What is it? | ..does it look like? | Song Samples

What is Blues Dancing?

There are many definitions of Blues Dancing and blues music. We are primarily interested in the forms of music and dance that are occurring in the social partnered Blues dancing scene of today. This form of Blues has been exploding as a dance in its own right across North America and starting to hit the other continents.


"..couples danced the Slow Drag, each couple
improvising their own variations."

Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance
by Marshall Winslow Stearns, Jean Stearns, page 153

What does it look like?

The type of Blues Dancing that we do is centered on very strong partner connection with the basis being pulsing weight changes. The current form of Blues actually evolved out of the Swing/Jazz partner dancing scene, though original Blues Dancing is actually one of the parents to Swing and Jazz. The sense of a dance based on "walking" with deep connection also shares some similarities to Tango, though all three are distinct dances.

Unlike Tango, Blues is driven by a deep pulse found in the music, and this pulse drives the movement as well as the feel or spirit of the dance, which is much "earthier" than the "airy" and light feel of Tango.

We have often described Blues Dancing as similar to a slow swing dance where "hyperconnectedness" is the focus rather than "moves" or footwork. This is, of course, an oversimplification.

Better than words, it might help to actually view some of our video examples

What does it sound like?

With that in mind, here are some samples of some of our favorite songs to hopefully give you an idea of the "Blues" that drives us. Some of it fits in the canonical definition of "Blues Music" and some of it just feels wonderful to Blues Dance to.

Absolute Favorites

More Choices

Playlist

I've also got a longer playlist of some of my favorite songs (without samples)


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