Beats Per Minute (BPM)

What are Beats Per Minute (BPM)?

Swing dancers often refer to the tempos of the music they dance to according to how many beats are played in a minute. Each dance has its sweet spot in terms of tempos:

Blues Dancing - Blues dancing includes the entire range of blues dancing tempos, from slow blues below 90bpm, to faster blues even above 200bpm. However most blues dancers tend to favour the slower songs.
West Coast Swing - The sweet spot for WCS is from about 70bpm to 120bpm, although different areas have their preferences for slower or faster WCS. Beyond 120bpm it takes a lot of skill to preserve the look and feel of WCS technique.
Lindy Hop - While Lindy Hop is extremely versatile in terms of tempos, the sweet spot for Lindy Hop is between about 150bpm and 200bpm for most social dancers. Dancing Lindy Hop above about 230bpm requires a certain degree of skill, and the very best dancers can manage up to 330bpm. It also takes skill to dance Lindy Hop to much slower tempos.
Balboa - Balboa is one of the most versatile dances in terms of tempos. It's possible to dance Balboa to tempos as slow as 120bpm, although Balboa has a particular reputation for making fast dancing effortless, and Balboa dancers can manage tempos of 300bpm or more.
Collegiate Shag - Collegiate Shag has a particular reputation for high tempos. Shag simply doesn't work below about 150bpm, but it starts to shine above 200bpm and at blazing tempos of 330bpm or more, it rivals Balboa as one of the few dances that still looks good!