lindy hop
The Lindy Hop is an African American dance, based on the popular Charleston… Read Full Bio ↴The Lindy Hop is an African American dance, based on the popular Charleston and named for Charles Lindbergh's Atlantic crossing in 1927. It evolved in New York City in the 1920s and '30s and originally evolved with the jazz music of that time. Lindy was a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based on jazz, tap, breakaway and Charleston. It is frequently described as a jazz dance and is a member of the swing dance family.
In its development, the Lindy Hop combined elements of both partnered and solo dancing by using the movements and improvisation of black dances along with the formal eight-count structure of European partner dances. This is most clearly illustrated in the Lindy's basic step, the swingout. In this step's open position, each dancer is generally connected hand-to-hand; in its closed position, men and women are connected as though in an embrace.
Revived in the 1980s by American, Swedish, and British dancers, the Lindy Hop is now represented by dancers and loosely affiliated grass roots organizations found in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.
Born in African American communities in Harlem, New York in the United States from about 1927 into the early 1930s from four possible sources: the breakaway, the Charleston, the Texas Tommy, and the hop.
According to Ethel Williams, who helped popularize the Texas Tommy in New York in 1913, the Texas Tommy "was like the Lindy", and the basic steps were followed by a breakaway identical to that found in the Lindy. Savoy dancer "Shorty" George Snowden stated that, "We used to call the basic step the Hop long before Lindbergh did his hop across the Atlantic. It had been around a long time and some people began to call it the Lindbergh Hop after 1927, although it didn't last. Then, during the marathon at Manhattan Casino, I got tired of the same old steps and cut loose with a breakaway..." Fox Movietone News covered the marathon and took a close-up of Shorty's feet. When asked "What are you doing with your feet," Shorty replied, "The Lindy". The date was June 17, 1928.
The first generation of Lindy Hop is popularly associated with dancers such as "Shorty" George Snowden, his partner Big Bea, and Leroy Stretch Jones and Little Bea. "Shorty" George and Big Bea regularly won contests at the Savoy Ballroom. Their dancing accentuated the difference in size with Big Bea towering over Shorty. These dancers specialized in so-called floor steps.
As white people began going to Harlem to watch black dancers, according to Langston Hughes: "The lindy-hoppers at the Savoy even began to practice acrobatic routines, and to do absurd things for the entertainment of the whites, that probably never would have entered their heads to attempt for their own effortless amusement. Some of the lindy-hoppers had cards printed with their names on them and became dance professors teaching the tourists. Then Harlem nights became show nights for the Nordics."
Charles Buchanan, manager of the Savoy, paid dancers such as Shortly Snowden to "perform" for his clientele. According to Snowden, "When he finally offered to pay us, we went up and had a ball. All we wanted to do was dance anyway."
"Air steps" such as the Hip to Hip, Side Flip, and Over the Back (the names describe the motion of the woman in the air) began to appear in 1936, all of which were disapproved of by the old guard such as Leon James, Leroy Jones, and Shorty Snowden.
Younger dancers fresh out of high school: Al Minns, Joe Daniels, Russell WIlliams, and Pepsi Bethel worked out the Back Flip, Over the head, and 'the Snatch.
Frankie Manning was part of a new generation of Lindy Hoppers, and is the most celebrated Lindy Hopper in history. Al Minns and Pepsi Bethel, Leon James, and Norma Miller also feature prominently in contemporary histories of Lindy Hop. Some sources credit Frankie Manning, working with his partner Freida Washington, for inventing the ground-breaking 'Air Step' or 'aerial' in 1935. One source credits Al Minns and Pepsi Bethel as among those who refined the air step.[3] An Air Step is a dance move in which at least one of the partners' two feet leave the ground in a dramatic, acrobatic style. Most importantly, it is done in time with the music. Air steps are now widely associated with the characterization of lindy hop, despite being generally reserved for competition or performance dancing, and not generally being executed on any social dance floor.
Lindy Hop entered mainstream American culture in the 1930s, gaining popularity through multiple sources. Dance troupes, including the Whitey's Lindy Hoppers (also known as the Harlem Congaroos), Hot Chocolates and Big Apple Dancers exhibited the Lindy Hop. Hollywood films, such as Hellzapoppin' and A Day at the Races began featuring the Lindy Hop in dance sequences. Dance studios such as those of Arthur Murray and Irene and Vernon Castle began teaching Lindy Hop. Lindy Hop's movement to the west coast of the United States is popularly associated with Dean Collins, who brought Lindy Hop to Los Angeles after learning it at the Savoy Ballroom in New York.
Lindy Hop moved off-shore in the 1930s and 40s, again in films and news reels, but also with American troops stationed overseas, particularly in the United Kingdom,Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other allied nations. Although Lindy Hop and jazz were banned in countries such as Germany, both were popular in other European countries during this period.
