Swing: The Dance
Swing dance thrives today
Swing: The Dance
swing dance burst into American culture in the late 1920's as an explosion of cultural identity. Like all forms of art, dance expresses the emotions of a
culture. Swing dance is no exception. World War I had just ended and the Age of Jazz was just beginning. A new surge of emotion and a new rhythm to express it with would bring swing dance to its peak.
Much of swing dancing as we know it today, began in the African American tradition. The roots of the swing era can be traced to the period know as the Harlem Renaissance. The poor, black neighborhood of New York City was the home of such famous music and dance halls as the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom. While the Cotton Club was an exclusive club where whites from "uptown" came to see the music and dance of "downtown", the Savoy Ballroom was open to anyone.
The Savoy Ballroom
The Savoy Ballroom opened on March 12, 1926on Lenox Avenue in Harlem. The Savoy welcomed a wide variety of people to experience the sights and sounds of swing. Black, white, rich or poor-what mattered at the Savoy was if you could dance! The bands that kept the crowds swinging included famous bands like those of Count Basie and Benny Goodman. If a band came to play at the Savoy but couldn't keep people dancing, they wouldn't be asked back !
As at any great night spot, there were regulars at the Savoy Ballroom. Many of the Savoy's regulars were young people who loved to dance. The elite dancers at the Savoy would often come early in the afternoons to practice their moves while the evening's band rehearsed. Both dancers and band would test tempos and solo breaks for their own benefit and for each other's. At the Savoy, Cat's Corner was a section of the dance floor reserved for these elite dancers to show-off a bit without endangering or disturbing other dancers.
THE LINDY HOP
Shortly after the Savoy Ballroom opened 1926, the dancing on its floor began to change. From the Charleston of the early 1920's evolved a new dance characterized by increased athleticism and a dynamic new rhythm. The elite dancers at the Savoy Ballroom were the innovators of this new dance. As they competed for attention on the dance floor, the excitement of the dance - to watch and to do - grew.
As well as historians can piece together from oral accounts, this new dance was termed the Lindy Hop sometime in 1928. As legend has it, Shorty Snowden, a Savoy regular, was observing the dancing at The Negro Marathon at the Manhattan Casino when he was approached by a reporter. When the reporter asked Shorty for the name of the dance the competitors were doing, Shorty thought of the recent news of Charles Lindbergh's "hop" across the Atlantic. He told the reporter the dancers were doing the "Lindy Hop". However, long before the dance was named the Lindy Hop in New York City, many dancers were doing what was simply called the "Hop", with much improvisation.
The elite Savoy dancers did not stay exclusively at the Savoy Ballroom for long. Herbert "Whitey" White, a former boxer and bouncer at the Savoy, collected the best dancers into a group called Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. The group soon began to tour the U.S. and much of Europe, spreading the Lindy Hop and swing culture as they went.
While The Great Depression in the U.S. cut back on recordings and purchase of records, technology helped the spread of swing culture. Whitey's Lindyhoppers appeared in several movies, a new media at the time. In the 30's, 40's and 50's the Lindy Hop was popularized in such films as A Day At The Races, Hellzapoppin, The Savoy Ballroom of Harlem, The Spirit Moves, Swing Sister, Swing and The Prisoner of Swing. Advancements in radio recording and broadcasting brought swing music and instructions for the Lindy Hop directly from the Savoy Ballroom to many American homes and hot-spots.