My feet are flat and my right foot pronated slightly when I dance. Some pros gave me exercises in privates to try and correct it, but I'm also looking for other options. Some folks in my community suggested insoles for arch support.

Are there any good friends, or companies that do custom ones for dance shoes?

Hi, I'm traveling to Singapore this week and have heard there's a WCS community there but haven't been able to find anything about socials etc online.
Is anyone aware of where to look for these things in Singapore or if there are any socials on 26th / 27th?
Thanks in advance.

There are several apps designed for weightlifting. You perform an exercise, make a video, and the trainer gives feedback on your technique.

Is there a similar platform for West Coast Swing?

Say, my dance partner and I take a video of our dance, and the dance coach tells us what could be improved, why, and what exercises we can perform to address the issue.

I vant to have a better control over my WCS agenda/budget and a better organization (events, privates, training). In order to succeed I searched for planners/notebook on amazon but I found nothing yet. Do you have any good infos ? Right now I am creating my own WCS agenda but I wonder if I really have to start from scratch. Thank you everyone

Any recommendations for good instructors for privates in the Boston area?

Does anyone know of any West Coast Swing or Fusion social dances in France / Italy during these dates?

My partner and I will be going to:

- Paris: May 24th - May 27th (May 26th has WCS at MAS Paris, May 28th has Temple Du Swing))

- Reims: May 28th

- Strasbourg: May 29th - May 30th.

- Lyon: May 31st - June 1st (June 1st has Fusion at Fuzyon)

- Chamonix: June 2nd - June 3rd (June 2nd to June 4th has Montpellier Swing & Chill n°2)

- Milan (Italy): June 4th - June 7th

- Cinque Terre (Italy): June 9th - June 10th

- Nice: June 11th - June 13th

Thanks in advance :)

I’m wondering if there is much of a WCS community in Toronto. If so, where are some places to go to dance?

Does anyone have an article to recommend about what judges are actually looking for on the dance floor? Like, complete beginner to comps level. I’ve seen so much about etiquette, what to pack for a weekend event etc, but not the judging itself.

The ESS event doesn't hold competitions, and as such is able to start the social dancing at 9:30pm, instead of the traditional 12am.

Has anyone here been to ESS? Would you be able to confirm when social dancing really starts? For example do a lot of people not show up until 12am or 2am like at a regular dance event?

Also additional question, do you tell people you’re a swing dancer or that you are a westie? This is random I know but this question just came to my head. I was over in the Bachata subreddit and someone said they were a swing dancer. I immediately assumed Lindy Hop style.

In my experience, only Lindy Hoppers ever say they are Swing dancers or dance swing. When I meet West Coast Swing dancers, they specifically say West Coast Swing.

Still fairly new but today I really got in my own way. In some cases literally.

So we are working on a sugar push free spin combo. The lead is supposed to “catch” the follow coming out of a spin with an arm behind their back.

So at first my arm is landing wrong. I realize I’m probably locking my arms while I spin. Ok lift them up to try to create some space. All good.

Then I notice I’m sort of getting lost in the spin. Recommendation is to spot your leader. Ok great.

Then I notice I’m not getting through the turn fast enough. Ok I’ll be a little quicker. But now I feel like I’ve put too much energy behind the turn and I’m sort of flying way off…lead is having to sort of aggressively catch me bc I’m spinning too far past them.

So now I’m trying to put it all together and I just start messing up. We rotate partners so spotting the lead’s face varied a lot based on how tall they are.

And then it happens. I literally trip over my own feet and almost fall and almost make my partner fall. I’m so embarrassed. And then I do it a few more times. Not as bad but it still happens. I try to laugh it off but ugh.

It’s not that hard. Like…I took dance all my life. Why is dance so much harder when a partner is involved. I never tripped over my own feet before.

I’m thinking about trying a private lesson but my friend (who has more experience) says I should “let myself suck” awhile longer.

I’m curious about your experience in Private lessons. What did you do? Was it helpful?

This is such a weird experience for me bc growing up in ballet and such, I wasn’t the best dancer but I understood well what was supposed to happen. My teacher once commented that she could tell i understood her feedback really well. I could adjust based on her comments. But with wcs I often feel like it’s a foreign language and a lot of the instructions and feedback doesn’t make too Mmmmm much sense to me..

