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Swing Dance

Swing Dance

Is there a good website to learn basic swing dance flips?

I'm a pretty good swing dancer... not amazing, just better than average, and I want to learn a few more advanced flips. Does anyone know a website that shows some moves?

First off, what kind of swing dancing do you do? If you weren't aware that there are multiple types of swing dances, then no worries, here is your opportunity to learn!

I'm going to assume that this is what you want to learn:

This is Lindy Hop.

When it comes to swing dancing that's done to actual swing music, then you're talking about Lindy Hop. Lindy Hop is the original swing dance created in the 1930s in Harlem, and is most known for having "air steps". This term is used, rather than "flips" or "aerials" because it was the name given by the guy that created them, Frankie Manning. If you've never heard of him, he's the guy that choreographed this routine, and most of the air steps:

(He's also the 4th lead to dance in this clip.)

I'm going to assume that Lindy Hop is what you are interested in learning, but just to cover my basis, the other two big swing dances would be East Coast Swing and West Coast Swing.

East Coast Swing is a formal ballroom dance, and really doesn't include air steps, in the ballroom context. In the Lindy Hop scene, ECS is used as a teaching tool to help beginners to progress and eventually move into Lindy Hop, so if you know ECS then you are already on your way.
Here's an instruction video of beginning east coast swing:

West Coast Swing is actually a decendent of Lindy Hop. As pop music changed, swing dancers kept dancing to pop music, so the style of the dance became smoother. There are lifts and drops done in WCS, but it's primarily danced to modern pop music, not swing. Here's an example:

Well now that we've gone over the basis, let's get to the basics of air steps.

First, when it comes to air steps you have to remember one thing: Great air steps does not mean great dancing. Air steps are part of the showmanship and flash that comes with swing dancing, but the dancing is most important. If you are excited to learn these things, then that's great, but keep on learning and working on your dancing, because that's the most important part of swing dancing.

Secondly, if you have the ability, don't learn these things from a video. Find someone who knows what they are doing who can teach you in person. You can learn a lot from a video, but when it comes to being safe, you need a pair of eyes to give you feedback on what you and your partner are doing right and what you are doing wrong.

Thirdly, when you practice, practice in a gym with a mat and use spotters. Always assume the worst, so if you could land on your head, don't practice on concrete! This seems like a no-brainer, but too many people do this without considering the danger. There is a Los Angeles Swing Dancer who broke her neck practicing air steps back in 2000, and this was someone who was experienced doing these things:

http://rustyfrank.com/faqs.asp#24

So after all of this . . .

One of the best places to learn air steps is at a swing dance camp or work shop weekend. Try searching "Lindy Hop" and your city/state to find the closest event or swing dance scene. Or you could try traveling to events like these:

http://www.camphollywood.net

http://www.ilhc.com

If you are going to learn from some videos, then I recommend the videos on the "jamcellar" channel on youtube. The Jam Cellar is a swing dance venue in Washington DC that has weekly lessons and dances, and they upload reviews of all of their classes! So there's a lot to learn from them.
Here's one video in a series: