I'm trying to research jive so that I can improve my jive and I'm getting opposing messages...so please, those of you who actually know,

International Style Jive...Is it Lindy Hop or is it Flick Jive or is it something else?

Are there any workshops in the US that specialize in International Style Jive?

I see the same weaknesses across the board in all my fellow students (same teacher) and of course myself. I need to go outside of my usual instruction and the DVD's aren't doing it for me because they also send conflicting messages. I mean I'm having fun but it's all a bit sloppy and blah....

SO the other thing...how would one go about improving foot articulation? Not simply proper turnout and placement but that crispness that goes beyond the proper arching etc.

Anybody know? Any ideas?

Intern style Jive is a combination of Lindy, R and R and Bop... we copied it from the Amer. servicemen in the 40s.. it was refined to meet acceptance in the general public ( many public dance halls, 40s, in the UK banned it !)

The foot articulation is best taught with personal attention, and, as to videos... have you tried Geoffrey Hearns or Len Goodmans basics ?

Terence . I think you should Google Jitterbug and then Wilkipedia to get some of your facts right. Which will also put put you on the right track regarding the word Swing.

Well, seeing that I lived and danced thru that transition period, I dont think I need to read e.g. from people who were not even alive !!..

and Wiki. is the absolute WORST source of mis information when it comes to " dance ", on the planet !

Just to make myself quite clear.. I,m not speaking to the " music " side of the genre but the actual dances and their development from that music.

Also.. I,m not disagreeing with the fact that " swing " music was very instrumental in the development of QS and that early FT had also been similarly affected.. but.. Jive is a dance that was, as I stated, an Amer. invention and largely based on the Single Time "swing " in vogue in the states at that time period.

I actually was friends ,and have judged with, the lady who was largely responsible for the " swing " development in ballroom( dance wise ) in the States.. the late Laure Haille.. also, one cannot ever discuss swing without mentioning the contributions made, by frankie manning..

The word " swing " as applied to dance as a technical term, refers to the action created by "swing " from the hip/leg in the 3 standard dances ( tango is excluded ).

Terence. There are two different types of Jive. One is the one the top competitors use. The other is the one that Medalists and Social dancers use.The one Medalists and Social dancers use is known in the trade as Swing Jive. In the words of Ella Fitzgerald and also sung by Louis Armstrong. " It don't mean a thing if you ain't got that Swing.
One more thing. If you can find a copy of " I live in Grosvenor Square " starring Rex Harrison Dean Jagger and Anna Neagle you will see the type of Jitterbuging that was in at the time the film was made in 1945.A little bit of trivia here . Anna Neagle was a finalist in the very first Star Ballroom Championship which accounted for her skill in the dancing scene. That information came from Frank Ford who was the winner in 1927 and 1929.
Grosvenor Square in London was known as Little America which was the American Embassy and US Forces Club during those war years.