The music

As the dance continued to develop into the thirties, it found a home in the Harlem Savoy ballroom, where it grew up with the big Swing bands of the era. Orchestras who played included Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington and singers like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday all performed at the Savoy.

The bands inspired the dancers, and the dancers inspired the bands to new heights of dance and musical expression[1].

The dance

Lindy Hop is a fun and creative dance which can be wild and crazy or smooth and cool…Malcolm X explains that it’s about ‘letting your feet, hands and body act on impulses stirred by the music[2]’. It is the mother of all swing dances and originated in the Harlem ballrooms mainly during the 30’s and 40’s. It disappeared in the decades to follow, but experienced a revival about 25 years ago and is now danced around the world.

In 1927, when Charles Lindbergh piloted the Spirit of St Louis solo across the Atlantic, it is believed that the newspaper headlines declaring this event were adopted as the new name for the dance the ‘Lindy Hop’[3].

Movies

Swing dancing became big box office and Hollywood produced over fifty films such as ‘A Day at the Races’ in 1937, and ‘Hellzapoppin’ in 1944. These movies helped spread Swing dancing around the world, and if you download a video clip they may inspire you to take up dancing!

 

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[1] P.6, Bottomer, Paul, (London, Lorenz Books, 1996), ‘Rock’n’Roll’.

[2] P.42, Batchelor, Christian, (London, The Original Lindy Hop Collection, 1997), ‘This Thing called Swing’-a study of Swing Music and The Lindy Hop the original Swing dance.

[3] P.6, Bottomer, Paul, (London, Lorenz Books, 1996), ‘Rock’n’Roll’.