Swing dance lessons in Fort Lauderdale
THE DANCE CIRCLE
Home / Dances / Swing
Swing.

Swing Dance Lessons in Fort Lauderdale

From classic 6-count East Coast to the smooth slot of West Coast — the dances that built American social dancing.

Quick facts
Origin
United States, 1920s onward
Music
Big band, blues, R&B, modern pop in 4/4 time
Difficulty
Beginner-friendly
Good for
Singles, Couples, Social
What you'll learn

The first six lessons, roughly.

  1. 01

    Basic 6-count rhythm and rock-step

  2. 02

    Lead and follow connection in open hold

  3. 03

    Underarm turns and pretzels

  4. 04

    Triple-step footwork

  5. 05

    Musicality — riding the swing rhythm

  6. 06

    Adapting the basic to different songs and tempos

Sub-styles

Variants you might explore, one at a time.

  • East Coast Swing

    The classic 6-count Swing — rock-step and two triple-steps. Danced to jazz, blues, and rock'n'roll. The most common Swing learned first.

  • West Coast Swing

    Smooth, danced in a slot, with a stretchy elastic connection. Set to contemporary R&B and pop, this is the modern competitive Swing form.

  • Hustle

    The disco-era 70s partner dance. Fast, spinny, danced to four-on-the-floor disco and modern dance music.

  • Night Club Two Step

    Slow-tempo Swing for ballads and slow pop. Sometimes called 'California Two Step.' Easy entry point and lovely for weddings.

Music & venues

Where you'll actually dance.

Artists we put on
Frank Sinatra Glenn Miller Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Postmodern Jukebox
Local nights
  • Old School Square (Delray Beach — swing nights)
  • South Florida West Coast Swing socials
About the dance

About Swing

Swing covers a family of American partner dances that started in the 1920s and never really stopped evolving. The original Lindy Hop came out of Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom in the late 1920s. As the music shifted — from big-band jazz to rock’n’roll, then to disco, then to modern R&B and pop — the dance adapted. The result today is a handful of related styles that share a basic feel but suit different music and different moods.

At The Dance Circle, when someone asks for “Swing lessons,” we usually start by figuring out which Swing they mean, or which music they want to dance to. East Coast Swing is the default entry point because it works with the widest range of music and is the easiest to pick up. West Coast Swing is the modern competitive form, smoother and more nuanced. Hustle is the spinny, disco-era cousin. Night Club Two Step is the slow-ballad partner dance that almost no one knows by name, but that makes weddings dramatically easier.

People learn Swing for a lot of reasons. Some want a wedding first dance. Some grew up watching old movies and want to dance to Frank Sinatra. Some discovered West Coast Swing at a competition and got obsessed. Whichever door you came through, there is a Swing style that fits.

What it feels like to dance

The Swing family shares a rhythmic feel: a bouncy, syncopated quality where the second beat of each pair is slightly delayed. That is what “swing” means as a verb. Once you feel it in the music, your body wants to move that way.

East Coast Swing is fundamentally cheerful. Rock-step, triple, triple. Underarm turns, simple passes, room to play. West Coast Swing feels completely different — slower, with a long elastic connection in the arms, and the follow traveling back and forth in a “slot” while the lead stays mostly in place. Hustle is fast and circular, lots of spins, with the lead and follow trading places constantly. Night Club Two Step is almost a slow waltz feel, just walking with sway.

The lead-follow connection in Swing is usually in open hold (hands only, not closed embrace), which makes it more relaxed than Tango or close-hold Bachata. There is room to breathe.

Who it suits best

For couples, Swing is one of the most practical dances to learn. East Coast Swing works at almost any wedding playing music from the last seventy years. Night Club Two Step covers the slow songs. Between the two, you can dance most receptions and have a great time.

For singles, the Swing scene runs differently from Salsa. There are dedicated Swing socials and dances, plus a competitive West Coast Swing circuit that goes nationwide. The community is friendly and the etiquette is welcoming to newer dancers.

For wedding couples specifically, Swing is the dance we recommend most often when the song they have chosen is not naturally a waltz or a Foxtrot. If the song has any swing feel, Swing fits. If it doesn’t, we’ll point you toward Night Club Two Step instead. Either way, Swing material adapts to almost any tempo or mood.

Swing also works for people who have tried a more structured dance like Ballroom and found it too rigid. The improvisational element is closer to Salsa, but the music is broader. You can dance Swing to Sinatra, to Bruno Mars, to swing revival, to almost anything with a backbeat.

