The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the Black communities of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the

swing era The swing era (also frequently referred to as the big band era) was the period (1933–1947) when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though this was its most popular period, the music had actually been aroun ...

of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy is a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based on

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, tap, breakaway, and Charleston. It is frequently described as a

jazz dance Jazz dance is a performance dance and style that arose in the United States in the mid 20th century. Jazz dance may allude to vernacular jazz about to Broadway or dramatic jazz. The two types expand on African American vernacular styles of dance ...

and is a member of the

swing dance Swing dance is a group of social dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s–1940s, with the origins of each dance predating the popular "swing era". Hundreds of styles of swing dancing were developed; those that hav ...

family. In its development, the Lindy Hop combined elements of both partnered and solo dancing by using the movements and improvisation of African-American dances along with the formal eight-count structure of European

partner dance Partner dances are dances whose basic choreography involves coordinated dancing of two partners, as opposed to individuals dancing alone or individually in a non-coordinated manner, and as opposed to groups of people dancing simultaneously in a ...

s – most clearly illustrated in the Lindy's basic step, the swingout. In this step's

open position In partner dancing, open position refers to positions in which partners are connected primarily at the hands as opposed to closer body contact, as in closed position. The connection is through the hands, wrists, and fingers, and relies heavily ...

, each dancer is generally connected hand-to-hand; in its

closed position In partner dancing, closed position is a category of positions in which partners hold each other while facing at least approximately toward each other. Closed positions employ either body contact or body support, that is, holding each other is ...

, leads and follows are connected as though in an embrace on one side and holding hands on the other. There was renewed interest in the dance in the 1980s from American, Swedish, and British dancers and the Lindy Hop is now represented by dancers and loosely affiliated grass-roots organizations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Lindy Hop today is danced as a

social dance Social dances are dances that have a social functions and context. Social dances are intended for participation rather than performance. They are often danced merely to socialise and for entertainment, though they may have ceremonial, competit ...

, as a

competitive dance Competitive dance is a popular, widespread sport in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, tap, and improv—before a ...

, as a

performance dance Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and perf ...

, and in classes, workshops, and camps. Partners may dance alone or together, with

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

a central part of social dancing and many performance and competition pieces. Lindy Hop is sometimes referred to as a

street dance Street dance is an umbrella term for a large number of social dance styles such as: breakdancing, popping, locking, house dance, waacking etc. Social dance styles have many accompanying steps and foundations, created organically from a culture, ...

, referring to its improvisational and social nature. In 1932, twelve-year-old

Norma Miller Norma Adele Miller (December 2, 1919 – May 5, 2019) was an American Lindy hop dancer, choreographer, actress, author, and comedian known as the "Queen of Swing". Early life Miller was born in 1919 in Harlem, New York City to mother Alma, a ch ...

did the Lindy Hop outside the

Savoy Ballroom The Savoy Ballroom was a large ballroom for music and public dancing located at 596 Lenox Avenue, between 140th and 141st Streets in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Lenox Avenue was the main thoroughfare through upper Harle ...

with her friends for tips. In 1935, 15,000 people danced on Bradhurst Avenue for the second of a dance series held by the Parks Department. Between 147th and 148th street, Harlem "threw itself into the Lindy hop with abandon" as Sugar Hill residents watched from the bluffs along Edgecombe Avenue.

History

From jazz to swing (1920s–1940s)

The first dances named as ''Lindy Hop'' were born around the time the aviator

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

made his groundbreaking flight across the Atlantic Ocean in May 1927. The most famous Lindy Hop dance, which is not connected to the other Lindy Hop dances, was born in the Harlem

dance marathon Dance marathons (or marathon dances) are events in which people dance or walk to music for an extended period of time. They started as dance contests in the 1920s and developed into entertainment events during the Great Depression in the 1930s. ...

in 1928 where

George Snowden George "Shorty" Snowden (July 4, 1904 – May 1982) was an African American dancer in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s. He and his partner Mattie Purnell invented the Harlem Lindy Hop in the dance marathon at Harlem's Rockland Palace between ...

and Mattie Purnell reinvented the breakaway pattern by accident. That started a process in which their invention became bigger than it initially suggested. Obviously, the

dance is the only one of the Lindy Hop dances which survived in the long run. The Harlem Lindy Hop developed probably from four possible sources, or some combination thereof: the breakaway, the Charleston, the Texas Tommy, and the hop. A recorded source of the non-Harlem-connected Lindy Hop dances is the famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, nicknamed "Lucky Lindy", who "hopped the Atlantic" in 1927. After Lindbergh's solo non-stop flight from New York to Paris in 1927 he became incredibly popular and many people named songs, recipes and businesses among several other things, after him. Te Roy Williams and His Orchestra recorded the song "Lindbergh Hop", written by Ted Nixon and

Elmer Snowden Elmer Chester Snowden (October 9, 1900 – May 14, 1973) was an American banjo player of the jazz age. He also played guitar and, in the early stages of his career, all the reed instruments. He contributed greatly to jazz in its early days as b ...

, on May 25, 1927. The

Memphis Jug Band The Memphis Jug Band was an American band (music), musical group active from the mid-1920s to the late-1950s. The band featured harmonica, kazoo, fiddle and mandolin or banjolin, backed by guitar, piano, washboard (musical instrument), washboard, w ...

on September 13, 1928 recorded "Lindberg Hop- Overseas stomp," written by Jab Jones and

Will Shade William Shade Jr. (February 5, 1898 – September 18, 1966), known as Will Shade, was a Memphis blues musician, best known for his leadership of the Memphis Jug Band. He was commonly called Son Brimmer, a nickname from his grandmother Annie Brimm ...

