Actually it was not.. it was devised in Calif. and the " slot " was adapted to accommodate the number of people that were crowding the dance floors in the 30s ( it took less room than the "rounder " styles )..

The B/rooms contribution was in variety, and also popularisation

what? of course you have to swing your hips, maybe not as prominent as the Latin dances, but trying to do a wcs without any hip action, it would look absolutely ridiculous! haha this is actually so funny. 'Swing' is referring to the music and style, only diff is ecs comes fom the east coast and wcs comes from the west, i cannot believe that one would imagine it to be danced without any hips!

Simbachippy. Your on the wrong wave length here. Of course the hips move whilst we are moving. It would be hard not to. But that is different to Swinging the hips at a particular time and with the music. Take just one movement , a Link and a Jive Chasse in the International Style... For the man. The hip swings down and up to the left. It Swings to the right on the second step. It stays there for the Chasse to the left. Then Swings down and up to the left as the Chasse is completed. Do the same on the Chasse to the Right and repeat..This is the action which was under fire and we were told by the experts is not in the West Coast Swing. Do you do Drunken Sailors in the West Coast Swing. Behind the scenes in practice some other things were being discussed. The couple were to do Drunken Sailors but took it out because of the hip action that is needed on that move. The contestant simply said that she was a bit confused, thats all she said, Thats when the lady judge went for her. Which makes me think that this was the continuation of a previouse argument.
So, is the West Coast swing a flatter dance than say the East Coast Swing. Is there less bounce and no Swing if it is done correctly.

to your questions, yes, yes and yes. WCS for the follow can have a definate hip action as the anchor step is either an open or closed 3rd position. The open 3rd causes the hips to sway/swing. The WCS is more "floor" without the shoes coming off the floor per se. It is smooth - no bouncing at all, the follow is in the slot for a 6 step (one side pass) or an 8 step whip (2 side passes), the lead moves out of the way. More advanced WCS dancers can "accent" movements to the music through the whips and anchor steps. Skippy Blair is a great source to contact concerning WCS if you want to pursue your question in more detail.