{"id":8735,"date":"2026-10-13T04:32:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:32:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/?p=8735"},"modified":"2026-10-13T04:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:36:26","slug":"what-is-east-coast-swing-and-is-it-easy-to-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/blog\/what-is-east-coast-swing-and-is-it-easy-to-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is East Coast Swing and Is It Easy to Learn?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"8735\" class=\"elementor elementor-8735\" data-elementor-settings=\"{&quot;ha_cmc_init_switcher&quot;:&quot;no&quot;}\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-caee1f7 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"caee1f7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_ha_eqh_enable&quot;:false}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ec406da elementor-toc--minimized-on-tablet elementor-widget elementor-widget-table-of-contents\" data-id=\"ec406da\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;headings_by_tags&quot;:[&quot;h2&quot;,&quot;h3&quot;],&quot;exclude_headings_by_selector&quot;:[],&quot;no_headings_message&quot;:&quot;No headings were found on this page.&quot;,&quot;marker_view&quot;:&quot;numbers&quot;,&quot;minimize_box&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;minimized_on&quot;:&quot;tablet&quot;,&quot;hierarchical_view&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;min_height&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_laptop&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_tablet&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_mobile&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"table-of-contents.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-toc__header-title\">\n\t\t\t\tTable of Contents\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--expand\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__ec406da\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Open table of contents\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-chevron-down\"><\/i><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--collapse\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__ec406da\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Close table of contents\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-chevron-up\"><\/i><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-toc__ec406da\" class=\"elementor-toc__body\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__spinner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<i class=\"elementor-toc__spinner eicon-animation-spin eicon-loading\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-40aa0c2b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"40aa0c2b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_ha_eqh_enable&quot;:false}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-54bb2042 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"54bb2042\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you&#8217;ve been wondering what East Coast Swing is, it&#8217;s a six-count partner dance danced to swing, rockabilly and early rock and roll, <\/span><b>which makes it one of the easiest social dances to learn<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The basic step repeats and often doesn&#8217;t change until the end of the song. That&#8217;s why a beginner can get into the rhythm from the very first lesson, instead of counting steps in their head and thinking about what comes next.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-1.webp\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-8736 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-1.webp\" alt=\"A man and woman in modern dance attire practice an East Coast Swing routine within a well-lit studio.\" width=\"870\" height=\"464\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-1.webp 1500w, https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-1-300x160.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-1-1024x546.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-1-768x410.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \/><\/a><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you&#8217;re torn about whether to start dancing at all, what you should know is that this is probably the best dance to start with. The reason is that it gives you a sense of progress very quickly, which often turns out to be a strong motivating factor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In this article, we&#8217;ll explain what that basic step is, where this dance comes from, how it differs from West Coast Swing, and what music you practice it to.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h2><b>What Is East Coast Swing?<\/b><\/h2><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/east-coast-swing\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">East Coast Swing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a simplified, standardized version of the original swing dances. It uses a six-count basic step, while most swing music is counted in fours. That means the step doesn&#8217;t always start on the &#8220;1&#8221; of the music, but with practice, you&#8217;ll feel it fall into place.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-2.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-8737 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-2.webp\" alt=\"A black and white photograph from the 1940s captures a couple performing a lively East Coast Swing dance move, with the woman being lifted off the ground.\" width=\"833\" height=\"444\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-2.webp 1500w, https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-2-300x160.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-2-1024x546.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-2-768x410.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 833px) 100vw, 833px\" \/><\/a><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h3><strong>What Are the East Coast Swing Basics?<\/strong><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The basics fit into three elements: <\/span><b>triple step, triple step, rock step<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The count is 1-and-2, 3-and-4, 5-6, so three steps in the time of two counts, then three more, then a step back and a transfer of weight forward. <\/span><b>The whole figure turns around the couple&#8217;s shared axis rather than in a straight line<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which is why you only need a few square feet to practice at home.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What surprises beginners most is that the rock step isn&#8217;t a step backward in the full sense, but a short transfer of weight. Once you&#8217;ve got that down, the rest takes care of itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h3><strong>Where Did East Coast Swing Come From?<\/strong><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This dance came about as a simplified version of the Lindy Hop, <\/span><b>a dance that grew out of Harlem in the late 1920s<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. As the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/loc\/lcib\/9513\/afc.