Staying Alive! Original Latin Hustle, It’s Not What You Think.
So you’re probably saying right now – “Sure, but why should I care about some old disco dance?”
A Few Quick Points on Why Latin Hustle is the Bomb!
I love, love, love, me some Latin Hustle! Latin Hustle is, sadly, a dance that has fallen through the cracks of history. Latin Hustle is such a smooth, comfortable, and unique style that it certainly deserves to be remembered and survive in dance culture.
It’s 6 NOT 3!
To begin with it’s a six count dance, NOT three. If someone claims otherwise, ignore them; they either don’t know or forgot over the years (happens to the best of us). You shouldn’t just take my word for it, on that we agree, so I’ve provided multiple sources from the 70’s below to prove my point.
The big deal with six count based patterns is that it slows the flow down and makes the dance both calmer and easier to learn than it’s fast paced three count evolution. Many people struggle with three count Hustle because it can be really jerky and spastic feeling when you are constantly passing your partner and rotating every three counts, thus Latin Hustle is the solution…boom, problem solved!
And Another Thing!
Latin Hustle has some really great moves that are fun and interesting in ways we don’t see anymore, thus giving you more options in your dance arsenal to express the music and connect with your partner. Many of the figures from vintage instructional texts changed my personal view of what Hustle was and wasn’t, almost exclusively for the better.
If you want to mix Latin Hustle with 3 Count Hustle it’s easy: simply do a ball change action counting &, 1, instead of tapping on count 1 and then dance the rest of the pattern exactly the same. Fusion of Hustle systems works out for the simple fact that they evolved from one another.
Lastly, it’s easy to fuse into West Coast Swing and 3 Count Hustle. Actually, Latin Hustle was often compared to West Coast Swing (WCS) by instructors of the period. Not only that, but some WCS moves actually are Hustle moves that were adopted. The secret to adapting patterns is simply to count Hustle patterns 5,6 counts as 1,2 in WCS and voila!
Source: Night Moves by K-tel, 1979
Thank you for the look back in time. I think I even have one of the books you showed pictures from! Currently there are thousands of Hustle dancers using the evolved Hustle 3 count version, which is faster and more challenging to dance for sure and does require practice to keep it from looking “hoppy”. If you want to join some avid 3 count Hustle dancers, since the music will be terrific for either style!, please consider attending Disco America in June in PA or International Hustle and Salsa Congress in Miami in the summer (datetbd) or several events that are jointly West Coast Swing and Hustle (you are correct in that there has been some healthy influences between those two dances as well). Swustlicious in PA just took place last month, there are events in Canada, Spain and Italy and one in the midwest as well. The International Hustle Dance Association (you can visit their website too) is a resource for those who love Hustle. Most of the dancers doing modern 3 count hustle prefer to dance to songs, both contemporary and classic, that range in speed from 105-117 beats per minute. Back in the day there were songs released at as much as 122-126 beats per minute that made 6 count Latin Hustle a much better option at that speed. There are also current avocates for switiching in and out of 4 count “rope hustle” (that was an early form) when the music gets too fast for comfortable social dancing. I am happy to hear that people still enjoy the 6 count, the original. Hustle’s a great dance, either way, and thank you for promoting Hustle. Happy Dancing!
Kim Vanaman
PS I am trying to locate video/film footage of the big competition that took place at Madison Square Garden, won by Alex Kim back in the 70s. Please let me know if anyone has a record of that !
I’m still dancing the Latin Hustle all these years later: I learned it in 1977-ish! Sadly after the discos died many good hustlers stopped doing this dance and it disappeared in the mid 1980s. We resurrected it in early 2005 and funked it up to match it to the music we dance it to (from a slow 22mpm to a fast of 30 mpm, with 25, 26 being about perfect for me at least). I created a new Bronze syllabus [1-10 and about 30 variations] and a step list that reflected the things I teach to my students. There is a symmetry of naming things like our swing and hustle syllabi and most people familiar with those variations in other dances pick up variations very fast after they really LEARN the count. It’s always been very, very popular in the 2 Arthur Murray Studios that teach it in Las Vegas, so our version is called VEGAS HUSTLE, or Vegas Latin Hustle! Advanced VLH dancers can tap-step or use a forward-back-side triple to replace that, plus we add hitch kicks and other syncopated rhythms [tap-step, trip-ple, kick/pt, and kick/pt, walk walk, e.g.] THAT ARE LED to change the pace and the look. Work on a Silver Syllabus progresses along – I’d hope that I’m at least halfway through that!
Joni!!! I’d love to see your syllabus, also hit me up if you want more stuff….plenty more to share 😉
I, too, would appreciate anything you’d be willing to share. Where do you teach? I’d love to visit your studio next time I am out that way. My wife and I would love to learn some new steps/variation in this long forgotten, but still totally cool dance!!!
My wife and I still do the Latin Hustle (the real one as you have described it here). Best dance in the world. It used to be THE dance in all the clubs around Atlanta from the late 70’s into the 80’s when I met her (yes, on the dance floor, at a disco). Unfortunately, nobody teaches it any more. It’s funny to watch people try and figure out what we’re doing.
That’s fantastic to hear that someone is still out there representing the original. I’ve made friends over the years with a few dances that still rock it, but sadly most have changed thier dance to current standards.
I have tons of video from the era and it paints a very different picture than that of today. Only the NYC evolution (used by competitors/performers) and Merengue Hustle (because it’s so easy) seem to have survived.
I’d love to chat with you sometime about it and perhaps you could even grace me with a video. I find the flow, arm work, and linear/circular style of regional forms fascinating.
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I still owe you a chat. What’s your availability M-F?