In 1944, due to continued involvement in World War II, the United States levied a 30 percent federal excise tax against "dancing" nightclubs. Although the tax was later reduced to 20 percent, "No Dancing Allowed" signs went up all over the country.
Arthur Murray's 1954 edition of "How to become a Good Dancer" included 4 pages of instruction for Swing: the Basic Lindy Step, the Double Lindy Hop, the Triple Lindy Hop, the Sugar Foot Walk, and the Tuck-In Turn. A chapter is devoted to Lindy Hop in the 1953 and 1958 editions of "Dancing Made Easy".
The 1962 "Ballroom Dancebook for Teachers" included an entire chapter on "Lindy".
According to the book "Social Dance", copyrighted in 1969, by 1960 The Lindy Hop was known as Swing.
Sandra Cameron and Larry Schulz of the Cameron Dance Center Inc in New York were instrumental in bringing Al Minns and Frank Manning back into teaching Lindy Hop at their dance center. Minns joined the dance center and began a swing program there in 1981. Frank Manning joined the Center in 1985.
Al Minns' early students formed the basis for the New York Swing Dance Society, established in 1985.
In the 1980s, American and European dancers from California, New York, London and Sweden (such as Sylvia Sykes, Erin Stevens, Steven Mitchell, Terry Monaghan and Warren Heyes who formed London's Jiving Lindy Hoppers performance troupe, and Stockholm's Rhythm Hot Shots / Harlem Hot Shots) went about 'reviving' Lindy Hop using archival films such as Hellzapoppin' and A Day at the Races and by contacting dancers such as Frankie Manning, Al Minns, Norma Miller, Jewel McGowan and Dean Collins. In the mid-to-late 1990s the popularity of neo swing music of the swing revival stimulated mainstream interest in the dance. The dance was propelled to wide visibility after it was featured in movies such as Swing Kids in 1993, and Swingers in 1996, and in television commercials for GAP in 1998. The popularity led to the founding of local Lindy Hop dance communities in many cities.
There are thriving communities throughout the world. The small village of Herräng in Sweden (north of Stockholm) has unofficially become the international mecca of Lindy Hop thanks to the annual Herräng Dance Camp run by the Harlem Hot Shots with an attendance from around 40 countries. Lindy Hop can be found in almost every large westernized city in the world. Some of these include London, Dublin, Reykjavík, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Barcelona, New York, and Buenos Aires.
Lindy Hop tends to be concentrated in small local scenes in different cities in each of these countries, although regional, national, and international dance events bring dancers from many of these scenes together. Local swing dance communities in each city and country feature different local cultures. The concept of a Lindy exchange, a gathering of lindy hop dancers in one city for several days to dance with visitors and locals, enables different communities to share their ideas with others.
Many Internet forums have emerged in these dance scenes, providing information about Lindy Hop and dance events in the geographic area. Yehoodi has become the largest of these, although many smaller local forums also exist.
Lindy Hop today is danced as a social dance, as a competitive dance, as a performance dance, and in classes, workshops, and camps. In each, partners may dance alone or together, with improvisation a central part of social dancing and many performance and competition pieces.
Lindy Hop has been featured in the mass media since its inception.
In the 1953 episode of I Love Lucy called "Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined", Lucy dances Lindy Hop with a "cool cat" dance partner in a showcase at Ricky's nightclub but can't do the dance properly due to the dilating eyedrops the eye doctor gave her.
Lindy Hop is featured in several music videos, including Marilyn Manson's Mobscene, the 2002 music video to Elvis Presley vs. JXL remix of A Little Less Conversation, the 2007 music video to Christina Aguilera's song Candyman and the 2008 video release from Millencolin; Detox.
The Lindy Hop was the dance Homer Simpson performed as a panda in The Simpsons episode "Homer vs. Dignity" season 12.
The Harlem Lindy Hop dance club and zoot suit culture forms a colourful backdrop in the early part of Spike Lee's film Malcolm X, starring Denzel Washington. Spike Lee's character is called "Shorty".
In its development, the Lindy Hop combined elements of both partnered and solo dancing by using the movements and improvisation of black dances along with the formal eight-count structure of European partner dances. This is most clearly illustrated in the Lindy's basic step, the swingout. In this step's open position, each dancer is generally connected hand-to-hand; in its closed position, men and women are connected as though in an embrace.
Revived in the 1980s by American, Swedish, and British dancers, the Lindy Hop is now represented by dancers and loosely affiliated grass roots organizations found in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.
Born in African American communities in Harlem, New York in the United States from about 1927 into the early 1930s from four possible sources: the breakaway, the Charleston, the Texas Tommy, and the hop.
