Jive
Jive is a very flexible dance since it can be done in a ballroom setting or with a swing band. The most noticeable aspect of jive is its speed. In the tradition of similar dances such as swing and the Lindy hop, it used broad amounts of space and is danced with vigor.
Jive is one of the most popular ballroom dances in the world. It has a light, bouncing quality that makes it look easy, but jive is actually highly challenging to dance. Despite its difficulty, jive dance's rich history and cheerful quality have made it a favorite of professional and social dancers alike.
The development of the Jive dance was alongside jazz and swing music, and it shares a cheerful tempo with these musical forms. Jive is danced in 4/4 time and is characterized by jittery, syncopated movements. The basic step of jive dancing consists of a six-beat pattern in which dancers step forward and back, and then shuffle-step to the left and then to the right. Jive is danced quickly--at a speed of between 32 and 44 bars per minute. Because of its quickness and loose, bouncy quality, the dance faced criticism for being "vulgar" when it first ascended to popularity. By the late 1940s, however, the dance was considered mainstream.
As part of the five International Latin dances. A speed of 44 bars per minute is danced in a competition, although in some cases this is reduced to between 32 and 40 bars per minute.
Jive is most directly related to Swing. This is because it evolved from many of the competitions that were held in American and several parts of Europe during the early 1900's. Jive's music eventually developed its own flavor in the 1950's and 60's. It contains bouncy rhythms and easy melodies. In competitions, partners are often judged on the energy that they give to its performance, in addition to the steps. They are also judged on their interpretation of rhythm and overall performance. Flicks of the foot and kicks should not be mere decoration. They are to be important in the rhythm and timing, and even gestures when used in a certain context. The "moving center" of the dance, in jive's case the handhold, should remain firm. Good coordination is a must, especially when executing sharp turns and difficult hand movements. The majority of Jive’s basic patterns are the same to these of the East Coast Swing with the major difference of highly syncopated rhythm of the Triple Steps (Chasses), which use straight eighths in East Coast and hard swing in Jive.
Jive and East Coast Swing have a lot of common figures, as well as the same music style and tempo. The basic look and feel of Jive high energy, with the legs portraying a pumping action. Both the East Coast Swing and basic Jive consist of two triple steps and a rock step. Jive differs in that the count begins with the rock step, which is counted "1,2." The two triple steps are counted "3 and 4" and "5 and 6."
Jive is a very boppy, energetic, happy dance, with a lot of bending,knee-lifting, and rocking of the hips. Jive is considered to be the fastest of the Latin dances, Jive incorporates lots of kicks and flicks, even twirling of the woman, and doesn't move around the dance floor like other dances. Although Jive dancers may appear to be moving their feet haphazardly in every direction, the feet are actually well-controlled under the body with the knees close together.
In 1968, jive was accepted as the fifth official Latin ballroom dance in the international ballroom dancing community. This event helped jive dancing remain popular in professional dance circuits even as its social popularity waned. It eventually contributed to the development of the simplified social jive taught in dance studios today.
At a tempo range of 200 beats per minute Jive can be danced to swing music and jump blues. Jive can be danced to a variety of upbeat music including Boogie-woogie, Swing and Rock and Roll depending on the style preferred. To get familiarized with the rhythm of the music is the most important thing for beginners.. Listen to the drum line rather than the melody...the drum provides the beat.