The Jive

The Basic Requirements of the Jive

• When watching the jive we should feel that we are being transported back to the 30's
• A very fast dance. There must be no softness, with lots of sharp action
• There should be lots of kicks and flicks. These should be executed with a beautifully pointed toe and sharp action
• Kick - comes from the hip
• Flick - comes from the knee
• The dance should be full of lots of bright, lively, fast movements with mountains of energy
• Jive is non progressive and doesn't move around the dance floor like other dances
• Change of Places - when the couple change sides
• American Spin - when the man lets go of the lady and lets her spin on her own
• Pivots - (also in quickstep - see notes)
• The feet/legs should be under the body - the knees should always be close together
• There will be a core heartbeat that runs through the choice of music - which doesn't let up
• Loads of twirling the women
• Its more inline with the music, and seems to follow the rhythm of the music.

Jive - Basic step

MAN

 

Step	Count	Q/S	Feet	Notes
1	1	Slow	Left foot back	1/8 turn to left
2	2	Slow	Replace weight to right foot	-
3	3	Quick	Left foot site	1/8 turn to right
4	&	Quick	Right foot closes to left foot	-
5	4	Slow	Left foot side	-
6	1	Quick	Right foot side	-
7	&	Quick	Left foot closes to right foot	-

LADY

 

Step	Count	Q/S	Feet	Notes
1	1	Slow	Right foot back	1/8 turn to right
2	2	Slow	Replace weight to left foot	-
3	3	Quick	Right foot site	1/8 turn to left
4	&	Quick	Left foot closes to right foot	-
5	4	Slow	Right foot side	-
6	1	Quick	Left foot side	-
7	&	Quick	Right foot closes to left foot	-
8	2	Slow	Left foot side	-