. The first of the Lindy Hop-named dances was probably the "Lindbergh Hop" which was referred to as ‘ Lindy "Hop" in the headline of an article in ''Pittsburgh Gazette Times'' on May 25, 1927, just four days after Lindbergh landed at

Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a Communes of France, commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero#France, center of Paris. The commune features Paris - Le Bourget Airport, Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hos ...

. The dance was reported to be Broadway's tribute to Lindbergh, and it included six basic steps. Later, a 'Lindy Hop' dance was described by columnist Gilbert Swan. He wrote, "Obviously the first dance named for the Lindbergh flight was the 'Lindy Hop'...Like all trick dances, they will be done in a few theatres and dance halls, where experts appear, and that will be that". Later that year, on September 14, the Woodland ''Daily Democrat'' reported Catherine B. Sullivan describing the 'Lindy Hop' as having been placed third in the Dancing Masters of America, New Dances competition, behind the Kikajou and the Dixie Step. ( 'Lindy Hop' also described in reports as the 'Lindbergh Glide'). The journalist reports that Miss Johnson showed a very fast little step, with hops and a kick, whilst holding the arms out, like the

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlant ...

. The foot work is described as "dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum". According to Ethel Williams, the Lindy Hop was similar to the dance known as the Texas Tommy in New York in 1913. The basic steps in the Texas Tommy were followed by a breakaway identical to that found in the Lindy. Savoy dancer "Shorty" George Snowden told Marshall Stearns in 1959 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..." According to Snowden,

Fox Movietone News Movietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States. Under the name British Movietone News, it also ran in the United Kingdom from 1929 to 1986, in France also produced by Fox-Europa, in Australia and New Zealand until 1970 ...

covered the marathon and took a close-up of Shorty's feet. As told to

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

and Jean Stearns, he was asked "What are you doing with your feet," and replied, "The Lindy". The date was June 17, 1928. Snowden's account to Stearns probably refers to the fact that he used already existing elements of the dance when he and his partner Mattie Purnell had an accident in the dance marathon where they became separated for a while until Snowden got back to Purnell. According to Snowden, the crowd in the dance marathon answered enthusiastically to the accident. As Marshall Stearns put it, Snowden rediscovered the Breakaway pattern when the accident happened. But the accident where Snowden and Purnell devised the basic principle of the Lindy Hop turned out to be much bigger than it initially suggested. Their invention started a process which led the Lindy Hop to contests, theaters and ballrooms by the end of 1928, and to Broadway plays by 1930. Thus, Snowden and Purnell are the creators of the Harlem Lindy Hop. 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

. Their dancing accentuated the difference in size with Big Bea towering over Shorty. These dancers specialized in so-called floor steps, but they also experimented with early versions of air steps in the Lindy Hop. As white people began going to Harlem to watch black dancers, according to

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

: Hughes's mocking statement reflects how the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

movement acknowledged the Lindy Hop which the movement considered part of "low culture", and thus not an important cultural achievement. 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." When by 1936 "Air steps" or "aerials" such as the Hip to Hip, Side Flip, and Over the Back (the names describe the motion of the follow in the air) began to appear, the old guard of dancers such as Leon James, Leroy Jones, and Shorty Snowden disapproved of the new moves. 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 Frank Manning (May 26, 1914 – April 27, 2009) was an American dancer, instructor, and choreographer. Manning is considered one of the founders of Lindy Hop, an energetic form of the jazz dance style known as swing. Biography Manning was b ...

was part of a new generation of Lindy Hoppers, and is the most celebrated Lindy Hopper in history. Al Minns and

Pepsi Bethel Alfred "Pepsi" Bethel (August 31, 1918, Greensboro, North Carolina – August 30, 2002, New York City) was a jazz dancer, choreographer, and leader of his own dance troupe, the Pepsi Bethel Authentic Jazz Dance Theater, which he founded in 1960.T ...

, Leon James, and

are also featured prominently in contemporary histories of Lindy Hop. Some sources credit 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. However, early versions of air steps in the Lindy Hop were performed already from the very beginning of the 1930s. 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 Whitey's Lindy Hoppers was a professional performing group of exceptional swing dancers that was first organized in the late 1920s by Herbert "Whitey" White in the Savoy Ballroom and disbanded in 1942 after its male members were drafted into World ...

(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 Arthur Murray (born Moses Teichman, April 4, 1895 – March 3, 1991) was an American ballroom dancer and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the dance studio chain that bears his name. Early life and start in dance Arthur Mur ...

began teaching Lindy Hop. By the early 1940s the dance was known as "New Yorker" on the West Coast. In 1944, due to continued involvement in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the United States levied a 30 percent federal

excise tax file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

against "dancing"

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

s. Although the tax was later reduced to 20 percent, "No Dancing Allowed" signs went up all over the country.

Post-swing era (1950s–1960s)

Arthur Murray's 1954 edition of ''How to Become a Good Dancer'' included four pages of instruction for swing, covering 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".Betty White. ''Ballroom DanceBook for Teachers'', David McKay Company, 1962, pp. 131–144. LCCN 62-18465 According to the book ''Social Dance'' (copyrighted in 1969), by 1960 the Lindy Hop was known as "swing".

Revival (1980s and 1990s)

Sandra Cameron and Larry Schulz of the Cameron Dance Center Inc convinced Al Minns and Frankie Manning to teach Lindy Hop at their dance center.Craig R Hutchinson. ''Swing Dancer: Version 1.10, a swing dancer's manual''. December 1998. Potomac Swing Dance Club, