What are the differences between East Coast Swing and West Coast Swing?

Question

And any other type of swing for that matter

Answer 1

http://www.dancetv.com/tutorial/swing/index.html

and west coast
http://www.shawntrautman.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=58&gclid=CIj8qcXG54wCFRdAQQod2yZM3g

Answer 2

I'll also add that there are different musical styles underlying the dances. East Coast Swing works well with faster 50's rockabilly (early rock and roll) or neo-swing. West Coast swing adapts much better to contemporary, slower tempo dance music you might encounter on a bar juke box (if you can find one).

West coast swing also has a more rounded style of movement as compared to something like Hollywood style Lindy hop, which stays more slotted.

Answer 3

The primary differences between East Coast Swing and West Coast Swing are tempo and styling. East Coast Swing (ECS) is generally danced to faster music (135-165 bpm for triple-time swing, 165-240 bpm for single-time swing), mainly blues and jazz, although you can also use it for some rock and roll. West Coast Swing (WCS) music is usually 85-130 bpm, and includes a wider variety of genres: blues, jazz, pop, hip hop, and soul. The body shaping and technique of ECS give it a lilting up-and-down movement, while WCS should be smoother, with no bouncing. Also, WCS is always danced in a slot --- the follow travels from one end of the slot to the other, while the leader spends most of his time centered between the two ends of the slot. ECS uses a more circular space on the dance floor. ECS is primarily six-count patterns, but both a triple step, triple step, rock step rhythm and a slow, slow, rock step rhythm are referred to as ECS. WCS is composed of both six-count and eight-count patterns.

There are lots of other swing styles, including Charleston, lindy hop, balboa, rock 'n roll, the various types of shag, etc. Wikipedia gives a reasonably good rundown here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_%28dance%29

Answer 4

the east coast swing is a tripple step and the west coast has an 8 count, there is also a jitterbug and the lindy which are other variations of the swing

Answer 5

You can get a good overview at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_dancing

YouTube is littered with videos of various swing styles, and luckily several actually teach you the steps. I wish I could find my favorite video which showed the differences between east, west, and Chicago style.. Maybe you will have better luck than I searching for it.

Answer 6

West Coast Swing Tutorial