Swing and Nightclub

Nightclub Two-Step

Two Step (Night Club Version), not to be confused with country two step, is one of the most practical and versatile social dances ever conceived. It is designed to be used with contemporary soft rock ("Love Song" type music). This type of music is common just about everywhere, nightclubs, radio etc. The rhythm of the dance is very simple and rarely changes from the 1 & 2 count. The tempo is 30-34 bars per minute. This simple romantic dance fills a gap where no other ballroom dance fits. It gives the dancer, either beginning or advanced, the opportunity to express and create without a rigid technique being required. It's attractive, romantic and is a real asset to learn and will be used often.

It's not too often that the origins of a new dance can be traced to a single individual. But that's precisely the case with Night Club Two Step, a dance created and popularized by California teacher Buddy Schwimmer. Schwimmer says he developed the dance more than 30 years ago when he was only 15. "I was doing a line dance called Surfer Stomp," he told Philip Seyer, in an article published by Dancing USA magazine, "but when a slow piece would come on, the footwork was too slow. So we double timed it, and the count became one & two & three & four. We thought about taking two steps with the left foot and then two steps with the right foot, 1&2 - 3&4," hence the name "two step."

Schwimmer, who says he has won more than 2000 dance contests, comes from a family of dancers. His father and mother frequently won jitterbug competitions, passing on their love of dancing to their six children. Schwimmer opened his first studio in 1978 in Costa Mesa, California and has traveled around the world as a teacher ever since.

Night Club Two Step is an easy dance that almost anyone can learn. Its key characteristic is a rock step followed by a side step. Schwimmer says that the rock step is actually a 5th position break, adding that he doesn't recommend pronounced Latin hip movement.

The dance is often done to medium tempo music, but Schwimmer declines to specify the ideal number of beats per minute. "I never worry about (it)... Figure out what's best for you and what you can handle," he told Dancing USA.