1. Strike a Pose as You Do Jazz Dance Swing
Think of Bob Fosse's "All That Jazz" or the musical, "Chicago," and you get a modern day snapshot of jazz dance. Some forms of jazz dance are the jitterbug and Charleston, which are also known as swing dances. It's hard to say whether the chicken or the egg came first since all of these dances are considered to be swing dances, and most have their roots in the American 1800s and even centuries before that in Africa. Nevertheless, today's jazz dance is primarily what you see in show business or on Broadway and is related to and also sometimes referred to as modern jazz dance. You see jazz dance moves in early Fred Astaire movies, but you also find jazz dance moves in hip hop performances or even in Madonna videos. It's big, dramatic and expressive and often quite sexy. You can find jazz dance at the heart many Las Vegas shows too. If you love to dance swing, but want something even showier, do jazz dance swing. Start with the poses. Jazz dance moves are theatrical, so moves are very stylized and often end in a striking pose. Big arms, head gestures and body slaps and snaps are common in jazz dancing.
2. Basic Ball
Kick ball change is an important step to know if you want to do jazz dance swing. Similar to the rock step in other types of swing dancing, you send your foot back but without putting all of your weight on it and without stepping on it entirely. Instead, just shift your weight onto the ball of your foot quickly and either return your foot to its original standing position or kick forward with the same leg. Typically a kick goes with the ball change and is often a repeated step done in the kick, ball change; kick, ball change; kick, ball change pattern on a one, and twp count where the kick happens on the one count, and the ball change happens on the and two counts.
3. Catching a Step
Another important step to know for jazz dance is the catch step. This is a common step used in musicals and in dance videos. The catch step is dramatic but doesn't require a lot of effort. It mostly involves opening up your body into a wide stance. However, different angles and poses create variations of the catch step. To do jazz dance swing, practice the catch step. The count is one and one as you jump each foot out to the side while simultaneously flaring each arm out to the side. Jump out to the balls of your feet and don't come down to your heels until your feet return to their original position. It's sometimes called the A step in aerobics or step aerobics because your body takes the form of the capitalized letter, A. However, you can do the catch step to the front or to the back as well when you do jazz dance swing. You can also cross over to the side with a catch step where you cross a leg over and out in front of you. One of the main things to remember is that arm movement complements leg movement.
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