These are some of the different styles from the pre-swing and swing era that are generally taught at GNSH.


LINDY HOP
The granddaddy of all swing and jive dances. An African American dance which was developed in the Savoy ballroom in Harlem, during the 20s to the 40s. The dance declined in popularity during the 50s and revived in the 80s. Today it is fast becoming one of the most exciting dance forms of the western world.

BALBOA & BAL-SWING:
This evolved in America in the 1930s when it was getting too crowded on the dance floor for the Charleston to be performed. Balboa can be danced to faster music and you need to be ‘up
close and personal' to your partner to let it work. Less body movements and lots of footwork.

AUTHENTIC JAZZ MOVEMENT :
Get those toes and your body warmed up! These classes are fun but challenging, incorporating creative patterns based on Lindy and Jazz Movement. Whilst there will be taster classes covering popular strolls such as the Big Apple, Shim Sham, Tranky Doo etc, the Authentic Jazz track may feature a teachers individually choreographed routine, focusing on style or techniques to stimulate creativity. It may also give you confidence to enter a jam without a partner. Knowledge of jazz steps is not essential and partners are not required.

RHYTHM TAP:
Developed in the US during the late 19 th Century and peaked around 1900. Made popular by the Berry Brothers, Nicolas Brothers and Bill Bojangles, tap is based on rhythm, balance and timing. Beginners and intermediate levels: you will learn steps that will be incorporated into a short routine. No partner needed.

BLUES:
An African American dance done to blues music, which can be very ‘up close and personal'! When you're feeling a little tired and lacking energy, the Blues is ideal. It can be slow, smooth and highly rythmical and improvisational. You don't even need to smile. In fact it often looks better if you don't !!

20'S CHARLESTON:
The dance became a craze in Europe in the mid-1920s though allegedly it was danced as
early as 1912 by the African American population in the South. This energetic style has had phenomenal influence on dance development, particularly Lindy Hop.

STREET DANCE / HIP HOP :
Street Dance is coming back to GNSH. Everyone knows that Lindy started on the Harlem streets, and what we have for you here is contemporary street dance. These classes will really show you how to move every part of you body - and you can use what you learn in your Lindy. Aimed at all levels.

SHAG:
This is as adaptation of Lindy which involves lots of leg and body movement and danced to fast music.

LAMINU:
Laminu is a dance ideally suited to slow Jazz music, developed in the late 1940's by Balboa dancers in Long Beach.

AERIALS:
This is one for the show-offs and those who like to enter Jams !!. Ladies you'll really believe you can fly! A chance to learn some flamboyant acrobatic aerials, as done by the famous savoy ballroom dancers, "Whitey's lindy Hoppers" in a safe learning environment. (This is strictly for the fit and agile, with no medical conditions or restrictions)


TRANKY DOO:
The Tranky Doo is Lindy Hop Jazz choreography. It first appeared at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem during the 1940s. It was choreographed by Pepsi Bethel. At that time, it was danced to Tuxedo Junction and was as common to Lindy Hoppers as the Shim Sham.

TANGO:
Born in the immigrant ghettos of late 19th century Buenos Aries, the tango was the song of the oppressed, of despair, of longing for better times,  before becoming the Tango dance - a physical expression of frustrated, unfulfilled hopes.

BOOGIE WOOGIE:
African American jazz dance. Sometimes called the 50's European 50's version of Rock n' Roll. The knees are held close together and the hips sway from side-to-side as the dancer travels forward. The usual step variation is a sixcount: step, step, tri-ple step, tri-ple step.

WEST COAST SWING (WCS)
A Californian partner dance developed from lindy hop. It has the soul of a street dance but heavily influenced by ballroom dance studios. The dance is characterised by a distinctive elastic look that results from its narrow slot. Originally danced to swing music, these days it is done to R&B, Soul and funk music.

PERFORMANCE ROUTINE
This is where you may learn a choreographed routine over several lessons, which may be performed on the weekend. The routines would generally be Lindy Hop, but may incorporate Jazz Movement or other forms of swing dancing. You may also get tips on performance and competitions.You would need to attend all performance classes as others may rely on you.

TURKEY TROT
Popular between 1900 to 1910, dance to fast ragtime music such as Scott Joplin 's Maple Leaf Rag . The basic step consisted of four hopping steps sideways with the feet well apart, first on one leg, then the other with a characteristic rise on the ball of the foot, followed by a drop upon the heel. The dance was embellished with scissor-like flicks of the feet and fast trotting actions with abrupt stops. This dance was then followed by the Foxtrot in 1914.

FOX TROT
The Foxtrot is a ballroom dance which takes its name from its inventor, the vaudeville actor Harry Fox, who added stagger steps (two trots), creating the basic Foxtrot rhythm of slow-slow-quick-quick. Preceding the turkey trot in 1914, foxtrot caught the eye of Vernon and Irene Castle, who lent the dance its signature grace and style and later Arthur Murray, whose version imitated the positions of American Tango. Originally danced to ragtime, the dance is now customarily associated with big band swing music.

CAKE WALK
Cakewalk is a traditional African American form of music and dance which originated among slaves in South America mocking their white slaveowners dancing. Typically couples would link elbows, lined up in a circle, dancing forward alternating a series of short hopping steps with a series of very high kicking steps. Cake, or slices of cake, were offered as prizes for the best dancers, giving the dance its name. The phrases "piece of cake" also come from this practice.

NB: Some information on this page was sourced from wikipedia.org.

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