Side Charleston Spike

This move alters the shape of the Side Charleston in two ways. First, the leader brings the follower round in front of him so they are facing each other for half of the move rather than being side by side. Second, the "spike" on beat 5 has a different style to the Side Charleston: the feet are pointed rather than kicked, the dancers' bodies are lowered. This is emphasized by the dancers freezing in place for the following beat.

left side view right side view facing view
1. M:BL W:BR Start with the follower standing on the leader's right, side by side, facing in the same direction. The leader takes a step backward on his left foot, momentarily rocking his weight back onto that foot. The follower takes a step backward on her right foot.
2. M:RR W:RL The leader replaces his weight on his right foot, rocking back forwards. The follower replaces her weight on her left foot.
3. M:KfL W:KfR2L The leader performs a kick forward with his left foot, bringing the follower in front of him with his right hand. The follower performs a kick forward with her right foot, turning 90° to her left. (image: direction of lead)
4. M:eFL W:FR2L The leader takes a step slightly forward on his left foot, moving his right hand to the follower's left side. The follower takes a step forward on her right foot, continuing to turn another 90° to her left, now facing the leader.
5. M:PfR W:PbL The leader points forward with his right foot, extending his leg under the follower's body and pushing his left hand forwards, bending over slightly. The follower points backward with her left foot, while bending right knee so her body is lowered.
7. M:TR W:TL3R The leader closes his right foot to his left foot. The follower closes her left foot to her right foot, turning almost 180° to her right, standing up straight again.
 
 
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Welcome

Welcome to an incomplete book about Lindy Hop.

I wrote the text here five years ago, based on my notes from when I was originally learning Lindy Hop in the mid-1990s. My original plan was to take a large number of illustrative photographs, which would make the bare text much more comprehensible.

However, that was five years ago and I've not gotten as far as taking a single photograph. So rather than waiting any longer, I thought it worth releasing the text as-is, in case it's useful to anyone else.

I'd interested to hear any feedback, but unfortunately I can't promise to do much about it.

And maybe one day I'll get as far as illustrating the book, and creating the originally-intended printed version:

This book is dedicated to the memory of Frankie Manning (1914-2009), Ambassador of Lindy Hop.

David Drysdale
November 2012

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