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Library of Congress<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> notes, the name Lindy Hop appeared shortly after Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic in 1927, and the dance was made famous at the Savoy Ballroom. In the 1930s, Frankie Manning added acrobatic &#8220;air steps&#8221; to it, which turned the Lindy into a spectacle but also into too demanding a style for the average dancer.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That&#8217;s exactly where the need for a simpler version came from. In the 1950s, dance studios took the basic rhythm, cut out the improvisation and the acrobatics, and ended up with a step you can learn in just a few lessons. That standardized version is still taught in American studios under the same name today.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h2><b>Is This a Good Style for Complete Beginners?<\/b><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, East Coast Swing is one of the best first dances for adult beginners, because, as we&#8217;ve already pointed out, the basic step repeats in a fixed six-count pattern. <\/span><b>When you don&#8217;t have to memorize the step, your attention shifts to leading, posture and the music, and that&#8217;s what turns steps into dancing.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For that reason, the instructors at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/\"><b>Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Morrisville, NC<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> recommend it to new students.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-8746 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing.webp\" alt=\"A man wearing a shirt with suspenders and a woman in a patterned dress smile and hold hands as they perform an East Coast Swing step in front of a green curtain.\" width=\"800\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing.webp 1500w, https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-300x160.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-1024x546.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-768x410.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h3><strong>How Long Does It Take to Learn the Basic Step?<\/strong><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students usually get the basic step down within their first few lessons, <\/span><b>and most of them connect it to the music through their first few weeks of regular work<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. What takes longer is a clean triple step at a faster tempo, since your feet often struggle to keep up with the music at the start. We wrote about why footwork is the most demanding part of learning to dance in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/blog\/footwork-in-dancing-the-hardest-part\/\"><b>&#8220;Is Footwork in Dancing Really the Hardest Part?&#8221;<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and we&#8217;d definitely recommend giving it a read.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It&#8217;s also worth knowing that the first couple of lessons usually come down to counting in place, the triple step without a partner, the rock step, and then putting all of that together. <\/span><b>In the second week, an underarm turn gets added, and that&#8217;s when most people first feel like they&#8217;re really dancing rather than practicing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. In any case, if you&#8217;re still not sure which style suits you and which dance you&#8217;d like to take up, we suggest reading our guide <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/blog\/best-dance-style-to-learn-first-in-morrisville\/\"><b>&#8220;What&#8217;s the Best Dance Style to Learn First in Morrisville?&#8221;<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as well.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h2><b>What&#8217;s the Difference Between East Coast and West Coast Swing?<\/b><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The East Coast is circular and bouncy, the West Coast linear and smoother, because West Coast Swing moves inside an imaginary strip on the floor called the slot. That&#8217;s where the difference in character comes from, so the first one feels cheerful and a bit playful, while the second leaves a more composed and elastic impression.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><table style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%;border: 1px solid #000\"><tbody><tr><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><b>Parameter<\/b><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><b>East Coast Swing<\/b><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><b>West Coast Swing<\/b><\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Count<\/span><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Six counts: 1-and-2, 3-and-4, 5-6<\/span><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A combination of six and eight counts<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Movement<\/span><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Circular, the couple rotates around a shared axis<\/span><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Linear, within the slot<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Music<\/span><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Swing, rockabilly, early rock and roll<\/span><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Blues, R&amp;B, slower pop<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tempo<\/span><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Around 140 BPM per the NDCA tempo chart<\/span><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Around 112 BPM per the NDCA tempo chart<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Character<\/span><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bouncy and energetic<\/span><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Smooth and elastic<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Difficulty for beginners<\/span><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Low<\/span><\/td><td style=\"border: 1px solid #000;padding: 8px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Medium<\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Practically speaking, the East Coast Swing vs West Coast Swing comparison comes down to how quickly you want to dance your first song. Our recommendation is to get one of them down first and only then move on to the other.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h2><b>Which Songs Work Best for This Style?<\/b><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Good songs for this dance have a clear beat and a steady tempo all the way through. According to the NDCA tempo chart, <\/span><b>the competition tempo for this style is around 35 measures, or 140 beats per minute<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. That&#8217;s why you should pick slower songs for your first lessons, since they make it easiest to hear exactly where the rock step falls.