[1][2] Modern Jive was not created in France, but its origin owes something to the French version of Le Bop.
Michel Ange Lau played a major role in the change from Le Bop to Modern Jive at a club called Centre Charles Peguy).
Two British people, James Cronin and Christine Keeble, saw Le Bop in France and wanted to learn the dance when they returned to London.
The style of music played at discos was changing, and high tempo dances like Rock and Roll and Le Bop were becoming less popular.
This change in timing not only allowed Lau and his students to dance to a much larger variety of music but also to create more intricate moves.
[3] Modern Jive adapts moves from other dance styles such as West Coast Swing, Salsa, Ballroom and Latin.
The motion of the dance: for the majority of the beginner moves the follow steps in to the lead's right side on count two (this is not always consistent at intermediate level moves, and the lead often signals with their right hand behind their back to bring the follow down the left side) e.g. Pretzel.
This 'Roundy Roundy' style is often found at higher tempos by inexperienced follow dancers and is totally different from the slightly rotating slot (of the natural dance).
The slot concept is one that has taken a hold in Modern Jive and is now very often taught even from beginner level, although more commonly in the Ceroc franchise venues and other groups that run competitions, than independents such as LeRoc.
Dancing slotted allows the follow (and lead) to always complete a full turn, which helps to avoid dizziness, and has many other technical advantages.
However, some dancers find that at high tempos (140BPM and above) it is easier to abandon the slot and revert to a rotational style.
When Modern Jive tends to be danced rotationally, it is still often taught on stage in two directions, to allow large classes to observe the instruction and instructors often compensate to be seen.
Here the dancers develop the skill of presenting in one consistent direction (usually forward or towards an audience as compared to facing each other).
Dips, drops, poses, exiting moves / lifts and even smiling consistently in one direction in order to present the best possible picture to spectators, judges and/or audiences are all factors.
Modern Jive is also occasionally danced by three dancers, with one lead and two followers (a variant known as "Double Trouble" in the UK or "Triples" in Australia/New Zealand).
The problem appeared to be that the transition from beginner to intermediate dancer (so-called) meant one had to "unlearn" one and then "re-learn" another rhythm and weight change components of the dance.
Unfortunately, the "rock" footwork is actually more suited to fast music (leaning towards "advanced" dancers) as it reduces the number of weight changes required during any rhythm unit.
Thus, the preference for "step" footwork has reduced the "terminal velocity" modern jive can be danced at - because it forces a weight change every beat.
[8][9][10] Move Dance (NZ), for example, focuses on a fusion of rock n roll and salsa, catering to a target age group of 40-70.