According to Ethel Williams, who helped popularize the Texas Tommy in New York in 1913, the Texas Tommy "was like the Lindy", and the basic steps were followed by a breakaway identical to that found in the Lindy. Savoy dancer "Shorty" George Snowden stated that, "We used to call the basic step the Hop long before Lindbergh did his hop across the Atlantic. It had been around a long time and some people began to call it the Lindbergh Hop after 1927, although it didn't last. Then, during the marathon at Manhattan Casino, I got tired of the same old steps and cut loose with a breakaway..." Fox Movietone News covered the marathon and took a close-up of Shorty's feet. When asked "What are you doing with your feet," Shorty replied, "The Lindy". The date was June 17, 1928.
The first generation of Lindy Hop is popularly associated with dancers such as "Shorty" George Snowden, his partner Big Bea, and Leroy Stretch Jones and Little Bea. "Shorty" George and Big Bea regularly won contests at the Savoy Ballroom. Their dancing accentuated the difference in size with Big Bea towering over Shorty. These dancers specialized in so-called floor steps.
As white people began going to Harlem to watch black dancers, according to Langston Hughes: "The lindy-hoppers at the Savoy even began to practice acrobatic routines, and to do absurd things for the entertainment of the whites, that probably never would have entered their heads to attempt for their own effortless amusement. Some of the lindy-hoppers had cards printed with their names on them and became dance professors teaching the tourists. Then Harlem nights became show nights for the Nordics."
Charles Buchanan, manager of the Savoy, paid dancers such as Shortly Snowden to "perform" for his clientele. According to Snowden, "When he finally offered to pay us, we went up and had a ball. All we wanted to do was dance anyway."
"Air steps" such as the Hip to Hip, Side Flip, and Over the Back (the names describe the motion of the woman in the air) began to appear in 1936, all of which were disapproved of by the old guard such as Leon James, Leroy Jones, and Shorty Snowden.
Younger dancers fresh out of high school: Al Minns, Joe Daniels, Russell WIlliams, and Pepsi Bethel worked out the Back Flip, Over the head, and 'the Snatch.
Frankie Manning was part of a new generation of Lindy Hoppers, and is the most celebrated Lindy Hopper in history. Al Minns and Pepsi Bethel, Leon James, and Norma Miller also feature prominently in contemporary histories of Lindy Hop. Some sources credit Frankie Manning, working with his partner Freida Washington, for inventing the ground-breaking 'Air Step' or 'aerial' in 1935. One source credits Al Minns and Pepsi Bethel as among those who refined the air step.[3] An Air Step is a dance move in which at least one of the partners' two feet leave the ground in a dramatic, acrobatic style. Most importantly, it is done in time with the music. Air steps are now widely associated with the characterization of lindy hop, despite being generally reserved for competition or performance dancing, and not generally being executed on any social dance floor.
Lindy Hop entered mainstream American culture in the 1930s, gaining popularity through multiple sources. Dance troupes, including the Whitey's Lindy Hoppers (also known as the Harlem Congaroos), Hot Chocolates and Big Apple Dancers exhibited the Lindy Hop. Hollywood films, such as Hellzapoppin' and A Day at the Races began featuring the Lindy Hop in dance sequences. Dance studios such as those of Arthur Murray and Irene and Vernon Castle began teaching Lindy Hop. Lindy Hop's movement to the west coast of the United States is popularly associated with Dean Collins, who brought Lindy Hop to Los Angeles after learning it at the Savoy Ballroom in New York.
Lindy Hop moved off-shore in the 1930s and 40s, again in films and news reels, but also with American troops stationed overseas, particularly in the United Kingdom,Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other allied nations. Although Lindy Hop and jazz were banned in countries such as Germany, both were popular in other European countries during this period.
In 1944, due to continued involvement in World War II, the United States levied a 30 percent federal excise tax against "dancing" nightclubs. Although the tax was later reduced to 20 percent, "No Dancing Allowed" signs went up all over the country.
Arthur Murray's 1954 edition of "How to become a Good Dancer" included 4 pages of instruction for Swing: the Basic Lindy Step, the Double Lindy Hop, the Triple Lindy Hop, the Sugar Foot Walk, and the Tuck-In Turn. A chapter is devoted to Lindy Hop in the 1953 and 1958 editions of "Dancing Made Easy".
The 1962 "Ballroom Dancebook for Teachers" included an entire chapter on "Lindy".
According to the book "Social Dance", copyrighted in 1969, by 1960 The Lindy Hop was known as Swing.
Sandra Cameron and Larry Schulz of the Cameron Dance Center Inc in New York were instrumental in bringing Al Minns and Frank Manning back into teaching Lindy Hop at their dance center. Minns joined the dance center and began a swing program there in 1981. Frank Manning joined the Center in 1985.
Al Minns' early students formed the basis for the New York Swing Dance Society, established in 1985.
