Who created West Coast Swing?
Many dancers contributed to the evolution of West Coast Swing over the decades. All of them were lateral thinkers: • The most notable were the African American dancers at the Savoy who created the genre of swing. WCS proponent Skippy Blair wrote, “The styles change… the music changes according to the beat of the day… But a swing dancer is a swing dancer, no matter what the style.” And the dancers at the Savoy Ballroom deserve most of the credit, for creating swing. Then there was a healthy black-white ping pong of influences through the decades: • Dean Collins (born Saul Cohen) was one of many white kids who learned Lindy Hop at the Savoy Ballroom. After he moved west and danced/choreographed for Hollywood films, his personal style of the Lindy swingout influenced the L.A. style of swing dancing, which later created the West Coast Swing Whip. But it’s important to note that Dean’s contribution to the WCS Whip was a stylistic modification. The Whip is essentially the same step (both
