Product Description

No experience necessary! The basics of lead and follow West Coast Swing including the sugar push, left side pass, right side pass, outside turn, the cut-off pass, the reverse pass, the tuck turn, the starter step, and much more are all taught from a complete beginner perspective. Whether for a hot night at a cool jazz club or just something fun to do, this volume is for everyone as you will learn to lead and follow West Coast Swing. West Coast Swing for Beginners Volume 1 is professional, easy to follow, designed specifically for beginners and fun for anyone wanting to get started with dance lessons. With nearly 90 minutes of instruction, multiple camera views, and beginner-friendly curriculum, Shawn and Joanna Trautman will build your confidence and help you get moving on the dance floor. Filmed and presented with multiple camera angles and Picture-in-Picture technology, you will be surprised at just how easily you learn with the right instruction. The design of the curriculum and camera placement for the DVDs allows the leaders to do the EXACT movements that Shawn presents, and it allows the followers to mimic Joanna in real time without having to turn away from the screen. In addition to learning along with the instructors with split-screen formatting, you will also get to dance each dance with music alongside the instructors at the end of each section.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31962 in DVD
• Brand: West
• Released on: 2006-11-15
• Rating: Unrated
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Digital Sound, Full length, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

From the Director
This innovative dance instruction DVD teaches the basics and the most essential steps for beginners at an easy-to-follow and steady pace, which is perfect for gift-giving to friends, family, co-workers, or yourself. West Coast Swing for Beginners Volume 1 is best used as a starting point that will help you quickly accelerate your way through the Shawn Trautman Dance Collection in its entirety where you will have your choice of more than 20 highly-rated full-length beginner dance instruction DVDs. Owning this DVD is the equivalent of having your own private instruction at home - over and over and over. If you are looking to learn to dance from proven instructors and not just see flashy moves that are impossible to execute, then any of the Shawn Trautman beginner DVDs are for you.

About the Actor
With nearly two decades of experience, a number of World Champion students to their credit, and their recently published book "Picture Yourself Dancing: Step-by-Step Instruction for Ballroom, Latin, Country, and More", Shawn and Joanna have perfected the basic elements of each dance while specializing in the leading and following aspects which are extremely hard to find. Shawn and Joanna go beyond mere dance steps by including instruction on the basic rhythm, footwork, connection points, and timings, the proper hand connections, tips and drills on compression and leverage, easy-to-implement anchor steps and how to go from one dance position to another to another, seamlessly, as well as other tips and tricks every beginner should know. Shawn and Joanna will demonstrate, explain, and teach you to lead and follow West Coast Swing so you can dance anywhere with anyone, rather than just learning a single step that can only be done with your partner.

Customer Reviews

West Coast Swing for Dummies
My husband and I took a dance class about 2 years ago in preparation for our wedding. We learned the basic steps but after our "first dance", we never used them again. After watching this DVD, we were ready to hit the dance floor once again. The step-by-step directions were easy to follow. The re-cap of what was taught in each section really helped us put it all together. We were all over our carpet - literally cutting a rug. :) The instructors really make it look easy so we found it easy to follow. The title should be West Coast Swing for Dummies. I can't wait to get another DVD to learn a new dance.

West Coast Owned
I've heard it said Shawn Trautman "owns" the West Coast Swing and it's true. This couple nails the instruction of West Coast Swing. This DVD will save you hundreds of dollars in lessons.

I'm no longer intimidated!!
Shawn and Joanna broke it down into basics that I could understand. West Coast Swing always intimidated me before, but not anymore. Easy to follow, and it was as if they were in my living room with me. I recommend this highly.