We sat down with Paul Paradis, experienced swing dancer, to give us an idea of what it takes to swing dance.
Principia Alumni Dance: Can you share a brief history of swing?
Paul Paradis: Well, the history of swing goes hand-in-hand with the evolution of music. Swing origins stem from the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem back in the early 1930s. All swing evolved out of Charleston [dance], when the Charleston was done as an individual thing. [Eventually] they started doing a partner thing, breaking apart, coming back together – it was a wild, flailing kind of dance. But it was new. As the 20s went along and music evolved, it became a partner dance.
Stereotypical swing is fast, lots of aerials going on, [which developed] in the late 1920s with Frankie Manning. It became about getting in the air and doing that crazy stuff! Around then it kind of became a national dance.
The word “jiggerbug” got labelled as swing dancing abck in the 20s and 30s – it’s not a style of swing, just a generic term that got applied to it. But Lindy Hop was the thing, [starting] in the late 20s all through the 30s and 40s. The dance floor became so crowded that people couldn’t move, and out of that came Balboa, which most people [today] have never heard of. [In Balboa] you can dance to fast music but take up no space on the dance floor, as it’s a completely closed position dance [meaning the two partners are connected the entire time].
As swing dance migrated [west] across the country, it became less hoppy and fast, and more smooth, and West Coast swing evolved out of it. Of course, basically every city had its own dance scene and would develop its own style. Collegiate Shag, Carolina Shag, [and others] evolved in different places and became unique styles.
PAD: Can you name the type of swing that you do?
PP: With me, the things I’ve pursued the most are Lindy Hop, East Coast swing, Balboa, and of course Charleston, [because] all the Charleston stuff kind of goes hand in hand with Lindy Hop and swing in general.
PAD: What elements are necessary to be a good swing dancer?
Paul Paradis: Well, the history of swing goes hand-in-hand with the evolution of music. Swing origins stem from the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem back in the early 1930s. All swing evolved out of Charleston [dance], when the Charleston was done as an individual thing. [Eventually] they started doing a partner thing, breaking apart, coming back together – it was a wild, flailing kind of dance. But it was new. As the 20s went along and music evolved, it became a partner dance.
Stereotypical swing is fast, lots of aerials going on, [which developed] in the late 1920s with Frankie Manning. It became about getting in the air and doing that crazy stuff! Around then it kind of became a national dance.
The word “jiggerbug” got labelled as swing dancing abck in the 20s and 30s – it’s not a style of swing, just a generic term that got applied to it. But Lindy Hop was the thing, [starting] in the late 20s all through the 30s and 40s. The dance floor became so crowded that people couldn’t move, and out of that came Balboa, which most people [today] have never heard of. [In Balboa] you can dance to fast music but take up no space on the dance floor, as it’s a completely closed position dance [meaning the two partners are connected the entire time].
As swing dance migrated [west] across the country, it became less hoppy and fast, and more smooth, and West Coast swing evolved out of it. Of course, basically every city had its own dance scene and would develop its own style. Collegiate Shag, Carolina Shag, [and others] evolved in different places and became unique styles.
PAD: Can you name the type of swing that you do?
PP: With me, the things I’ve pursued the most are Lindy Hop, East Coast swing, Balboa, and of course Charleston, [because] all the Charleston stuff kind of goes hand in hand with Lindy Hop and swing in general.
PAD: What elements are necessary to be a good swing dancer?
and showed her the essentials – and from there, she was off and running. West Coast Swing, a slotted dance derived from Lindy Hop and danced to modern music, wasn’t Molly’s first time dancing – she performed on the Principia Upper School Poms squad in high school, and on the Principia College Dance Team during her freshman and sophomore years of college – but as she says, it’s “where I found my heart.”