Charleston

What is Charleston?

The Charleston was a dance craze in the early 1920's, done to fast jazz music. It all began with a stage show featuring the new dance, and eventually evolved to become a huge dance craze across North America.

Originally Charleston was done without a partner--what we call "solo" Charleston, but quickly people began dancing the Charleston together:

Solo Charleston was very much the Hip Hop of the 1920's, a dance that was literally danced on the streets, as well as in speakeasies and other dance establishments.
Partner Charleston was the natural development of the dance to include a partner. Partner Charleston became extremely popular, to the point where it was seen in the movies and enjoyed in many dance halls across the continent.
Breakaway and Lindy Charleston: The Charleston gave way to the Breakaway, a similar dance, that eventually became the Lindy Hop. Lindy Hop preserved many of the original Charleston movements and added many more signature Charleston variations, such as tandem Charleston.

Charleston today

Among Lindy Hoppers worldwide, a greater interest in Charleston, in particular Solo Charleston, has been enjoyed over the last few years. Dancers find that learning Solo Charleston helps them express themselves better when dancing Lindy Hop with a partner.

Charleston in Ottawa with Swing Dynamite

If you're looking to start dancing Charleston in Ottawa, you can start with our Swing I class, where we cover Charleston along with simple Lindy Hop basics, and show how to put them together. We teach Charleston in every course of our Swing series from Swing I to IV, and we also offer special "Crazy Charleston" classes for more advanced partner Charleston, as well as Solo Charleston classes! Sign up for classes here.

Charleston Workshops

If you're interested in Charleston, check out any of our Lindy Hop events, including Swing Explosion and the Ottawa Lindy Bomb.