The Jitterbug Stroll

The Jitterbug Stroll is a swing line dance, choreographed by Ryan Francois in 1992. The dance was originally performed to "Woodchopper's Ball" by Woody Herman and was commonly found on the dance floors of the famed London swing dance club, Jitterbugs.  Now, the dance is performed all over the world.

Now Here we go, here we go, yeah!

As The Jitterbug Stroll was originally choreographed to "Woodchopper's Ball," it works with most songs in the blues format (six 8-counts to the phrase).  
​As the dance was choreographed by a brilliant jazz, tap, and swing dancer, the routine begins on count 8 (like Frankie Manning's Shim Sham).

The Jitterbug stroll is a "London" stroll

The Jitterbug Stroll is a "stroll" in the London tradition.  This means that every section of the routine rotates 1/4 turn counter-clockwise (or anti-clockwise!), so that by the end of the 4 total sections, the stroll has faced all 4 walls.  This differs from a traditional stroll in the US, which features two lines facing each other, while dancers "stroll" down the middle - think Soul Train line.  

The Jitterbug stroll Pattern

The Jitterbug Stroll has 4 parts, each of which faces a different side of the room.
Each part:
  • is six 8-counts long
  • begins on count 8
  • starts on the right foot
  • ends with a quarter-turn counter-clockwise
 The pattern for each part is:
  • 1st 8-count: 8-count Pattern
  • 2nd 8-count: 8-count Pattern Repeat
  • 3rd 8-count: 8-count Pattern Repeat
  • 4th 8-count: Pivot Turn Right-tap (8-1), Left-tap (2-3), Right-tap (4-5); Left-tap (6-7); turn 360 to Left
  • 5th 8-count: 8-count Pattern Repeat
  • 6th 8-count: T.O.B.A. Break with quarter-turn (a.k.a. Full Break from Frankie Manning's Shim Sham)

The Jitterbug stroll CHOREOGRAPHY

Part 1: Ball-Change (&-8), Ball-Change (&-1), Boogie Back (2-3), Boogie Forward R (4-5), Boogie Forward L (6-7)
  • 1st 8-count: Ball-Change (&-8), Ball-Change (&-1), Boogie Back (2-3), Boogie Forward R (4-5), Boogie Forward L (6-7)
  • 2nd 8-count: Ball-Change (&-8), Ball-Change (&-1), Boogie Back (2-3), Boogie Forward R (4-5), Boogie Forward L (6-7)
  • 3rd 8-count: Ball-Change (&-8), Ball-Change (&-1), Boogie Back (2-3), Boogie Forward R (4-5), Boogie Forward L (6-7)
  • 4th 8-count: Pivot Turn Right-tap (8-1), Left-tap (2-3), Right-tap (4-5); Left-tap (6-7); turn 360 to Left
  • 5th 8-count: Ball-Change (&-8), Ball-Change (&-1), Boogie Back (2-3), Boogie Forward R (4-5), Boogie Forward L (6-7)
  • 6th 8-count: T.O.B.A. Break with quarter-turn 
Part 2: Knee-Slap R (8-1); Knee-Slap L (2-3); "Shorty" George (4-7)
  • 1st 8-count: Knee-Slap R (8-1); Knee-Slap L (2-3); "Shorty" George (4-7)
  • 2nd 8-count: Knee-Slap R (8-1); Knee-Slap L (2-3); "Shorty" George (4-7)
  • 3rd 8-count: Knee-Slap R (8-1); Knee-Slap L (2-3); "Shorty" George (4-7)
  • 4th 8-count: Pivot Turn Right-tap (8-1), Left-tap (2-3), Right-tap (4-5); Left-tap (6-7); turn 360 to Left
  • 5th 8-count: Knee-Slap R (8-1); Knee-Slap L (2-3); "Shorty" George (4-7)
  • 6th 8-count: T.O.B.A. Break with quarter-turn
​Part 3: Suzy Q (8-7)
  • 1st 8-count: Suzy Q to L (8-7)
  • 2nd 8-count: Suzy Q to R (8-7)
  • 3rd 8-count: Suzy Q to L (8-7)
  • 4th 8-count: Pivot Turn Right-tap (8-1), Left-tap (2-3), Right-tap (4-5); Left-tap (6-7); turn 360 to Left
  • 5th 8-count: Suzy Q to R (8-7)
  • 6th 8-count: T.O.B.A. Break with quarter-turn
​Part 4: Boogie Back (8-1), Boogie Back (2-3), Tick-Tock (4-5), Tick-Tock (6-7)
  • 1st 8-count: Boogie Back (8-1), Boogie Back (2-3), Tick-Tock (4-5), Tick-Tock (6-7)
  • 2nd 8-count: Boogie Back (8-1), Boogie Back (2-3), Tick-Tock (4-5), Tick-Tock (6-7)
  • 3rd 8-count: Boogie Back (8-1), Boogie Back (2-3), Tick-Tock (4-5), Tick-Tock (6-7)
  • 4th 8-count: Pivot Turn Right-tap (8-1), Left-tap (2-3), Right-tap (4-5); Left-tap (6-7); turn 360 to Left
  • 5th 8-count: Boogie Back (8-1), Boogie Back (2-3), Tick-Tock (4-5), Tick-Tock (6-7)
  • 6th 8-count: T.O.B.A. Break with quarter-turn

Breaking down the steps further

The Jitterbug Stroll is composed of a variety of vernacular jazz steps, popular many decades before Ryan Francois placed them in this particular choreography.  Below are videos to help you with individual steps found throughout this routine.

About Ryan Francois

Ryan Francois is one of the most important Swing dancers of the modern era. Starting his journey in London in the mid-1980s, Ryan travelled across the Atlantic to learn from Lindy Hoppers like Pepsi Bethel & Frankie Manning. With talented partners like trailblazer Sing Lim and brilliant tap dancer Jenny Thomas, Ryan Francois won numerous competitions and became THE performer/choreographer for Lindy Hop in Hollywood.  

He has choreographed & performed for movies (Malcom X, Idlewild, Polar Express), TV (So You Think You Can Dance (US), Strictly Come Dancing (UK)), and Broadway (Swing: The Musical).