 | In the beginning....
Swing dancing is an evolutionary dance. Unlike dances that developed in a ballroom setting and are heavily based on structured dance steps, swing was created by dancers on the social dance floor. Because swing dancers snubbed the rigidity of ballroom dance, their creativity and imagination were free to create a whole new dance. In fact, Swing dance evolved as the music evolved and vice versa. |
At the dawn of the Jazz Age (1920's -1930's), couples started ‘swingin’ to the music as the musician’s inspiration trickled in their ears and out their toes. Stemming from the Charleston, partners started to break away from each other, or "swing out", during the dance.
Jazz was born in New Orleans but it quickly spread to Chicago and New York City. It was here that dancers explored the floor and unleashed their creativity.
Swing dancers invented dance moves to suit the new style of jazz music that was being played. Inspired by the dancers creativity, the jazz musicians pushed themselves to the limit and started creating new music to wow the dancers. On March 26, 1926, the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, New York, opened its doors for eager dancers and jazz musicians. The ballroom was so large that it stretched the entire city block and had a stage at either end for live bands. A newspaper headline of the time, “Lucky Lindy Hops the Atlantic”, proclaimed Lindbergh’s Trans-Atlantic flight a success. At the same time, one of the foremost dancers of the time, “Shorty George” Snowden was asked, "what is that dance you are doing?" He replied, "It's the Lindy Hop". Lindy Hop Swing had been born.
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| And then there was....
Lindy Hop Swing is done around the world and is popular in the United States, Sweeden, France, Russia, Japan and Australia. It is done by the young and the "young at heart". Some of the dancers who created the dance are STILL dancing! Frankie Manning, 94, (died April 27, 2009) the inventor of the air-step (see left), traveled the world teaching dance lessons and was often found on the dance floor in his hometown of New York City. |
Lindy Hop consists of two partners, a Lead (a guy) and a Follow (a gal), moving to an 8 count rhythm in a song that "swings".
The rhythm is step, step, triple step, step, step, triple step (or slow, slow, quick, quick, quick, slow, slow, quick quick, quick).
The dance usually begins in closed position (the gal's left arm placed on the guy's right shoulder and the gal's right hand relaxed nicely at her waist level in the guy's left hand). The Lead (guy) proceeds to "swing" the Follow (gal) out away from him, but stays connected with her right hand in his left hand.
The basic dance move in Lindy Hop is called a "Swing Out": Elliptical in manner, the lead draws the Follow in close to him, rotates the Follow around in a circle and then sends the Follow back out away from him to arrive in the same position that they started in. (This is much like the pattern of the planets to the sun.)
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