Hi

I have been doing "ballroom" dancing since the end of last year. Of course I've been doing it all my life as well as my father. We just called it dance music and were playing the standards.

But now there seems to be some differences between dancing American standards and ballroom music.

It now appears to me there is some confusing info out there in regards to what is the right beat and speed to play to some rather vague terms. One term I googled and asked some people in music around here and there were many different answers.

In short I need to know what to play for West Coast Swing and East Coast Swing mostly.

The first request I got for a West Coast Swing, I could tell they knew they were talking to a "musician" and not someone that's taken ballroom dancing. So they said Mustang Sally is done to that. Well I did that and they all went absolutely ape. BUT, what the heck does Mustang Sally got to do with Swing music????

I also went to youtube and checked out west coast swing. They were doing a dance to something that would be under the Dance catagory of styles on a Yamaha. I was a very modern beat. Again, no swing. Looked it up on the wifi whatever the encyclopedia is and there it is talking it came from swing music in the big band days.

So, I am now assuming that west coast swing is more to do with a dance step done at a certain speed, (which I see is between 112- 128), rather than it being swing music. It appears any beat or song will work.

So what do you think.
What can I safely play as west coast swing or east coast swing.

I have no info on east coast swing other than that's what they want. Then I look up online and there is a triple 136-152, doulbe 152-176 and single 176-192.

The above are my biggest question. I am wanting to have something ready for this for Tuseday nite, which means I have to have it ready Monday night.

Then there is the Quick Step. I have a sense what this is and what I could play to it. It shows the speeds to be 188-208. I figure I can take any fast swing, fox, dixie and the like song and go with that.

Does the quick step always stay as a 2-beat or is it ever done as a 4 beat?

My partner that sings and plays trumpet that has been doing ballroom dances at least weekly for at least a dozen years says to me, "what's a quick step"?

Now for foxtrots. Again, assuming people know what they are talking about and not summing all kinds of things together, fox trots were always 2 beat songs, like Guy Lombardo, Lawrence Welk. Usually played medium slow to medium fast. I'm assuming that's what this is, but , the same thing, in ballroom dancing, do they expect it to be a 2 beat, or will 4 beat work.

thanx.

Scott