An insightful article about WCS:

https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/ben-morris-west-coast-swing-improv-acting-advice-77610/

How does everyone feel about acting out the lyrics in WCS or other dances?  I think it’s called “miming.”  It can certainly be entertaining.

Does anyone else have this pet peeve?

The music from dancers’ videos on TikTok sometimes gets removed for copyright reasons, and sometimes the music is later restored.  But the worst part is when the song is replaced by another one, generally one of a small handful of songs (such as “Shivers,” “Ice Ice Baby” or “Cheap Thrills”).  I assume they are used because of their more open licensing agreement, if not public domain.  Sometimes you’ll even find both the original and altered video versions, posted by different sources.

I don’t know who is doing the song substitutions, but isn’t this disrespectful to the dancers and their videos?  Unless they have somehow given permission.  Non-dancer viewers who don’t know about this process must notice the dance doesn't necessarily match the song.  (Not to mention what they must think of how limited the WCS song playlist is.)  Seems it would be more honest to just leave the dances silent with the “This music isn’t available” note, as awful as that is.

Hello everyone! I'd like some advice on which songs to practice foxtrot to.

My fiancé and I are a couple of absolute beginners trying to get the basics down for our wedding next month, but we don't want to practice on the first dance song only - "Knock Me a Kiss" by Tympany Five, performed by Jumpin' Up - for fear of coming to loathe it in the long run. We need some pieces to practice keeping up with the tempo, as my partner has never danced before, and set a simple routine instead of a choreography.

If anyone could be so kind as to give us a few pointers, we'd be most grateful. Happy dancing!

Sorry to hog the conversation lately ☺️, but . . .

I’m curious what would happen if you put tap shoes on a WCS dancer.  WCS dancers don’t take many percussive steps, as tappers do, and I don’t know how well you could spin or slide in tap shoes.  But I think a fusion of the styles in a routine (would it even be allowed in competition?) would be a lot of fun, the way Astaire & Rogers fused tap with ballroom/Latin, and Kelly fused tap with jazz.  We already see many dancers, even in competition, fuse WCS with ballet, shuffle moves, and other styles.

And I do see some WCS routines that include some tap-like patterns, just without the taps—a good example is this one:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8dkbtgq/

I have heard purists say they don’t want other forms mixed in with WCS.  Others say modern swing was meant to continue to evolve.

Anyone have ideas as for making WCS more popular and mainstream?  It seems to me bringing celebrities into it, à la "Dancing With the Stars," would do it, if WCS had its own little version.  Or a mini internet WCS chat show that would bring in a few celebrities.

I’d like to pose a question to anyone.  How do you feel about loose vs. more fitted outfits for dancers in comps?

It has become trendy for some to wear looser-fitting outfits.  These can have nice movement to them in spins for example, and they are surely more comfortable.  My only problem is this way the motions of their limbs are not as clearly defined, not as easy to see.

Perhaps a compromise is a sheer layer (sheer long vest or overskirt) over a fitted layer?  Then you would have defined limbs + movement.

Brian B. When will you be in Az again?