What is Ballroom Dancing: Learning to Dance the West Coast Swing

By Susan Todd


The West Coast Swing dance is so easy to learn if you get the proper guidance and training from the best dance instructors. If you got no time to learn what is ballroom dancing, particularly the West Coast Swing dance, through an instructor, you can still learn the dance with some help from West Coast Swing videos and tutorials on the internet. But for starters, you can learn two of the simple steps of the West Coast Swing in the following sections.

Similar to every other ballroom dance, the footwork and timing is highly necessary for the West Coast Swing. Two basic steps, the Sugar Push and the Anchor Step, are utilized for learning the West Coast Swing dance.

The Sugar Push is so easy to learn for the men and women. Check the steps below for the man's part:

Count 1: Step back with the left foot.

Count 2: Step back with the right foot.

Count 3: Tap the left foot to the right foot.

Count 4: Step forward with the left foot.

Counts 5 and 6: Anchor step (explained below).

The woman's part is done this way:

Count 1: Step forward with the right foot.

Count 2: Step forward with the left foot.

Count 3: Tap the right foot to the left foot.

Count 4: Step back on the right foot.

Counts 5 and 6: Anchor step (explained below).

The Anchor Step is a basic pattern of each swing dance that people generally use at the end of every movement. When performing this step, you must feel anchored to the floor while doing very small steps. The Anchor Step consists of steps that follow right after the Sugar Push. If you are keen to learn what is ballroom dancing, this step will come simpler along the way. The man's part in the Anchor Step is described through the following steps:

Count 5: Step on the right foot putting the instep of the right foot behind the heel of the left foot.

Count and: Step on the left foot keeping it in place.

Count 6: Step on the right foot keeping it in place.

The woman's part for the Anchor Step is as follows:

Count 5: Step on the left foot adjusting the instep of the left foot behind the heel of the right foot.

Count and: Step on the right foot keeping it in place.

Count 6: Step on the left foot keeping it in place.

The Sugar Push and the Anchor Step are just only a couple of the various basic steps of the West Coast Swing that you might need to learn. Becoming skilled at knowing what is ballroom dancing is indeed demanding and sometimes difficult, but after all else you will then know that all of it are sensible.




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