How to Teach the Hand Jive

The Hand Jive is a rock and roll dance for dancing in confined spaces.

The Hand Jive is a solo dance primarily associated with the music forms of rock and roll and rhythm and blues believed to have originated in various London coffee bars in the late 1950s. It involves a variety of moves imitating percussion instruments that can be performed in a confined space: knee slapping, hand clapping, crossed-hand gestures, fist pounding, and hitchhiker style movements made with each hand.

Things You'll Need

• Hall or space
• CD player
• Rock and Roll CDs

Instructions

How to Teach the Hand Jive

1. 

   Hire a hall for teaching and dancing.

   Learn the simple Hand Jive movements. Hire a hall for teaching and dancing, or prepare a space in your own house for this purpose. Prepare for your classes by obtaining a CD player and CD or CDs containing music suitable for learning the Hand Jive, such as rock and roll and rythym and blues. Set aside a time each week for teaching.

2. 

   Advertise for pupils for classes.

   Plan your course, with, for example, one evening set aside for initial teaching, a second evening as a refresher, and a third for Hand Jive performances from pupils. Advertise for pupils for your classes in the local press or by placing cards in shop windows or on the Internet, specifying exact times and place, and duration of course.

3. 

   Play music suitable for the Hand Jive on a CD player.

   Begin your first Hand Jive course with a basic teaching class. First illustrate the Hand Jive yourself, explaining each movement one at a time. Emphasize that each gesture is performed twice and then turn on the music and start demonstrating, slowly at first, and then at full speed.

4. 

   The Hand Jive includes a hitchhiker style gesture.

   Execute the first movement by slapping your knees twice, then standing up, clapping your hands twice, then waving your hands, one on top of the other, in front of you twice. Then follow this by banging your left fist with your right twice, then the other fist twice, and finish off with the hitchhiker style movement, jerking your right thumb behind you twice, then your left, twice.

5. 

   Split your class into pairs.

   Continue with the class by ensuring that each pupil has a grasp of the Hand Jive, such as for example, by splitting the class into pairs, with each pair working on the dance, while going around the class, giving advice to each pair, until you are satisfied progress has been made.

6. 

   Dismiss the course after the final class.

   Get the class to perform the Hand Jive in pairs one at a time, ensuring each pair is reasonably proficient by the end of the class. Dismiss the class until the following week for a refresher class. Finish the course with an exhibition of Hand Jiving by the same pairs selected during the first class. Dismiss the course, with the option of starting a new course the following week.

Tips & Warnings

• You might include film footage of the Hand Jive in one of your classes, as in the movie, "Grease".

• When performed at maximum speed, the Hand Jive requires a high degree of coordination.

References

• Willieandthehandjive.com: Willie and the Hand Jive Dance

Resources

• Guardian.co.uk: Ken Russell's Best Shot