Get to Know the Jitterbug

A fun, lively, and great dance to learn is Swing dancing. With its easy and playful moves, Swing dancing will leave you coming back for more. Just like with many other dances, there are several styles of Swing dancing. One style that you can learn is the Jitterbug.

The Jitterbug is a Swing dance that was popular during the 1920’s that was influenced by the Charleston and Lindy Hop. It was during this time that swing bands also became popular. During a concert at the Paramount Theater, teens started dancing in the aisles in a way that one newspaper reporter described as “jitterbugging.” What started as a slang term for an alcoholic’s tremor (the jitters) became the new name for a jerky type of dancing that we know today as the Jitterbug.

The Swing dance moves of the Jitterbug gave it its name because of the left and right, front and back rocking motions that make up the dance. Although the basics of the Jitterbug sound very simple, they can also become very advanced. Once you progress through the Jitterbug, you can learn more advance moves like spins, turns, and even aerials!

Like many other dances that were just starting out, the jitterbug was pushed aside and regarded as too suggestive and obscene. It wasn’t until the 1930’s and 1940’s that the Jitterbug broke through the society’s views of proper and became a social dance. The Jitterbug made its way across the United States and even into Europe. By the mid-1940’s, the Jitterbug mad a great breakthrough and was even considered to be a form of Ballroom dancing.

Come into Dance FX Studios in Mesa, Arizona, and learn how to Swing dance! Dance FX Studios has both private Jitterbug Swing lessons and group Jitterbug dance classes. Take advantage of our introductory offer of $40 for an hour-long private Jitterbug dance lesson to get started with Swing dancing today.