In the 1980s, American and European dancers from California, New York, London and Sweden (such as Sylvia Sykes, Erin Stevens, Steven Mitchell, Terry Monaghan and Warren Heyes who formed London's Jiving Lindy Hoppers performance troupe, and Stockholm's Rhythm Hot Shots / Harlem Hot Shots) went about 'reviving' Lindy Hop using archival films such as Hellzapoppin' and A Day at the Races and by contacting dancers such as Frankie Manning, Al Minns, Norma Miller, Jewel McGowan and Dean Collins. In the mid-to-late 1990s the popularity of neo swing music of the swing revival stimulated mainstream interest in the dance. The dance was propelled to wide visibility after it was featured in movies such as Swing Kids in 1993, and Swingers in 1996, and in television commercials for GAP in 1998. The popularity led to the founding of local Lindy Hop dance communities in many cities.
There are thriving communities throughout the world. The small village of Herräng in Sweden (north of Stockholm) has unofficially become the international mecca of Lindy Hop thanks to the annual Herräng Dance Camp run by the Harlem Hot Shots with an attendance from around 40 countries. Lindy Hop can be found in almost every large westernized city in the world. Some of these include London, Dublin, Reykjavík, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Barcelona, New York, and Buenos Aires.
Lindy Hop tends to be concentrated in small local scenes in different cities in each of these countries, although regional, national, and international dance events bring dancers from many of these scenes together. Local swing dance communities in each city and country feature different local cultures. The concept of a Lindy exchange, a gathering of lindy hop dancers in one city for several days to dance with visitors and locals, enables different communities to share their ideas with others.
Many Internet forums have emerged in these dance scenes, providing information about Lindy Hop and dance events in the geographic area. Yehoodi has become the largest of these, although many smaller local forums also exist.
Lindy Hop today is danced as a social dance, as a competitive dance, as a performance dance, and in classes, workshops, and camps. In each, partners may dance alone or together, with improvisation a central part of social dancing and many performance and competition pieces.
Lindy Hop has been featured in the mass media since its inception.
In the 1953 episode of I Love Lucy called "Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined", Lucy dances Lindy Hop with a "cool cat" dance partner in a showcase at Ricky's nightclub but can't do the dance properly due to the dilating eyedrops the eye doctor gave her.
Lindy Hop is featured in several music videos, including Marilyn Manson's Mobscene, the 2002 music video to Elvis Presley vs. JXL remix of A Little Less Conversation, the 2007 music video to Christina Aguilera's song Candyman and the 2008 video release from Millencolin; Detox.
The Lindy Hop was the dance Homer Simpson performed as a panda in The Simpsons episode "Homer vs. Dignity" season 12.
The Harlem Lindy Hop dance club and zoot suit culture forms a colourful backdrop in the early part of Spike Lee's film Malcolm X, starring Denzel Washington. Spike Lee's character is called "Shorty".
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@streetofdreams4538
Love it, both words & music!
"April skies are in your eyes
But darling, don't be blue
Don't cry,
Oh honey please
Don't be that way
Clouds in the sky
Should never make you feel that way
The rain
Will bring the violets of May
Tears are in vain
So honey please don't be that way
As long as we
See it through
You'll have me
I'll have you
Sweetheart
Tomorrow is another day
Don't break my heart
Oh honey, please don't be that way"
@johnireland6301
Benny Goodman was pure perfection. A master of the craft and very much appreciated by so many
@brigidpower22
Heard him play this number at the Royal Albert Hall and it blew me away. Wonderful melodic music.
@JamesS001
Hello Brigid, how are things going with you?
@garywest8705
When music was pleasing and satisfying to listen to. I long for those days. Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Jimmy Dorsey, and many other greats.
@streetofdreams4538
Love it, both words & music!
"April skies are in your eyes
But darling, don't be blue
Don't cry,
Oh honey please
Don't be that way
Clouds in the sky
Should never make you feel that way
The rain
Will bring the violets of May
Tears are in vain
So honey please don't be that way
As long as we
See it through
You'll have me
I'll have you
Sweetheart
Tomorrow is another day
Don't break my heart
Oh honey, please don't be that way"
@donnyrichard4644
Just scintillating music. This is from my era and love it. 85 years young.
@DavedinomanThomas
donny richard
I am right behind you. Nothing beats the Big Band Sound. I am swinging as I write this.....lol
@chetpomeroy1399
Now in my late-50's--it's strange to me that I didn't develop an appreciation for this high-quality music decades ago! In those days, I even lived near a radio station that broadcast the swing/big-band format! Let me tell you, these artists had CLASS, which is sorely lacking on the airwaves today!
@davidmaslow399
Cool!
@loraealmgren5718
Yes, don’t count some of us out we’re
We not that far behind you!