Article originally written for submission to Jive Magazine - sadly, that magazine is no longer published.

Intoducution - Let's get this one out of the way, the dance has changed so much, Modern Jive needs a new name. It's the "Jive" bit that's so very wrong - and I'm not so sure we can carry on using the word "Modern" when it's been around for over 30 years! Adding "Smooth" just makes it worse, although it does describe the feel of the dance - it's mostly semantics, but remove the connection to "jive" and the word "smooth" is redundant if you're dancing correctly - like saying "Rubbery Rubber" or "Glassy Glass" - more on this later. 

To my eyes as a dancer, trained in many styles of dance, Modern Jive as it's currently danced is like a lively party dance which grew from the sensual rumba - it would be so much easier to compose this article if that were the case! 

 It Started with Rock 'n' Roll - What is currently called "Smooth Modern Jive" has it's roots in Modern Jive, obviously. Modern Jive was a reaction to changing music. Rock 'n' Roll jive which along around the middle of the last century and was danced to fast Rock 'n' Roll music, again, obviously, But what is not so obvious is that Rock 'n' Roll music is often slow music that's played and danced 8 bass beats to the bar to make it fast music. Even less obviously, Rock 'n' Roll Jive is danced every second bass beat to make it a slow dance to fast music - take a look at this Rock 'n' Roll competition. The dancers are mostly changing their weight every second beat and adding a tap or pressure-step - the bouncing hand is mosty marking all the bass beats in a lively way.


How is Modern Jive Different? Modern Jive came about when the music slowed down. It is a faster dance done to the slower music of disco and pop. When you watch older videos of Modern Jive or traditional LeRoc the Rock 'n' Roll roots are there for anyone to see. Take a look at this clip from an old "Learn To Jive" course, originally published on VHS in the '90s.



When I entered the Modern Jive scene in early '97 the dance was similar to the above video, fairly unstructured and taught mostly by self-taught, unqualified dance teachers with little or no dance background - the best qualified person I visited had an aerobics background - the one after that had a background in building ... 

.. there was also mantra of "no footwork", "do what feels right" and a total lack of consistency within a single teachers lessons and especially between different teachers - in some areas of the country this is still the case. Many of those teaching Modern Jive seemed to change the rules during the course of a lesson and from week to week. To add to the confusion, each teacher seemed to be teaching a slightly different dance. Most lessons were based on moves rather than teaching students how to move or how those moves fit the structure of the music. The result was that the majority of people danced Modern Jive too far apart and in a very bouncy way which seemed to string a load of bad dance habits into a dance which was great fun, but very tiring and, in hindsight, with an unacceptable risk of injury and/or repetitive strain injury to one or both partners. Why so far apart? The inconsistent footwork meant you needed to stay away from your partner's feet as you had no idea where they'd be! Why so bouncy? Who knows? Perhaps it was exuberance. But I think it was bouncy because it was bouncy, no other reason - maybe it was a hangover from Rock 'n' Roll.

Speaking personally, I loved it! I went along with the whole mad, unstructured dance of Modern JIve, disregarded all the rules of dance I'd learned in more than 3 decades lessons and threw myself into the party. I bounced, overturned, had my hands too high, chin over my toes, danced jive with heel leads and stuck out my bottom - Doris Myers, my old ballroom and Latin American teacher, God rest her soul, would have been horrified! I'd always enjoyed dancing, won some disco dancing contests in my late teens and early twenties, but hadn't danced for fun while the family was growing up. I'd just gone to dance lessons but not really danced for joy - finding Modern Jive in middle age and being able to dance all night felt like being the dog in this picture.

Women at Modern Jive dances, very kindly, said "you're good". And, predictably, my manly ego meant that I believed them. I asked my modern jive teachers about techniques I'd been taught in the past. Things like "ball-flat" footwork, frame and timing - but was met with a blank stare or a comment "there's no rules"! So mostly I just got on and danced, danced, danced!

As a previously successful disco dance competitor I looked for competitions, entered the 1997 Modern Jive Champs at the Hammersmith Palais, got knocked out in the second round and had an epiphany. The majority of the competitors had the same bouncy, overturning/no frame style of dance as I'd been taught by the dance teacher with the aerobics background. But one couple stood out, Nigel Anderson and Nina Daines. I was blown away by their dancing and could see all those rules of dance being  applied.

These two, particularly Nina who is also a full time dance teacher, are properly trained dancers - they're mixing in other dances, but the majority of the performance is easily recognised as modern jive. However, Nigel confessed to me that his Modern Jive journey was very similar to mine. I even found a VHS video of the previous year's competition with Nigel bouncing and overturning like a good 'un - I've promised Nigel that the film will not see the light of day - at least not from me!

