We have been teaching since 2006 at various venues in Newcastle, including; Speers Point RSL, Pippis, The Germania Club, Cardiff Panthers, Adamstown Uniting Church, The Newcastle Macedonian Cultural Centre and currently at Kahibah Sports Club.

We began teaching linear Modern Jive in 2006, without signals, to a musical count, with one foot back (rather than step/close). Although the dance is generally taught in class, in a line (slot), in the past it was quite often danced in a rotational fashion on the social floor and with signals, rather than consistently being (kinaesthetic) lead and follow connections based dance. 

(Please note this is not a criticism of past or other current approaches, rather, a brief, educational and historical contrast).

Linear Modern Jive still allows rotational moves but dancers return to the slot on completion of that rotational move. Slots can change angle too but tend to return to the group slot direction, including to maximise space on the floor and for safety reasons. There are other more technical reasons which are beyond the scope of this discussion.

Music was much faster back then too. Regardless of the style of Modern Jive or the music you dance it to, Modern Jive has always been lots of fun and continues to evolve over time technically while keeping the fun focus and ease of learning . As the music has changed, and we aim to dance to the music, the dance had no choice but to change (assuming we value dancing to the music!).

Modern Jive and partner dancing more generally is life enhancing. Countless people recount stories about having had their lives improved through learning to Modern Jive, in many ways, from health improvements, (physical and psychological- including improved mood, cognition and confidence), to social connection- from friends to marriages and everything in-between!! What other past time offers all this wrapped up in one night?!

Several years ago we introduced West Coast Swing, which is another super-fun style that opens up an array of awesome slower songs to dance to, West Coast Swing has influenced many Modern Jive schools, including, stylistically and technically.

Here's a little bit about West Coast Swing including a link to help you improve and a video of its history from a legend of the dance, Robert Royston, here.

Australian West Coast Swing is forever in debt to Modern Jive, which was the seed for the growth of the Aussie West Coast Swing scene. We feel feel privileged to teach both styles, providing an ongoing opportunity to keep the social community intertwined. After all, the vast majority of participants are social dancers - focussing on fun and the all-important social networking aspect of dance, which we continue to value very highly! 

I hope the above helps the newer dancers and perhaps some of the more experienced ones understand a little bit more about danceVibe's evolution and the dances we teach. Any questions about either style, the learning process, dance etiquette or anything at all please let me know. 

Happy dancing!