At the Hungry Brain last night, the Paul Asaro Quartet played a set featuring Natalie Scharf. Joel Paterson was on guitar and Jeff Parker on bass. I love this quartet.

A few songs in, I started thinking about 6 counts. The Lindy Hop instruction I learned went through began with a 6 count basic: quick-quick/slow/slow. The quick-quick is a rock-step. The slow-slow becomes a triple step, with a swung rhythm which delays the middle step slightly. For instructional purposes, I like this choice. It gives new dancers a foothold. In a partner dance, it provides a simple, shared pattern so dancers can get out on the social dance floor right away.

As one gets to intermediate classes, instructors introduce the swingout. This is the signature move of the Lindy Hop. Most often, the swingout is an 8-count pattern, which fills up a full measure. The swingout is a challenging move to get right. After doing it for years, I’m still working on making it feel good. I have taken insight about it from so many different instructors: Peter Strom emphasizing the directional movement; Naomi Uyami helping me tone down the tension in my left hand; Irina Amzashvili emphasizing clear end points; Nicole Wood clarifying a step back on the five; John Holmstrom showing how to slightly over-rotate on the final counts; Kerry Kapaku helping keep my steps underneath me on the 1 and 2. The swingout has so many nuances.

Pretty early on, the problem of integrating 6 and 8 count patterns presents itself. A pre-requisite for advanced level classes is often a dancers ability to combine them. I am able to do this without much trouble, but I still feel a tension when switching between counts.

This tension is directly related to musicality. A six count does not fit a measure, which is 8 counts, so from the beginning of my swing journey-curve, I’ve struggled to feel in harmony with the rhythm. Sometimes I am able to add a quick couple of steps, which align the steps to the measure. Sometimes I randomly start a swingout on the 1. When this happens, it feels great.

I still revert to a 6-count basic. I’m starting to think of the 6-count basic as training wheels. I danced a couple of songs last night where I took them off. A few songs felt amazing. Some felt worse. The trick is, I think, being able to not think about the steps, but also communicate weight shifts clearly and on rhythm. The 6 count is a clear weight shift pattern, and in order to not to have to use it, the weight shift pattern of triple steps and step-steps has to be clear in the mind of both lead and follow. The triple step leaves the weight on the same foot it starts. The step-step leaves it on the opposite. A student at Lindy Focus ‘24 made the comment that Lindy Hop is a 2-count dance. Dawn Hampton and Frankie Manning generally eschew counts all together, although Frankie Manning did in places acknowledge that counting can have a place in instruction. Taking down the 6-count and 8-count safety nets is something that is grown into as a body learns how to communicate movement through weight shifts and shared known patterns. Learning how to do this allows the music to course through the body, and express itself doubly through the partnership.