Editing West Coast Swing (section)

==History==
The origins of the West Coast Swing are in the [[Lindy Hop]].<ref>''How to Become a Good Dancer'' by [[Arthur Murray]] 1947 Simon and Schuster. revised edition. page 175.</ref> [[Western swing]], [[boogie woogie (music)|country boogie]], and, with a smaller audience, [[jump blues]] were popular on the West Coast throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s when they were renamed and marketed as [[rock and roll]] in 1954.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} Dancers danced "a 'swingier' more smooth and subdued" form of [[jitterbug]] to Western swing music.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brittin|first=Phil|url=https://archive.org/details/completebookofco00brit|title=The Complete Book of Country Swing & Western Dance, and a Bit About Cowboys|date=1981|publisher=Doubleday & Co.|isbn=978-0-385-17601-9|location=Garden City, N.Y.|pages=44}}</ref>

[[Dean Collins (dancer)|Dean Collins]], a lindy hop dancer who arrived in the [[Los Angeles]] area around 1937, was influential in developing the style of swing dance on the [[West Coast of the United States]] as both a performer and teacher.<ref>Dance Spirit. "The Dean of Swing". Kiku Loomis. June 2001. pages 82, 83.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swingdancecouncil.com/halloffame2.html#carey |title=Swing Dance Hall of Fame Dean Collins|access-date=2009-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722000314/http://www.swingdancecouncil.com/halloffame2.html#carey|archive-date=2011-07-22|url-status=dead}}</ref> Collins was humble about his contributions to the style. According to one of his former students, a member of his last dance troupe, Collins himself said that he had nothing to do with the West Coast Swing style.<ref>The Swing Book. Degen Pener. 1999. Hatchette Book Group. eBook Edition 2009.{{ISBN|978-0-316-07667-8}} note: eBook lacks page numbers. See West Coast Swing section.</ref>

Lessons in "The New West Coast Swing" were offered at the [[Arthur Murray Dance Studio]]s in [[San Bernardino]] and Riverside, California in December 1948.<ref>San Bernardino County Sun December 15, 1948 pg5</ref><ref>Riverside Daily Press Wed, Dec 15, 1948 ·Page 9</ref> By 1954 West Coast Swing was taught from Southern California to Vancouver B.C. and from Eastern Washington to Hawaii. By 1957 the dance had reached as far east as Missouri.<ref>The Amusement Scene; The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri); Sun, Feb 24, 1957; Page 66</ref>

Laure' Haile,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-04-17 |title=Laure' Haile – a bit of history |url=https://www.dance-forums.com/threads/laure-haile-%E2%80%93-a-bit-of-history.43311/ |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=Dance Forums |language=en-US}}</ref> an [[Arthur Murray Dance Studio]] National Dance Director, documented the unique style of swing dancing in Los Angeles in 1951 using the name "Western Swing" to describe it.<ref>Dance Teacher Now. November–December 1986 page 27.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Lindy Hop History: 1945-1983|url=http://www.dynamics.org/MAUI_SWING/REVIEWS/FROM_WEB/history_b.htm|access-date=2021-06-01|website=www.dynamics.org}}</ref> Arthur Murray Dance Studios developed a syllabus for West Coast Swing from her notes. The Arthur Murray style taught Western Swing beginning from a closed position and the possibility of dancing single, double, or triple rhythm. After "Throwout" patterns began with the woman "walking in" and the man doing a "rock step", or step together for counts one and two.<ref>Dance NoteBook. Laure Haile. 195?. Bronze Level Western Swing.</ref> Although the dance remained basically the same, the Golden State Dance Teachers Association (GSDTA) began teaching from the walk steps, counts 1 and 2.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.swingworld.com/wcs.htm|title=February 2009 – West Coast 101 at SwingWorld.com}}</ref> It replaced Laure Haile's [[Coaster Step]] with an "Anchor Step" around 1961.<ref name="Blair">{{cite book|last1=Blair|first1=Skippy|title=Dance Terminology Notebook 1995|date=1994|publisher=Alterra Pub. in cooperation with GSDTA|isbn=0-932980-11-2|edition=Rev.|location=Downey, California|page=3–}}</ref>

