Can anybody tell me if in the West Coast Swing there are hip movements.
If a person were to do that dance without the swing of the hips would they be correct.
There is a reason for this question and that is . On our dancing with the Stars last Sunday a couple were marked very low by the judges who said " We saw no movement of the hips. When this was put to her the lady teacher told the panel they were wrong.
The next day it came up on a Current Afairs program on which a West Coast Swing teacher from the US said that the lady contestant was absolutely correct and the three judges were wrong. This next Sunday i wonder if the judges are going to me man enough to admitt their mistake.
Its a bit like your So You Think You Can Dance where one of the guest judges told this couple that they shouldn't have had bent knees in the Tango.

In the U.S. students are taught by many teachers to " swing " their hips..one has to be careful here to not overdance the action, but yes, there is a "hip " action .

This dance ( WCS ) has so many versions, like T/arg. and salsa, that the interpretations may vary from state to state .
if you need more definitive background, go to... Dance Forums .. Swing section

Terence. I can see that there is a definite swing in the East Coast Swing. In fact at first glance it looked very much like the basic action in the International Style. But the West Coast Swing that is the one under fire. One day later , on the TV. it was spoken about by somebody who would be known to most of us. He said it is has no Swinging of the hips. Swinging of the hips meaning a pendulum type swing. I take that to mean it is a flatter type of dance. I know absolutely nothing about the style at all. It will be interesting on Sunday to see if anything is said

I didn't see the program. Are you sure it was West Coast Swing and not one of the other forms of swing, such as East Coast Swing (triple swing)? Was it a combination of both? There is a difference. I didn't think they did WCS on Dancing With The Stars, but I haven't watched it lately. East Coast Swing is considered a Rhythm ballroom dance and has Cuban motion on the rock step, same as jive fallaway rock, although the motion looks a little different because ECS usually uses the American version of Cuban motion. West Coast Swing is considered a social dance or a country dance. Most country dances (as performed) have very little Cuban motion even when the technique calls for it. West Coast Swing has none. There are also many other forms of swing outside of ballroom, and I can't think of any that use Cuban motion. All forms of swing require some kind of movement of the hips, but it isn't Cuban motion. NO hip movement at all results in a "robot" dance.

WCS is NOT a country dance. It was started in the Ballrooms. Because of the West in the name many mistake it for Western. It is a slot dance and AKA as Sophisticated swing. There is swing in the hips on the starter step which is like ECS, and in the anchor position (which replaces the rock step. It is danced to blues, R&B, Jazz, big band, rock, pop, funk, and western music so it is versatile.

I was not referring to the origin of West Coast Swing. I think ballroom people did have something to do with the development of WCS, but it is not now considered as one of the ballroom dances. This website has a list of all the ballroom dances:
https://www.ballroomdancers.com/Dances/
Notice that WCS is listed as a social dance. That doesn't mean you will never see it done at ballroom dances. WCS is also very popular with the Country Western dancers and is one of the official dances used at competitions. That doesn't necessarily make it a "country" dance, so my classifying it as "social or country" may not necessarily be correct since there is no official list of the dances that are included in those classifications.

"Hip swing" is not a defined term, and can mean different things to different people. Cuban motion is very well defined. I think that may be the source of the confusion as stated in the original question. One person is thinking Cuban motion and the other person is thinking of some kind of movement that prevents it from looking board stiff.

I still don't know if it was really West Coast Swing or not.

Something to do with it ???.. Laure haille, one time A/M national DD ( if she were alive ) would would probably fill 2 pages describing her involvement ( widely recognised by most every " expert " )

And.. NOT listed as a b/room dance??
what planet are you living on .. its been taught ( and still is ) in the majority of A/M studios.. its also included in the comp. circuit..

SmoothGeezer. The program is on Australian TV. It would appear that something had been said behind the scenes. When they were critized about the lack of swinging the hips the contestant said i am confused. We are being taught by a person who is highly regarded and qualified in that particular dance. He said there is no swing of the hips. The judge then indicated that that person didn't know what he was talking about.The next day a former World Ten Dance Champion also said there is no swinging of the hips in the West Coast Swing. This person was also 7th in the World in Professional Latin the International Style only a few years ago.
My interpretation of the Jive where the hips do Swing. Is on the Fallaway Rock and Jive Chasses. The hip goes back on th Fallaway Rock. Swings forward and up on the second step. Like a pendulum it is at its highest point as we move to the left. The hip then swings across to the left as we Chasse to the right. There is your swinging action Which by the way nobody does in a major competition anymore. The Swing Jive as it is written in the technique books is no longer with us. It simply is not possible to do it and keep right on the beat and in time. Flick Jive is the way to go..

Terence wrote: And.. NOT listed as a b/room dance??
what planet are you living on .. its been taught ( and still is ) in the majority of A/M studios.. its also included in the comp. circuit....

The fact that a particular dance is taught in a particular ballroom studio does not make that dance a ballroom dance. Where I used to live one of the studios besides teaching all the ballroom dances also taught salsa, Argentine tango, Lindy-hop, two step, triple three, night club two step, polka, and line dancing. I have never seen a list of ballroom dances with those included. Yes you can find competitions where those are included, but they won't be included under ballroom, at least not in the USA.

And to Three Wise Men: Thanks for the information. I applaud your bravery at even attempting to describe hip action in jive, which is almost an impossible task, especially in a few words. I won't quibble with the description. I know what jive looks like so that is not necessary. I also know what west coast swing looks like. I still think the use of the word "swing" to describe hip action is the source of the confusion, because that term has no defined definition in reference to hip action. I'll bet if you asked 10 experienced dancers to swing their hips, you would get 10 different actions.