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The Charleston is a dance, named for the city of Charleston, South Carolina. It was popular in the 1920s, and spawned Lindy Hop in the 1930s. Charleston is danced in 8-count: solo, with a partner, or in groups (usually facing lines).
The rhythm is a traditional one from West Africa; it was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States of America by a 1923 tune called The Charleston by composer/pianist James P. Johnson which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild and became one of the most popular hits of the decade.
When dancing solo or in groups, the hands are often swung forward and back, opposite the direction of the corresponding foot. Often the fingers are held together pointing sideways away from tbe body, leaving the palms parallel to the floor.
Charleston can be danced solo, its simple, flexible basic step making it easy to concentrate on style and musicality.
The default is to dance a basic step. One person will typically then call out a variation (such as turning 360 degrees in place on counts 5-8), which is then done by everyone beginning the next measure and again for the following 2 measures. If the caller doesn't call another step immediately, the dancers return to the basic step. Switching sides is sometimes called, upon which the dancers hop on the left foot across to the other side on counts 5-8, turning 180 degrees to the left.
When dancing in couples, the basic hold is for the lady to stand next to the man on the man's right side. The man holds the lady's right hand with his left. The man's right hand is placed on the lady's waist on her right side; thus he can lead her right side with his hand, in conjunction with his forearm across her lower back. The lady's left hand is placed on the man's right shoulder.
To lead the basic step, then, the man uses his right hand to lead the lady's right side (and thus foot) back as he steps back on his left foot. He then leads her right side forward as he kicks and steps forward on counts 3 and 4. Likewise, the mirror-image lead continues for the second half of the step.
A common formation for dancing in groups is to form two long lines of dancers facing each other. Each dancer should have arms' width of space to himself laterally and the lines should be around 6 feet apart.
A common version of the man's basic step is as follows:
The follower's part when dancing with a partner is the same as the lead's, except that she moves the opposite foot (but in the same direction - NOT the natural opposite as in Waltz where she moves the opposite foot in the opposite direction). IE., she begins by stepping back on her right foot. When dancing tandem style with a partner and in other situations, however, the lady does exactly the same footwork as the man.
Many variations on this footwork are commonly seen, particularly in the size of the steps and height of the kicks. Charleston is danced by some in a very understated, minimalistic style, and by others very energetically.
Among the numerous variations in style, the 1st, 4th, 5th and 8th steps are the most consistent. Counts 5, 6, 7 and 8 simply transfer the right foot from the front to the back, and thus provide lots of room for variation. For instance:
Lead's Footwork:
Lead's Footwork:
In this form, the follow usually mirrors the lead.
Turning:
Kick throughs: (kick variations)
hand to hand:
hand to hand, free spin: Both lead and follow free spin, usually holding hands up.
Scootch: Rock on left, step on right, hop on right, scootch and stand. The scootch means go low and stand up in a smooth motion, which can take 2 or 4 counts. (To Basic?)
The follow usually does the opposite of the lead. When the lead steps forward with his right foot, the follow steps backwards with her left foot.
Basic:
Slide Back:
Turn:
Yo Yo: Move from side-by-side to face-to-face and back.
Double Kicks: Two kicks forward, two kicks backward.
The lead and follow face the same direction, one directly in front of the other. The follow matches the lead's footwork.
Basic:
Girl Spin:
Guy Spin:
Both Spin:
Guy Move to Front: (overhead or free spin)
Girl Move to Front: (overhead or free spin)
Side to Side: Kick through leg work
Barrel Roll:
Half Barrel Roll: (changes direction)
Travelling: (hops) turning
Push Away: Rock, step (push), kick left (turn), step left (face lead), kick right (pull), knee right (turn), kick back right, step right.
To Side by Side and Back:
To Side by Side and Exit: Then Suzy Q. See Basic (dance move) for other moves to exit into.
Russian: (See Aerial (dance move))
Closed to Tandem: (tuck throw out, pull back) (rock step, tuck, turn (throw out + change hands), rock step (pull), step, step (sync in tandem))
Tandem to Open: (free spin)
Imitation: (See Basic (dance move))
Sliding Doors: This is Tandem Charleston kick throughs, except that they kick in alternate directions, and change direction, because the lead pushes follow's hip.
Yo Yo: Write something.
Basic:
Traveling:
Turning:
with slide:
Scare crow:
Foot spin: Circle Foot
Knees:
Circling Variation: Rock, step, knee jump (arms up) and land, land, step back right, slide left, step, step.
Other charleston thingy:
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