Modern Jive is a social partner dance that is one of the easiest partner dance styles to learn. It can be danced anywhere music is playing: bars & nightclubs, parties, weddings, dance events, and so on.
It borrows concepts and ideas from other styles giving it broad appeal to people of all ages and abilities
- It is relatively easy to make progress early on.
- Dancers of different abilities can dance together at classes and social events.
- It can be danced at a great many social functions such as parties, bars, weddings, concerts, even the beach!
- It's a partner dance involving at least one lead and follow.
- Break away dancing is also possible (and enjoyable) for short periods.
- It can be danced to a wide range of music (nearly all with a 4/4 time signature).
- It has looser requirements for footwork.
- Dancers can use the tempo of a song and/or other qualities such as the melody and lyrics.
Many dance styles are created for particular tempos and styles of music. For example, Argentine Tango, Lindy Hop, Rock 'n' Roll, Salsa, West Coast Swing, Zouk, and the ten standard Ballroom styles (Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Quickstep, Viennese Waltz, Rumba, Cha Cha Cha, Jive, Samba & Paso Doble).
They have particular footwork patterns that match the tempo of the music they are commonly danced to. Play a different genre of music and that dance style might not fit. These styles tend to be focussed more on dancing than on people - they're undertaken with proper dance shoes on specific dance surfaces to achieve the specific requirements of a style.
Modern Jive does not have formal footwork - we merely recommend leads initiate with the right foot and follows initiate with the left but it is not fixed in stone.
At more advanced levels we do not need step to the tempo of the music - we can also dance to the melody as well. The wide variety of music and the continuous evolution are just two of the reasons why Modern Jive is always fresh and rewarding.
Click below for specific information about timing and footwork.
"Modern Jive is the English language of dance. It shamelessly 'borrows' from other dance forms to make something more flexible and more fun than previously existed." - Michael
"The best weight management system while having the most fun and the only exercise I am willing to do for hours and hours." - Anita
"...It takes the best pieces of multiple dance forms chucks it through a blender and what comes out is a dance [called Modern Jive]" - Darryl
"AWESOME!!!!" - Stephen
"It's whatever you choose it to be." - Rob
"I wish I'd done this when I was younger!" - lots of people!