Six-Beat Rhythm

The second rhythm of Lindy Hop is its six-beat rhythm, used for a variety of spinning, turning and travelling moves. This rhythm, and the moves that go with it, are the parts of Lindy Hop that have most been taken and adapted for other dances that derive from Lindy Hop (for example, Ballroom Jive, Boogie-Woogie and East Coast Swing are all based on this rhythm).

The six-beat rhythm has a rhythm structure that can be summarized as "mirrored even-odd-odd". In more detail:

The leader and follower use the same rhythm of steps but on opposite (mirrored) feet—if the leader steps on his left foot, the follower will be stepping on her right foot (and vice versa).
The leader starts with his weight on his right foot; the follower starts with her weight on her left foot.
Both dancers perform an even number of steps on the first two beats of an six-beat phrase.
Both dancers perform an odd number of steps on the second two beats of an six-beat phrase.
Both dancers perform an odd number of steps on the last two beats of an six-beat phrase.

Graphical representation of six-beat rhythm

In the most common version, the dancers perform two steps for the even pairs of beats, and they perform a triple step for the odd pairs of beats. A complete six-beat sequence is then:

Count			Leader	Follower
1		2	Left, Right	Right, Left
3	&	4	Left, Right, Left	Right, Left, Right
5	&	6	Right, Left, Right	Left, Right, Left

Many of the moves that use this rhythm involve a turn or a spin on the final two beats, so it is worth practising a 360° rotation in combination with this footwork. This applies more to followers than leaders, but leaders are not completely immune from the need to spin 360° on the spot using a triple step.