Lindy Hop Instruction: Every Style, Every Level

By Lindy Hopper, Editor

Every school names its levels a little differently, but the path is much the same everywhere. Here's the whole journey – what you'll learn, how long it usually takes, and which styles open up along the way.

The levels at a glance

If you're brand new, start with what Lindy Hop actually is, then come back here for the map. The table below is the shape of the journey most UK schools follow, whatever they call each stage.

Times are rough guides for someone taking a weekly class and going to some socials. More practice, festivals and private lessons move you faster; a busy year with fewer classes slows you down. Nobody is in a hurry, and nobody is checking.

How schools name their levels

One school's "Level 2" is another's "Improvers", and a third calls it "Beginners Plus". Don't worry about the label – read the course description instead. A useful rule of thumb: if the course assumes you can already do a swingout without thinking, it's intermediate. If it teaches the swingout, it's improver. If it starts with the rock step, it's for beginners. Our guide to choosing a class has more on reading a timetable.

Level 1: Absolute beginner

Learn: the pulse, rock step and triple step; open and closed position; 6-count moves – the basic, the send-out, the tuck turn, the inside and outside turn.

Aim for: staying on the beat, a relaxed connection, and asking someone to dance at a social. Start with your first class and the etiquette guide. You don't need a partner – most people come alone.

You're ready to move on when you can dance a whole slow song with a stranger using three or four 6-count moves, without stopping to think about your feet.

Level 2: Improver

Learn: the swingout and Lindy circle; how 6- and 8-count moves fit the music; the Charleston basic, solo and in partnership; first styling such as swivels.

Aim for: a swingout that feels easy at a comfortable tempo, and hearing the phrase in the music. This is the stage where many people plateau for a while – the swingout is a big step up from 6-count moves. Keep going; it clicks.

You're ready to move on when you can mix swingouts with 6-count moves through a medium-tempo song and come out of each one on time.

Level 3: Intermediate

Learn: swingout variations; tandem and hand-to-hand Charleston; turning in closed position; switching between moves without stopping; solo jazz steps such as the Suzy Q and Fall Off the Log; line dances like the Shim Sham.

Focus: musicality – hitting breaks, matching the energy of the band, and following or leading with ideas rather than patterns. This is the level where weekend festivals and workshops make the biggest difference.

The Shim Sham is a good marker of this stage. The routine was created in the late 1920s by the tap dancers Leonard Reed and Willie Bryant, and the version danced at socials today is Frankie Manning's, which he introduced to swing dancers in New York in the mid-1980s. When a DJ plays the right song, the floor fills with people doing it together.

Level 4: Advanced

Learn: fast tempos with low effort; tiny, precise variations; improvised conversation between partners; dancing both roles; adjusting to any partner, floor and band.

Focus: efficiency, timing that can stretch and snap back, and your own personal style. Advanced dancers usually look as if they're doing less, not more.

Level 5: Performance and competition

Learn: choreographed routines, jam-circle moves, and – only with a trained partner, a coach and a safe space – aerials. Competitions include Jack & Jill, where leads and follows are paired at random and dance to music they haven't heard in advance, and Strictly, where you compete with a partner of your choice.

Remember: aerials never belong on a social floor.

The styles

A word on "Savoy style": it's a handy label, but it covers a lot of variety. Frankie Manning, who danced at the Savoy, made the point that everyone there had their own style. Hollywood style is associated with Dean Collins and his partner Jewel McGowan, whose swingout has a distinctive straight-backed, slightly tilted shape. You can browse every dance on our styles page.

Common mistakes on the way up

• Jumping levels too soon. Moving to intermediate before your swingout is comfortable means you spend the class fighting the basics instead of learning the new material.
• Staying in beginners forever. The opposite problem. If the class feels easy and you can dance the material at the social, it's time.
• Collecting moves instead of dancing. Ten patterns danced stiffly feel worse to a partner than three danced with a relaxed pulse and good timing.
• Skipping socials. Classes give you vocabulary; socials teach you to have a conversation.
• Ignoring the music. Learn a little about swing music and tempo – it makes every level easier.

How to move up faster

• Go social. Classes teach moves; socials teach dancing. Check what's on near you.
• Practise solo 15 minutes a few times a week – try the home practice routine.
• Learn the other role. Leads understand follows better and vice versa.
• Go to a festival. A weekend of workshops with visiting teachers can jump you a level.
• Film yourself and compare against the dancing you love.
• Take a private lesson to fix the one thing holding you back.
• Wear the right shoes. Sticky soles hold back turns and swivels – see our shoe guide.

Find your next class

Whatever level you're at, the next step is a class. Search classes near you, browse all UK Lindy Hop classes, or start from the beginning with a beginners' course.

Try it on the floor: How to Do the Swingout · How to Do the Lindy Circle · How to Do a Tuck Turn · The Charleston: Kicks, Swivels and a Very Big Grin

Read next

• 6-Count and 8-Count: Lindy Hop Rhythm Explained
• How to Do Swivels
• Lindy Hop vs West Coast Swing

Sources

1. Wikipedia – Lindy Hop
2. Wikipedia – Jack and Jill (dance)
3. Wikipedia – Shim Sham

Last reviewed 2026-10-23.