Wind the clock forward 5 years and I'd revisited my lessons in Latin American partner dancing and simply applied that to my modern jive. In one year I got into the finals of every Modern Jive competition I entered, including Blackpool, and was voted "Champion of Champions" at LeRoc 2000 in Weston Supermare! I also started to get invited to teach, perform and judge at dance holidays and competitions around the country. At one dance holiday I met another dance teacher, David Plummer, I prompted his own epiphany. Here's what he wrote on facebook about our first encounter in 2002 possibly 2003

".. a while ago at Camber Sands I saw 3 men dancing differently to the rest of the 1700 dancers there. They stood out to me. I approached one and asked what style he was dancing. He told me it was Modern Jive. My reply was, “it looks nothing like what I do” to which he replied “That’s because you’re doing it wrong”. He then proceeded to tell me all the flaws in my dancing… which I took on the chin as I had asked him. His name was Andy McGregor." 

I was at Camber Sands Holiday Park teaching, performing a cabaret and judging a dance competition.  Like many a convert, Lazy Dave has gone on to evangelize and introduce his "discovery" of "smooth" jive around t he UK and Europe - Lazy Dave had come to Modern Jive with no dance background and had a very steep learning curve. He had real difficulty believing that "smooth jive" is just correct partner dancing, nothing special, unique or new. Of course, the techniques I showed Dave are being taught at every ballroom and Latin American dance class in your nearest town. I didn't invent them, just passed on what I had been taught by more knowledgeable dance teachers.

Here's a clip of Lazy Dave teaching a smooth jive lesson. The lady's footwork when travelling is RLRL on the 1234 and Dave's footwork is sometimes a weight change on every beat showing body leads and at other times a pressure step variation with arm leads while the lady travels and Dave's weighted foot stays in place and he does a stylish tap or hitch to mark the beat while his hand follows the lady and his elbow moves away from his CPB.


 
Finally (phew I hear you say!) to the reason I think "Smooth" is also wrong. It's not "smooth" compared to other dances done with proper dance technique - it's smooth compared to bouncy dancing with bad dance technique. What is called "Smooth Modern Jive" is just partner dancing which follows the established rules of partner dancing - if you prefix correctly danced Modern Jive with the word "smooth" then you also have to call every partner dance smooth, as in Smooth Rumba, Smooth Foxtrot, Smooth Waltz, etc.The dance which is wrong is badly danced Modern Jive - the dance which some people call "Smooth Modern Jive" or simply "Smooth Jive" is a simple dance with specific footwork for the lady and a couple of simple variations/options for the man. Jive is the "Amrican" bit of Latin American and there's already rules for that group of dances.

I didn't invent the rules, just applied them to a dance with no rules taught by bogus dance teachers with no dance training and no qualifications - with no qualifications and no dance background, are they really teaching dance at all? Or is it all smoke and mirrors from some very charismatic bluffers? Of course, some unqualified dance teachers are fine. But how can you tell as a dance student? And why should they get away without doing their teaching exams when the rest of us go through it? Read the associated article "Bogus Dance Teachers in Modern Jive" for my full rant!

The use of the word "smooth" was originally used to differentiate certain Modern Jive lessons from the bouncy, overturning, too-far-apart dance which applied none, or very few, of the rules of dance. To my mind modern jive danced "smooth" is another way of saying it's danced with regard to the established rules of Latin American partner dancing - nothing special or new. Having said that, I say we teach a smooth version of Modern Jive at our dance classes as a way of showing we're different.

Modern Jive in it's "smooth" form is still danced to pop music, but it's a more gentle dance which suits more expressive music as well as the popular music played at parties. The danger with smoothing out your jive is that it can become a bit boring - after all, to a bouncy jiver, being smooth is mostly about what you don't do - it's the use of what's going on in the music that keeps it interesting.

In conclusion, it's not Modern, it's been around for decades, it's nothing like jive and saying it's smooth doesn't make it any different from just about every other partner dance. In short, it needs a new name.


Notes: 

This piece is written for the more experienced Modern Jiver who wants to dance more smoothly, look and feel better, get less tired and hot and, of paramount importance, reduce the risk of injury. These tips are not aimed at novice dancers - they may only become meaningful at certain points in your dance journey and you may benefit from re-visiting this page from time-to-time during your dance journey. 

These tips will be a useful reminder if you attend our Rocsters dance classes and give you the opportunity to read them all in once place. I believe they should be applied by all Modern Jive teachers. However, we are regularly visited by badly served students from other classes where they have not been taught these simple and not-so-simple basics! Upon investigation I have often found those dancers have been taught to dance by unqualified dance teachers - hence the rant at the end of this piece!

For ease of reading, for "lead" and "follow" the words "man and "lady" have been used. This use of "man" and "lady" may seem incorrect as the counterpart of "Lady" is "Lord". Modern usage of the word "lady" seems to have the meaning "woman of good character" - the counterpart of this is "gentleman" which seems the wrong word to describe a male dance lead - as do "male" and "female" unless talking about sexing stick insects! When teaching in person I prefer to to use the terms "guys" and "girls" as they fit one beat when marking movement in time time with the music. However these words look wrong and ambiguous when written down. There's probably nothing that's both succinct and politically correct - partner dancing is still a minefield of tradition sprinkled with political incorrectness - hopefully this offends nobody except the over-sensitive.