Charleston Dance Guide: Learn How to Dance the Charleston

The Charleston is a jazz dance made famous in 1920s America and named after the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The versatility of this dance and its basic steps make it one of the most emblematic dances of the Jazz Age. Easy to do and instantly recognizable, the Charleston was a popular dance because it can be done solo, in a pair, or in groups.

The Charleston is an iconic American dance with a storied history:

• Origins: The exact origins of the Charleston are obscure, but the dance’s early history is associated with the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The dance began appearing in stage acts in Harlem in the early 1900s.
• Broadway musical: The Charleston was made famous by the Broadway show Runnin’ Wild (1923). The musical features the song “The Charleston,” with lyrics by Cecil Mack and music by James P. Johnson. That number epitomized the rhythm that came to accompany the dance: two dotted quarter notes followed by a single quarter note.
• Flappers: Runnin’ Wild closed in 1924, but the dance was already a sensation in New York and beyond, quickly entering the mainstream. Flappers would do Charleston steps to jazz music in dance halls, and well-known movies of the time would often feature the dance, as in The King on Main Street (1925) and The Song and Dance Man (1926).
• The Roaring Twenties: The dance’s popularity peaked in the mid-to-late 1920s. Following its craze, the Charleston dance proved prolific, inspiring future dance styles.
• Swing Charleston: After the Roaring Twenties, the Charleston influenced the Lindy Hop and swing dance styles in the 1930s and 1940s. Today, the Charleston is a fixture of dance classes and is taught in history classes as a significant part of flapper culture.

The Charleston dance was ubiquitous in dance halls because of its ease, influence, and marking of a cultural shift:

• Accessibility: The dance requires simple footwork, and dance halls of the Roaring Twenties played jazz or swing music that was a perfect match to the Charleston’s moves.
• Influence: Performers of the day further popularized the dance craze. Legendary dancer and actress Josephine Baker performed the Charleston in multiple revues, making it a defining part of American culture and bringing these dance moves on her tours to Great Britain.
• Cultural change: The Charleston represented a form of freedom and youth culture. Following the hardships of World War I, the Jazz Age ushered in a new era. Young Americans ditched the strict etiquette of their parent’s generation. Leaving behind more formal dances like the waltz, a new generation of young men and women embraced the cultural shift, physicalized by the freer and improvisation-friendly Charleston.

To dance the Charleston, keep your movements light, bouncy, and fun. Add some ragtime jazz music to get in the feel for the dance. Follow these instructions to learn the Charleston dance steps:

1. 1. Start with your left foot in front of you and your right foot slightly behind.
2. 2. Make a semicircle with your right foot, swinging it around to be in front of your left foot. Then do the same with your left, bringing it in front of your right.
3. 3. Reverse the left, then reverse the right, bringing both feet back to their original positions.
4. 4. Count in your head “one, two, three, four,” where “one” and “two” are bringing your left and right feet forward and “three” and “four” are bringing them back. Let your arms gently swing forward and backward on each move.
5. 5. Bend your arms at the elbow and fan them in and out in time with your foot movement.
6. 6. You can dance opposite a partner with their feet moving forward as yours move backward and vice versa.
7. 7. Next, grapevine your feet four steps to the left, pushing your hands diagonally upward to the left. Then grapevine to the right, doing the same with your hands to the right.
8. 8. You can also add a pivot variation. Pivot around your left foot, making four steps with your right to complete a circle, flicking your right foot up on each turn.
9. 9. Another variation to add to the Charleston is the “Bee’s Knees.” With your feet in parallel and your knees bent, continuously move your knees toward and away from each other. For this move, place your hands on your knees, then switch your hands to opposite knees before your knees move outward. When your knees return inward, switch your hands back to their respective knees.

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