Home : Indroducing Partner Dancing : Cajun Jitterbug

Cajun Jitterbug & Zydeco

In the USA, there had been many regional variations of dancing to swing music in the 1930's, as there was to rock'n'roll music in the 1950's, although by this time TV programmes like 'American Bandstand' had tended to even them out. Cajun Jitterbug and Zydeco from Louisiana are good examples of local styles of dancing that kept their character by continuing to be danced to their local styles of music. These styles have become so popular that they are known way beyond the borders of the USA.

The Cajun Jitterbug is a two-step (two beats to every measure of music with the emphasis on the second beat). Dancers go up on the ball of one foot leaving the other flat on the floor. On 'one' they push up on the cocked foot and on 'two' they drop down into the flat foot. The visual effect is of a circular wave, as couples circle round and round, rising and lowering (on the ball of the foot) in time to the music.