I’m currently dancing in jazz shoes and would like something more supportive/cushioned and a tad less grippy. I wouldn’t mind a bit of a heel but would love to find something that protrudes past the toes as little as possible, and also won’t break the bank. Any suggestions?

New dancer…just a couple months in. Class is an hour and then 2 hour social dance.

Now…about me. One on one I’m fine to talk with people. You might think I’m extroverted. But in large groups especially where I don’t know people I get very shy and self conscious.

My first class was in January. I watched the social dance for about 30 minutes. I was asked to dance several times and said no. I had a friend with me (she’s experienced) so I watched her dance mostly and chatted with her when she took a break or two.

Next few weeks I stayed for the social dance for like 45 min-1 hour. I started getting friendly with a couple people from class and chatted with them. I got asked to dance by lots of people included very experienced ones. It was fun. A couple even said I seem to be catching on quickly.

Then I had to take a break from class for like 2 months due to work and other things.

So I’m back in April and have gone a couple times. This time I don’t seem to have any friends with me. The people I knew have stopped coming at least for now so I’m just rolling solo and feeling weird.

People don’t seem to ask me to dance. I feel a little creepy just watching from the sidelines. Even though I enjoy watching people. I feel like I look pitiful. Which makes me self conscious. So I’ll pull out my phone to “be doing something” and not just staring. But I think being on my phone probably puts out the vibe that I don’t want to dance. Eventually I just get so self conscious that I leave.

I know the longer I stay the better it will get. I’ll be more comfortable and a better partner and that will make people want to dance with me more. It just getting from point a to b is stressful.

Also I know I could be asking people to dance but it seems like most people I see not already dancing are talking to friends.

Just need a little pat on the head and someone to say “it’ll get easier”

I just started dancing wcs this year. About 2-3 months in at this point so still new.

I really love the classes. The place I go has an hour class and then a social dance.

I feel like I’m pretty good in the class. I can watch a combo of a few moves and can usually replicate it pretty quickly. I’m a follow.

I don’t usually stay for much of the social dance for a few reasons but one of them is that I’m not comfortable dancing without knowing what the moves are. I feel like when I dance without a planned set of moves or choreography I always seem to mess up or get it wrong. It’s like my memory of what I learned I’m class goes out the window

one of my questions is “do leaders know what moves they are going to do?” I think maybe a good way for me to learn to pick up a little would be for a leader to literally say out loud to me what the next move is. Then I can sort of make that brain body connection of “oh, this is what it feels like right before a left pass”…and gradually I would just start to recognize those cues without the words being spoken. Has anyone ever done it this way?

I’ve had a few really nice leads that, after I messed something up we paused and they showed me what they were trying to lead. And then they repeated it again later in the song and I got better at picking up the cue (“when his hand does this it means he probably leading a whip”)

Overall I gues I’m just looking for any advice to help me get better at dancing when not in a class setting where someone tells me what to do. I know some of it will just be practice and more dancing…but any tips to help me would be appreciated bc at this point I’m honestly a little scared to dance in the social space at all bc I always end up feeling awkward and foolish

Earlier this year I saw a video of someone dancing West Coast Swing. I had never heard of this dance before, but I instantly knew that I wanted to try it. I got lucky, because my university offers classes for it, so I signed up for that. Last week the first lesson took place. Afterwards I stuck around for the social dance because our teachers had recommended to do that. I had so much fun at the class and at the social dance afterwards. At the social dance, there were people of many different skill levels, not just the ones from the beginner class. It was so cool to dance with different people and watch others dance. As a beginner I felt very welcomed by the more experienced dancers.

Is there any advice you have for me as someone who just started? Is there something you would have loved to know as a beginner?

Hi!

My focus has always been on trying to be able to give everyone I dance with, a good dance.

That means I put my focus on having a pleasant feeling and comfortable connection, opening myself up to themes that I wasn't initially comfortable with (like slow and flowy, I am more of a manic dancer naturally lol) so I could dance in a theme that my partner preferred, trying to find the right balance of playful vs meaningful styling, and how to gauge on the fly what my partner is responding well to and more importantly what they aren't. To that end I do think I have had some success...but...I am painfully aware of a cross-section of dancers that I simply can't have good dances with, and I am not really sure why. I know they aren't good because we can't connect properly, we therefore can't play, if I try the tenuous connection that we do have falters and I start making a LOT of unforced errors. It's truly a bloodbath.

