Swing dancing is popular with both the young and old. I’m sure these two dancers wouldn’t want to be labeled as either, but they do represent two ends of the spectrum of Swing Dance Champions. Robert Royston is a living legend of the dance, and Alexis Garrish is well on her way to representing swing dance to a whole new generation.
This video brings these two champions together to demonstrate the fun and joy that swing dance offers. To see two of the top jitterbugs on the dancefloor is pure pleasure.
Alexis Garrish was a US Open Swing Dance Champion when she was fifteen years old. Alexis and her dance partner Ryan Boz had only been dancing for a year when they took home the trophy.
Robert Royston is no slouch either, he’s won the US Open Swing Dance Championship four years in a row. He lists his credentials in his popular How Cast Swing Dance Class:
“I’m currently a member of the Living Legends of Dance Society, the California State Swing Dance Hall of Fame and the World Swing Dance Council Hall of Fame.”
These two are the crème de le crème of swing dancing.
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According to The Beautiful Times Blog, “Swing Dance” is a group of dance that developed concurrently with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s, ’30s ’40s and ’50s, although the earliest of these dance forms predate swing jazz music.”
Robert Royston has been teaching these swing dances for years. Royston explains his dance philosophy,
“If you understand some basic swing elements you can put them together a lot like Legos to make up the different style of swing.”
Some of those Lego pieces are defined as walking, touch-stepping, triple-stepping, and kick-ball-changes. You can learn directly from Royston in his Youtube masterclass for Howcast.
John Lindo is the MC who brings these two champs together at his Liberty Swing Dance Championship, a yearly event held in New Jersey. In this video we get a glimpse inside one of the crowd-pleasing attractions of the weekend: The Johnvitational.
This event is “invite-only,” as John brings together the best of the best in swing dancing.
And these two rug-cutters don’t disappoint.
The music choice is quite unique and not an obvious jukebox pick for swing dancing.
Usually, we think of swing dance music with an uptempo beat for quick stepping partners swinging around the dance floor. But Robert chose “Slow Blues” music instead.
Robert explains, “Slow Blues, because this generation can swing.”
One Youtuber commented about the song choice,
“Beautiful – this is the tempo that this dance was made for in my humble opinion, and boy howdy do I miss it!”
The two championship titleholders move to the music and tell a story with their bodies.
These two are not only great dancers, but they put a lot of joy into the movements. You can tell a performance is a cut above the rest when the dancers show emotions on their faces and in their bodies, as if they are telling a story with their dance. Robert and Alexis demonstrate how fun it is to tell a story with their dance.
Youtube comments express their delight in watching winning footwork:
“Now that’s what I call dancing that is pure unspeakable undeniable perfect dancing.”
“Amazing !! So good and a little cute thrown in.”
Watching the award-winning footwork from these two brilliant swing dancers will get you out of your seat and into your dancing shoes.
You might want to get out there and take a swing dance class yourself.
Click the video below and see how champion dancers make it look so easy. And know that in reality they have studied and practiced years to get this good. I’m sure everyone would agree, this practice looks like a lot of fun.
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