Music & where to dance it

For East Coast Swing, start with Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Ella Fitzgerald. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Cherry Poppin’ Daddies for the 90s swing revival. Postmodern Jukebox if you want modern pop songs rearranged in swing style. For West Coast Swing, the music is mostly contemporary R&B and pop — Bruno Mars, Adele, Ed Sheeran, John Mayer.

In Florida, the West Coast Swing scene has dedicated socials in Boca Raton, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale, plus regional events that pull dancers from across the state. East Coast Swing tends to show up at general partner-dance nights, retro events at venues like Old School Square in Delray Beach, and weekend dance parties at various studios.

Home Dances Swing
Dance style
Swing Dance Lessons in Fort Lauderdale

From classic 6-count East Coast to the smooth slot of West Coast — the dances that built American social dancing.

Swing dance lessons in Fort Lauderdale
The dance
Swing.
Origin
United States, 1920s onward
Music
Big band, blues, R&B, modern pop in 4/4 time
Difficulty
Beginner-friendly
Good for
Singles, Couples, Social
What you'll learn

The first six lessons, roughly.

  1. 01

    Basic 6-count rhythm and rock-step

  2. 02

    Lead and follow connection in open hold

  3. 03

    Underarm turns and pretzels

  4. 04

    Triple-step footwork

  5. 05

    Musicality — riding the swing rhythm

  6. 06

    Adapting the basic to different songs and tempos

Sub-styles

Variants you might explore, one at a time.

  • East Coast Swing

    The classic 6-count Swing — rock-step and two triple-steps. Danced to jazz, blues, and rock'n'roll. The most common Swing learned first.

  • West Coast Swing

    Smooth, danced in a slot, with a stretchy elastic connection. Set to contemporary R&B and pop, this is the modern competitive Swing form.

  • Hustle

    The disco-era 70s partner dance. Fast, spinny, danced to four-on-the-floor disco and modern dance music.

  • Night Club Two Step

    Slow-tempo Swing for ballads and slow pop. Sometimes called 'California Two Step.' Easy entry point and lovely for weddings.

Music & venues

Where you'll actually dance.

Artists we put on
Frank Sinatra Glenn Miller Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Postmodern Jukebox
Local nights
  • Old School Square (Delray Beach — swing nights)
  • South Florida West Coast Swing socials
Ready when you are
Forty-five quiet minutes, just Swing.
Book Your Swing Intro
About the dance

About Swing

Swing covers a family of American partner dances that started in the 1920s and never really stopped evolving. The original Lindy Hop came out of Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom in the late 1920s. As the music shifted — from big-band jazz to rock’n’roll, then to disco, then to modern R&B and pop — the dance adapted. The result today is a handful of related styles that share a basic feel but suit different music and different moods.

At The Dance Circle, when someone asks for “Swing lessons,” we usually start by figuring out which Swing they mean, or which music they want to dance to. East Coast Swing is the default entry point because it works with the widest range of music and is the easiest to pick up. West Coast Swing is the modern competitive form, smoother and more nuanced. Hustle is the spinny, disco-era cousin. Night Club Two Step is the slow-ballad partner dance that almost no one knows by name, but that makes weddings dramatically easier.

People learn Swing for a lot of reasons. Some want a wedding first dance. Some grew up watching old movies and want to dance to Frank Sinatra. Some discovered West Coast Swing at a competition and got obsessed. Whichever door you came through, there is a Swing style that fits.

What it feels like to dance

The Swing family shares a rhythmic feel: a bouncy, syncopated quality where the second beat of each pair is slightly delayed. That is what “swing” means as a verb. Once you feel it in the music, your body wants to move that way.

East Coast Swing is fundamentally cheerful. Rock-step, triple, triple. Underarm turns, simple passes, room to play. West Coast Swing feels completely different — slower, with a long elastic connection in the arms, and the follow traveling back and forth in a “slot” while the lead stays mostly in place. Hustle is fast and circular, lots of spins, with the lead and follow trading places constantly. Night Club Two Step is almost a slow waltz feel, just walking with sway.

The lead-follow connection in Swing is usually in open hold (hands only, not closed embrace), which makes it more relaxed than Tango or close-hold Bachata. There is room to breathe.

Who it suits best

For couples, Swing is one of the most practical dances to learn. East Coast Swing works at almost any wedding playing music from the last seventy years. Night Club Two Step covers the slow songs. Between the two, you can dance most receptions and have a great time.

