What is Modern Jive?
What is Modern Jive
Modern jive (sometimes called French jive) is a relatively
new phenomenon that has only been going since 1980, mainly
in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It has many of the qualities
of the jitterbug brought from the States during the war but
without the foot steps! It is easy to learn and can be used
for much of the modern music that is about today as well as
rock'n'roll and swing etc. The many organisations that promote
it have basically the same formula: total beginners lesson,
followed by short free-style (anyone dances with anyone),
followed by intermediate class, followed by longer free style.
You don't take lessons to learn modern jive, they are an integral
part of the evening and everybody dances with everybody -
you need not bring a partner - and a beginner will not find
their first time too daunting. It is not a precise dance like
the ballroom jive or most other swing dance but can be used
as a framework for one's own interpretation.
Although there are some slightly
different emphases, most of the organisations offer a very
similar experience and they include Ceroc, Leroc, Lejive,
Mojive etc. Don't be confused by someone asking you if you
do "Ceroc" and look at you strangely when you answer
that you do Jive too. Its like them hearing that a Hoover
is a vacuum cleaner for the first time! Our US C&W cousins
may well recognise this phenomenon as "4-beat swing".
What music can one jive to?
The marvellous thing about jive is that one can dance it to
lots of music, old to new, Swing, Rock'n'roll, Country &
Western electronic, top of the pops etc, lots of which is
played at parties, discos and nightclubs! The important thing
is that there are 4 beats in the bar (ie not a waltz!), there
is a strong beat, about 120 to 180 beats per minute (although
this does not bar one taking up the challenge of dancing faster
or dancing too slowly - but some moves may not look cool).
Where can I learn?
There are many good organisations in many towns. Rather than
list the ones I happen to know, just go to www.uk-jive.co.uk
or www.modernjive.com for a comprehensive list to find out
what's on in your area.
Can I learn just from this
site?
No! This site is designed to supplement the teaching at venues.
What is so great about it?
The evenings are not just dancing, or just teaching, they
are both (excluding some "freestyle" nights which
are just for dancing). You do not need to go with a partner
as the ethos is to dance with lots of people and the classes
rotate partners anyway. It is much quicker to learn than other
dance styles as little is said about the feet. It is very
exhilarating and your fitness will improve in leaps and bounds.
What other types of dancing
are similar?
You might wish to consider:
Lindy-hop (see table below
for differences)
East-coast Swing (6 beat: rock-step triple step triple step)
West-coast Swing (6 beat: rock-step triple step triple step,
lady moving up and down in a line, man darting out of the
way)
Salsa (4/8 beat: left right left pause right left right pause,
hip gyrating, tropical music, more twirly)
Rock'n'roll (6 beat: rock-step toe heel toe heel)
If you want to know how jive differs from swing, click her
LE SWING
Modern jive is the fastest
growing dance phenomenon in the country. This fusion of Jive
and Salsa is easy to learn, sociable and fun, and can be danced
to any music with a regular beat. Le swing DJ's play music
ranging from 40's swing through to current chart hits. A Le
swing evening provides a great way to meet people, have fun
and keep fit.
There is no need to take a
partner with you or set course to enroll on! You can
just turn up to whatever venue you like, as and when you like.
The majority of our evenings
start with a Beginners class, we then go on to an Intermediate
lesson for those who have a grasp of the basic moves and can
learn the more complicated ones and to round off the
evening the DJ plays some great music so you are free to dance
with whoever you like, practice your moves and develop your
style - we call this the Freestyle section.
Modern French Jive History
James Cronin originally devised
the dance for a single fun night out in 1980. Together with
his brother and a friend, they hired Porchester Hall in London,
showed a few friends how to do some moves and then invited
their friends to come along. Those "in the know"
wore pink (the girls) or white (the boys) so that they could
be seen in the crowd and show others how to do the moves.
And for drink, guests helped themselves to orange juice mixed
with ice and lemonade from buckets!
Eighty people attended that
night& . Three months later, word had spread and there
were more than 700 people trying to get into the tightly packed
hall!
Over the next ten years, Ceroc
gradually evolved from a hobby into a business and in 1991
marked the founding of Ceroc Enterprises Ltd, the start of
the first Ceroc Franchise in Norwich and the first official
Ceroc Teacher Training.  |
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