Charleston (dance)

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).

Solo

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 the body, leaving the palms parallel to the floor.

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Charleston can be danced solo, its simple, flexible basic step making it easy to concentrate on style and musicality.

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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.

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