For singles, the Swing scene runs differently from Salsa. There are dedicated Swing socials and dances, plus a competitive West Coast Swing circuit that goes nationwide. The community is friendly and the etiquette is welcoming to newer dancers.

For wedding couples specifically, Swing is the dance we recommend most often when the song they have chosen is not naturally a waltz or a Foxtrot. If the song has any swing feel, Swing fits. If it doesn’t, we’ll point you toward Night Club Two Step instead. Either way, Swing material adapts to almost any tempo or mood.

Swing also works for people who have tried a more structured dance like Ballroom and found it too rigid. The improvisational element is closer to Salsa, but the music is broader. You can dance Swing to Sinatra, to Bruno Mars, to swing revival, to almost anything with a backbeat.

Music & where to dance it

For East Coast Swing, start with Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Ella Fitzgerald. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Cherry Poppin’ Daddies for the 90s swing revival. Postmodern Jukebox if you want modern pop songs rearranged in swing style. For West Coast Swing, the music is mostly contemporary R&B and pop — Bruno Mars, Adele, Ed Sheeran, John Mayer.

In Florida, the West Coast Swing scene has dedicated socials in Boca Raton, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale, plus regional events that pull dancers from across the state. East Coast Swing tends to show up at general partner-dance nights, retro events at venues like Old School Square in Delray Beach, and weekend dance parties at various studios.

Honest answers

Swing questions,
 answered before you book.

Is swing dance hard to learn for a beginner?
East Coast Swing is one of the easier partner dances to start with — it's a single 6-count: rock-step, triple, triple, and you can dance a basic to almost anything with a backbeat. West Coast Swing is a different story; it's smoother and slotted, and most people find it one of the harder dances to get comfortable in because of the elastic connection and timing. That's why we almost always start beginners on East Coast and add West Coast later if you want it. In a private 45-minute lesson we go at your pace, so the curve is a lot gentler than a crowded group class.
What's the difference between East Coast and West Coast Swing, and which should I learn first?
East Coast Swing is the cheerful, bouncy, circular one — rock-step and two triple-steps, danced to jazz, blues, and rock'n'roll. West Coast Swing is slower and danced in a straight "slot" with a long stretchy connection, set to contemporary R&B and pop like Bruno Mars or Adele. Almost everyone learns East Coast first because it picks up faster and fits the widest range of music, then moves to West Coast once the basics feel natural. When you book swing lessons here we'll figure out which one you actually want based on the music you like.
How long does it take to learn swing for a wedding first dance?
For most couples a clean, comfortable swing first dance comes together in roughly 5 to 10 private lessons, so we like to see you start two to three months before the wedding. If your song has any swing feel, East Coast Swing fits and is quick to get presentable; if it's a slow ballad, we'll usually steer you to Night Club Two Step, which is the slow-tempo swing almost nobody knows by name but that makes weddings dramatically easier. Lessons are 45 minutes, one-on-one, and we build the routine around your actual song.
Do I need a partner to learn swing?
No — every swing lesson here is private and one-on-one, so your instructor is your partner for the lesson and you learn both the lead and follow timing of the basic. That actually helps with swing specifically, because so much of East Coast and West Coast is in the lead-follow connection through the hands in open hold. You'll be ready to use it at a swing social or a wedding whether or not you bring someone. Lots of our swing students start solo and dance plenty once they're out on the floor.
What should I wear and what shoes work for swing lessons?
Wear something you can move in — swing has a lot of underarm turns, triple-steps, and spins, so nothing that restricts your legs or shoulders. For shoes, skip rubber-soled sneakers; they grip the floor and fight the pivots and triple-step footwork, and they're rough on your knees. A smooth-soled leather shoe or anything that slides cleanly is ideal, especially for the turns in Hustle and the slotted travel in West Coast Swing. We're at 3000 N. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale and the floor is built for it.
Is swing dancing good exercise, and where can I dance it socially around Fort Lauderdale?
It is — East Coast Swing and Hustle especially get your heart going, since they're fast and full of turns, passes, and spins, so a couple of hours of social swing is a genuine cardio workout that doesn't feel like one. For dancing it out, South Florida has a real scene: dedicated West Coast Swing socials in Boca Raton, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale, plus retro and big-band nights at spots like Old School Square in Delray Beach where East Coast Swing fits right in. The swing community tends to be welcoming to newer dancers, which makes it an easy first social dance to actually go out and use.
Book your swing intro

Forty-five quiet minutes, just Swing and the music.