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><b>For your first steps, 115 to 140 BPM:<\/b><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Fly Me to the Moon&#8221;, Frank Sinatra (119 BPM)<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Beyond the Sea&#8221;, Bobby Darin (136 BPM)<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Come Fly With Me&#8221;, Frank Sinatra (139 BPM)<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><b>Once the step settles in, 140 to 160 BPM:<\/b><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Peggy Sue&#8221;, Buddy Holly (148 BPM)<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;All Shook Up&#8221;, Elvis Presley (150 BPM)<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;L-O-V-E&#8221;, Nat King Cole (156 BPM)<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><b>Classics over 165 BPM:<\/b><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;In the Mood&#8221;, Glenn Miller (172 BPM)<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy&#8221;, The Andrews Sisters (172 BPM)<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Rock Around the Clock&#8221;, Bill Haley &amp; His Comets (182 BPM)<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The songs in the third group are the classic swing hits you hear in movies, but they&#8217;re too fast for triple steps. For songs like these, dancers switch to single rhythm, replacing each triple step with a single step: step, step, rock step. If you&#8217;ve ever felt like you couldn&#8217;t keep up with a fast swing song, this is usually why. The music isn&#8217;t the problem; the step just needs to change.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h2><b>Where Can You Take East Coast Swing Dance Lessons in Morrisville, NC?<\/b><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">East Coast Swing dance lessons in Morrisville, NC at our studio are organized in three formats: private lessons, group classes and social nights where you put what you&#8217;ve learned into practice. A private lesson is one-on-one; the instructor follows your pace and corrects you when needed, <\/span><b>which gives beginners the fastest results<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You don&#8217;t need a partner for any of it. Anyone who comes on their own dances with an instructor and gets full attention during the lesson, while in group classes, we rotate partners. We covered that topic in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/blog\/do-i-need-a-partner-to-take-dance-lessons-in-morrisville\/\"><b>&#8220;Do You Need a Partner to Take Dance Lessons in Morrisville?&#8221;<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, so we&#8217;d suggest reading it and deciding for yourself what suits you best.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All in all, coming in is simpler than most people expect. At the start, you&#8217;ll have a short conversation with your instructor about what you want to achieve, and then you step straight onto the floor and begin with the basics.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-2-1.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-8747 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-2-1.webp\" alt=\"A group of dance students in a studio practicing a synchronized leg kick step of East Coast Swing\" width=\"809\" height=\"431\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-2-1.webp 1500w, https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-2-1-300x160.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-2-1-1024x546.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/436\/2026\/10\/What-is-east-coast-swing-2-1-768x410.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 809px) 100vw, 809px\" \/><\/a><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h2><b>Learn This Style With Our Dance Instructors in Morrisville, NC<\/b><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To sum up: East Coast Swing is a six-count dance, with a step that repeats, music you already know and a very short path to your first song on the floor. That&#8217;s why we at Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Morrisville, NC <\/span><b>recommend it to people who have never set foot on a dance floor before<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you&#8217;d like to try it before you make a decision, take advantage of our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/introductory-offer\/\"><b>offer for new students<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and if you have a question about the schedule or the levels, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/contact\/\"><b>contact us<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and book your first appointment. We&#8217;re waiting for you!<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h2><b>FAQ<\/b><\/h2><h3><strong>What Do You Wear to Your First Lesson?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wear something you can bend your knees freely in, and for footwear, shoes with a smooth sole are best. If you don&#8217;t have shoes like that, come in whatever you&#8217;ve got, since the first lesson is slow and stays in a small space anyway.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h3><strong>What Do I Do If I Lose the Step in the Middle of a Song?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stop for a moment, wait for the strong beat and start again from the first triple step. Don&#8217;t try to jump into the middle of the figure, because that way you lose what was working up to that point. Experienced dancers do this several times in a single song, just faster and without a pause anyone notices.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h3><strong>How Is This Dance Different From Jive?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jive is the competitive Latin version of swing, it&#8217;s danced noticeably faster and it calls for a pronounced knee lift and a sharp chasse step. <\/span><b>East Coast Swing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> stays lower in the knees and allows a more relaxed posture, so it&#8217;s easier to keep going all evening. That&#8217;s why Jive sits in the Latin program, while swing is taught as a dance for nights out and celebrations.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h3><strong>Can You Learn To Dance Later in Life?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can. East Coast Swing has no jumps, no lifts and no sudden changes of direction, so the physically demanding side of the work is smaller than in the faster Latin dances. The tempo is chosen to suit the student, so you start from slower music and shorter sets of repetitions.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve been wondering what East Coast Swing is, it&#8217;s a six-count partner dance danced to swing, rockabilly and early rock and roll, which makes it one of the easiest social dances to learn. The basic step repeats and often doesn&#8217;t change until the end of the song. That&#8217;s why a beginner can get into the rhythm from the very first lesson, instead of counting steps in their head and thinking about what comes next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":461,"featured_media":8748,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dance-lessons","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/461"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/morrisville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}