I have on one hand, people that rave about dancing with me, how much they like my connection and playfulness, to the point where I get a bit bashful tbh. On the other hand, I have people who I can plainly see struggle to dance with me, who clearly find it a chore to dance with me.

It's like suddenly having to try and communicate in a language that you barely know. You can ask where the toilets are and say "hi, bye and thank you"...but it's a struggle just to get by. It's very jarring.

I don't really know if there is a common denominator. This divide is fully up and down the levels (I only just moved up to intermediate if that helps), it splits regions and even people within the same schools with the same teachers.

For example, I was recently in a high level workshop. All of the followers were truly amazing dancers. The moves were all about body leverage, redirection, counterweight that sort of thing. With one follower I'd be nailing it, she'd giving me a few little tweaks to perfect it to her liking, smiles all around. Then I'd rotate to the next follower...the most diabolical mess you can possibly imagine. I simply could not get ANYTHING right.

I am 100% confident it's a me issue, not them. I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS THOUGH.

My guesses are possibly followers who prefer firmer connection (mine has been described as light, clear, and comfy)? Or possibly followers who prefer more assertive leads (my lead has been described as very invitational)? Or possibly I just get into my own head and lock out my own skills? Or my technical flaws are more annoying to some people than others. Or this is just a dance preference thing that is just a fact of life and I should get over it and move on?

As for what I am doing/thinking of doing... So far I am learning Zouk to try and and expand my connection vocabulary. I was thinking of doing some practice sessions where we try and emulate that really strong connection type. I am tempted to get privates with people who I have horrible dances with and ask for connection and lead/follow content.

​

Any advice you can offer would really be appreciated. For better or worse my mood is noticeably affected by giving my partner a pleasant or unpleasant dance.

Has anyone been to SOswing before? I live in Utah, so there’s nothing nearby between now and JnJ O’rama except SOswing. The problem is that’s it’s a 12hr drive each way or a $500+ flight.

So is it worth it?

Or should I just practice extra hard until June?

I'm building up a small playlist, would love to hear which songs move you the most.

Hi all, I had a quick question re: if I was allowed to register for a certain competition. I'll be registering for Liberty Swing in June soon and wanted to compete in the newcomer J&J (I have competed once, newcomer J&J at MADjam, but have 0 points). I was talking to a friend earlier who is ranked as Novice (with points) and we wanted to enter the novice strictly together, which is the lowest level strictly (it's labelled as Novice, not Newcomer/Novice).

Am I allowed to register for the newcomer J&J but the novice strictly? I skimmed the rules for Liberty Swing and couldn't find anything regarding leveling between competitions (just competing in 2 levels in J&Js, one in each role). If not I'm not opposed to competing in novice, but I'd like to get at least 1 newcomer point before moving up.

I swear everything disappeared when quarantine was implemented.

Hi friends!

I was just at Easter Swing and ended up buying a pair of SwayD Urban Charm boots. I'm nursing an anterior ankle impingement and desperately needed to switch from my lindy hop boots to something with a heel if I wanted to last the weekend, plus I've always loved the look of them. Unfortunately, the quality issues I would have known about if I'd done ANY research were quickly apparent, including this very bizarre thing where the insole had come unglued and was bunching in the toe of the boot, making for a rather painful experience for my toes no matter how many times I flattened it out. I figure since I have to repair the insole among other things, I might as well get new insoles and help my feet out even more. (If you were wondering, the other issues were that the suede on one heel is already coming unattached, and the underside of the leather strap is practically disintegrating. These could definitely be caused by temperature changes in the retailer's storing of the boots, though, so maybe not completely on the quality of the boot).

That being said, what are your favorite insoles to use in your dance shoes? I like to be very connected to the floor with a decent amount of flexibility, but I do have weak ankles and sciatic nerve problems, so I'm sure some extra support wouldn't go amiss. Bonus points if you have recommendations for dying suede, as I'd love to make them black instead of navy.

Thanks!