"West Coast Swing" as a synonym for "Western swing" appears in a 1961 dance book.<ref>Social Dance. Yerrington, Outland. 1961. page 34. no ISBN or Library of Congress number</ref> The name was used in an advertisement by ballroom dancer [[Skippy Blair]] circa 1958–1962.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usaswingnet.com/2004_POTY.htm|title=USA Swing Net|website=USA Swing Net }}</ref><ref name="Watson">{{cite web|last1=Watson|first1=Sonny|title=Skippy Blair at Dancer Archive |url=http://www.streetswing.com/histmai2/d2skippy.htm|website=Street Swing|access-date=27 December 2008 }}</ref><ref>In her ''Dance Terminology Notebook''. Skippy Blair. Altera. page 79. {{ISBN|0-932980-11-2}}. Blair writes, "The news advertised 'West Coast Swing' (1958).</ref> However, the term wasn't incorporated into mainstream swing circles until the late 1960s.<ref name="swingworld.com">{{Cite web |url=http://www.swingworld.com/wcs.htm |title=WCS |access-date=2006-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201061619/http://www.swingworld.com/wcs.htm |archive-date=2006-12-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Blair preferred the name "West Coast Swing" because of the ambiguous meaning of "Western" (in dance, usually referring to [[Country–western dance|country and western]]), as distinguished from "West Coast," referring to California, where the style was actually developed.<ref name="Blair" /> Blair credits Jim Bannister, editor of the ''Herald American'' newspaper in Downey, California, for suggesting the name West Coast Swing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.swingworld.com/wcs.htm|title=SwingDanceWorld February 2009 - West Coast 101}}</ref>

While teenagers preferred to dance freestyle through a constantly changing succession of discotheque social [[fad dance|dance fads]] during the 1960s, adults kept swing alive.<ref>Social Dance. John G. Youmans. Goodyear Publishing Company, Inc. 1969. page 25. Library of Congress Number 69-17984</ref> In the mid-1970s, the advent of [[disco]] music revitalized partner dancing. In California, West Coast Swing was one of the popular dances of the era.<ref>Skippy Blair on Contemporary Social Dance. Skippy Blair. 1978. pages 113-119 {{ISBN|0-932980-01-5}}</ref> By 1978, "California Swing" had developed as a variation of West Coast Swing, with styling that Blair wrote was "considered more UP, with a more Contemporary flavor."<ref>Skippy Blair on Contemporary Social Dance" Skippy Blair 1978 page 176 {{ISBN|0-932980-01-5}}</ref> By 1978 GSDTA had "some 200 or more patterns and variations" for West Coast Swing."<ref>Skippy Blair on Contemporary Social Dance" Skippy Blair. 1978. page 118. {{ISBN|0-932980-00-7}}</ref>

In 1988, West Coast Swing was pronounced the [[List of U.S. state dances|Official State Dance]] of California.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.streetswing.com/statednc.htm|title=West Coast Swing Official State Dance of California|first=Sonny|last=Watson|website=www.streetswing.com}}</ref>

When Disco fell out of favor, West Coast Swing was one of the dances done in country western bars in Los Angeles.<ref>Country-Western Dance within the Context of Popular Culture in the Los Angeles Area by Dvorah Heifetz Master of Arts in Dance University of California, Los Angeles, 1982 pages 9, 96</ref> and an instructional booklet for the dance was advertised with a heading of "Cowboy Dancing!".<ref>New West magazine July 28, 1980 page 93</ref>
By the 1990s country western dancers were dancing West Coast Swing to contemporary country western songs.<ref>West Coast Swing for C/W Dancers; Gellett, K, 1992 Hutchinson 1988 Swing Dancer Manual page 1.7-2</ref>