By Genny Kunkel

I truly think that swivels in Lindy Hop is what fire was to early humans—the best thing ever. They can be juicy, thiccc (with 3 c’s), and just overall amazing. Swivels make me feel dynamic and groovy! The movement itself is hard to achieve, but the joy of twisting into a pretzel is outmatched by nothing else!

Typically, a swivel is defined as a rotation of the hips and feet on the 1-2 of a swing out. But, I would argue that follow swivels truly start on the 7-8 and end on 3! My preferred method is to prep, open up my body, on 7& and 8 then keep swiveling until I hit 3 of the next swingout rather than stopping myself and disrupting the stretch that I have built up. This really helps me give my swivels a bunch of contrast and makes them feel even more juicy.

Most people, when first starting to learn swivels, start with some variant of the Frankie Manning + Erin Stevens version:

https://youtu.be/LEmIgdYzy1o

Before moving on, here are some things to think about technique-wise (passed to me from wise, hopping, sage masters) :

1. Don’t start swiveling before getting a solid swingout!
2. Think about triple-ing backwards on 7-8 to get the stretch , and then keep that shape/feeling when you start preparing for your swivels. Sometimes tripling to the left or right and stopping before getting to the endpoint of the swingout can disrupt connection and give you weird looking swivels
3. Stay in place while swiveling! Dont move forward/back if you dont feel the stretch point (you should feel stretch all along your arm and down your back!)
4. Dont isolate your connected arm from your body think about your elbow always being connected to your hip by an elastic band
5. Dont tense up your lower back (protect your spine!) in an effort to stick the butt out. Also dont stick your tummy out which disengages core
6. How much counter balance are you creating? Can you balance on your own w/o a partner or do you need them to base you?
7. How much side-to-side vs rotational hip movement do you want?
8. Where are you putting weight on foot as you step?
9. How does placement of your upper body inform arm movement?

Now, to help you on this fabulous journey, I encourage you to research what elements you like about swivels. Then try to break down the movement and body mechanics of others. You can think about whether you want to be upright or down low, if you want to have your feet facing the same direction or not, how smooth or how hoppy you want to be, how much counter balance you like, etc… I encourage you to also explore multiple types of swivels because some may fit the feeling or speed of the music better in your body! Ex: When dancing faster, I like to be more upright and when the music is slower I like to be down low. When I’m being sassy, I like to add a hand on my hip, but will add hand flourishes if I want to feel more more graceful, or whirlybird arms if I’m feeling wild. Dont even get me started on the Scary Swivels and their companion move the Angry Koala!!

Check out our Hips don’t lie exercise to help you explore hip motion. Additionally, Sharon Davis in her Patreon course has some great exercises+thoughts on swiveling and ilindy also has some great tips.