I, personally, have never heard of a particular 'rock'n'roll' dance. There's nothing here in the Pacific NW anyway.

Most people dance a triple-time swing to rock'n'roll music, i.e. Bob Segar's "Old Time Rock'n'Roll" or Van Morrison's "Sweet Home Chicago". The West Coast Swingers also will dance to these tunes.

I would advise learning Triple-time Swing FIRST. Then progress into Single-time. Besides being a little different basic, it can be a real aerobic workout! :) Or, if you like "disco" type music, learn 4-count swing. It is extremely easy dance to learn & also very versatile.

Best of luck to you.

There are two competitve versions of R'n'R. (By the way for those still in disbelief try to search for the world R'n'R organiztion on google.)
The so called footwork has jumps, kicks, spins, turns, but no acrobatics. The acrobatic R'n'R has throws, lifts and some really breathtaking stunts like when the man bends forward (initially facing his partner), the lady jumps above his head, he reaches back behind his legs and grabs her neck just in time to pull her through between his feet. Takes about 1.5 second .

Now, what people used to do as R'n'R and you see in old movies was a prelude to these now competitive form. There is a dance called Boogie-Woogie which is very similar in character and better fits to social dancing (no jumping, not that much sweat) you may find it under Lindy hop in some people's dictionary.

In this dance you do either kick or tap with, than step on the left foot then same with the right followed by a back rock with the left. (Lady mirrors.) The difference with acrobatic R'n'R is that in R'n'R you do a little hop on the standing leg just before the kicks.

You can switch between taps and kicks as you wish and can even add some hops once in a while (best if matcing the musical phrase).

It is a fun dance andmuch more enrgetic than swing. Looks better too IMHO.

Matyas
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Hi
I am curious toknow more abt rock-n-roll.I know the site www.rockroll.com.au dedicated to rock-n-roll but it talks abt 6 count rock-n-roll.If there r different types of rock-n-roll dances.here in india there is total confusion abt rock-n-roll. what is rock-n-roll in its true form
Thank u.

I have a Paul Bottomer book on rock and roll, he is from Europe. He teaches it as single time swing, but in a very upright position.

A lot of rock and roll music is excellent for swing and even a lot of the songs are from the original swing era. Rock and Roll songs are frequently played at the ballroom dances we go to, more than swing music from the original swing era.

John G. You are correct in what you wrote. Genuine Rock and Roll, usually
the man is of a very athletic build, and the lady as light as a feather probably with gymnastic training. Some of the moves, unless things have changed, can only be performed in a final. This came in a few years ago when a lady was killed coming from way up and was supposed to go through the legs and didn't. I think the name Rock and Roll is patented. In other words no other organisation could use the name and claim it as a World Championship. Nobody in there right mind would do that style of dancing at a Social evening. They would soon be shown the door.

I suppose it depends on where you live. In Australia there is Rock and Roll which is a simplified form of Jive. It is popular and is danced at a lot of dances instead of Jive, which is danced to the same music.

I don't know if that is the same as Swing, EC or WC, for I have never seen that danced at dances. Maybe someone can explain these american terms.

Here in Australia RnR does exist independently of EC/WC, swing and jive. My partner and I have only learnt jive so far, but RnR and swing are on the cards for later.

Just thought I'd add that.

Lindy Hop is the only way to go.

Check out this video to see an example of Lindy Hop to Rock N' Roll:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrhGtXCGn6M

Back in the fifties....late fifties I think...we danced what we called "Rock and Roll". It may actually have been ECS or perhaps Jive. We thought of "swing" as the Lindy only. I remember the dance starting out like ECS. I don't think we did it correctly. I'm not saying there isn't a specific dance correctly called Rock and Roll, just that we used that name for the dance we did, whether it was correctly named or not.

Actually , there are clubs dotted around the planet, that will adamantly state-- of course there is .

Your reference was partially correct, but rambled to include 3 separate types of " swing "( generic term.)

Lindy is a dance unto its self as is jive. Rock and roll could be identified
as a single time swing, danced primarily to fifties music . They are all related , and many of the variations appear in all 3 forms.