own dance, East Coast Swing.  In the 1940s, the East Coast Swing evolved with current swing band music and the help of Arthur Murray dance studios.  Arthur Murray dance studios helped to make ballroom dance lessons assessable to the masses.  Arthur Murray studios took East Coast Swing and standardized it to make it teachable and marketable to American dancers.  This paved they way for East Coast Swing to become a competitive ballroom dance and recognized by the National Dance Council of America.  Walk in to any ballroom dance studio today, and in an hour or two, you will dance out the door with single swing or single time swing, (a simplified version of East Coast Swing) and a little East Coast Swing (sometimes called triple swing or triple time swing).

ZeDiamond Dance Method helps new Swing Kids get started

 ZeDiamond Dance Method was developed by two dancers, Deborah-Marie Diamond and Zeki Maviyildiz from Asheville, NC, who were both originally taught to dance East Coast Swing  the way Arthur Murray dance studios have taught swing dancing for years. 

When she first started taking ballroom dance lessons, Deborah-Marie noticed that many of the beginner dancers were dancing off time or off rhythm to the music.  At first, Deborah-Marie dismissed her observation and thought that dancing off time to the music was just the result of being a beginner dancer.  After awhile, Deborah-Marie noticed that dancers who had danced three, four five years were still dancing off time and off rhythm.  This got Deborah-Marie thinking that there must be a better way to teach dance steps and rhythm to dance students.

The rest is history… or at least the history of ZeDiamond Dance Method.

See you out on the dance floor,

Amy Barnes

ZeDiamond Dance Method

What we love about East Coast Swing…

Once you start swing dancing, it’s hard to stop.  The people are friendly.  The music is lively.  Your partner sweeps you off your feet.  You are having a ball!  Click here to see how much fun East Coast Swing dancing can be.  You are tearing up the dance floor and working up a sweat as you dance the night away.

Many beginner dancers are surprised by how athletic a night of dancing can be.  Even if you dance along to an intructional DVD at home, like ZeDiamond Dance Method Learn the East Coast Swing, your body will start to get warm and sweat.  Sweat is how your body cools down.  Sweat can be a hard thing to control out on the dance floor.  So let’s cover a few basics that will keep you out on the dance floor swing dancing all night long, while keeping you fresh as a flower.  Today’s focus will be stinky shoes.

Funky Feet

There are more sweat glands on your feet than anywhere else on your body.  These sweat glands kick in to action while we are dancing because they are trying to cool us down.  Normally the sweat would dry up, we would cool down and the bacteria on our skin would begin dying off.  Out on the dance floor, our swing shoes keep our feet moist and the bacteria keep partying.  In many cases, it is the bacteria that cause our feet and shoes to stink – not just the sweat on it’s own.

Why are my favorite swing shoes the stinkiest?

As much as I love to have new shoes… my favorites are always old shoes.  They are broken-in just right.  They have stretched to fit my foot perfectly.  I know just how much grip and slip to expect from the suede soles.  But these little shoes can clear a room in a heart beat if they aren’t taken care of.  Dance shoes stink because they have had many hours on the dance floor, collecting sweat and bacteria from feet.   After hours of dancing East Coast Swing, dance shoes are warm, wet and full of stinky bacteria.

Tips to De-Stink your dance shoes

• Air them out – It is very tempting to keep stinky shoes in a plastic bag to trap the smell.  You also trap in the bacteria and the warm and wet world they love to live in.  Once out of the range of the public nose, exposure to cool, dry air will help keep the life of bacteria down.  Porches, garages, basements and mud rooms are popular places for stinky shoes.  But keep them close to a de-humidifier or air purifier for best results.  Store dance shoes in a breathable cloth or mesh bags instead of plastic to help keep them dry.
• Wear 2 or 3 pairs of shoes - If you dance multiple days in a row, your shoes are not getting much of a chance to recover.  If your shoes do not completely dry between dance sessions, the bacteria is not dying off and will contiune to stink up your shoes.  Rotating shoes will give them more time to dry and more time for bacteria to die.  For a 2 shoe rotation think, “a pair to wear and a pair to rest.”  This gives your shoes atleast 24 hours to dry and recover.   If a full day is not enough, or you have a long day and night of dancing ahead of you, try a 3 shoe rotation.  “Wear a pair today, a fresh pair for tonight and a third pair to rest and be ready for tomorrow.”  
• Wear clean and dry socks – Wearing and changing socks is a quick and easy way to control the moisture on your feet and in your shoes.  Look for socks that wick moisture away from your feet or are made with cotton.  If you think you can smell your own shoes or you can feel that your feet are wet, a quick change of socks may keep the smell at bay.  In many cases, it is easier to wash sock than shoes.  Make sure you are always wearing a fresh and clean pair of socks… not a worn, damp or stinky pair of socks from the bottom of your shoe bag. 
• Foot powders, sprays and drops – If they work on your feet, they may work on your shoes too.  Spray or dust with powder before and after dancing.  This will help to control the moisture level and deoderize your shoes.  Tea tree oil drops will also help control fungus and bacterial growth as well as help shoes smell fresh. 
• Sneaker Balls and Dryer Sheets- These little guys are like “Stick Ups Air Fresheners” for shoes.  For about $5, you get 2 Sneaker Balls that fit easily inside your shoes, shoe bag or any other small space.  Though they don’t do anything to help dry out your shoes, Sneaker Balls will help to deoderize your stinky toe tappers once you take them off.  You can try making something similar at home.  Stuff the toe of an old sock or knee high with baking soda and add a few drops of tee tree oil.  Tie off the toe of the sock to make a ball and trim off the rest of the sock.  The baking soda will help to absorb odors and the tee tree oil keeps things smelling fresh.  Slipping a fresh dryer sheet inside your shoes may also help to deodorize them when you are not wearing them.

What can I do at home?

Many people practice dancing at home.  My husband and I can be found dancing in our kitchen from time to time.  But rather than busting out the stinky dance shoes, we have more of a sock-hop approach to dancing at home.  Keeping your feet out of your shoes will also help with the smell.  Walking around barefoot helps to keep you feet cool and dry.  It also limits the bacteria growth.  Less bacteria = less stink.

When learning to dance at home, you have the opportunity to review your technique and improve your skills.  Some like to follow along with an instructional dance DVD.  ZeDiamond Dance Method Learn the East Coast Swing is a 2 DVD set that breaks down the basics of East Coast Swing dancing in a unique way.  Dancing along with a partner, practicing ZeDiamond Dance Method, will not only help reinforce fundamentals of East Coast Swing dancing, but you will be improving your conection skills with your partner and feeling the rhythm of the music at the same time.  Click here to learn more about ZeDiamond Dance Method and its unique way of teaching dance.

On a night when you want to dance, but there is no ballroom dance or swing party to go to, slip in your ZeDiamond Dance Method DVD and sock-hop or barefoot dance in the comfort of your own home.  Near the end of the DVD 2, there is practice music you can dance along with at home.  Leave the stinky shoes to air-out another night.

See you out on the dance floor,

Amy Barnes

ZeDiamond Dance Method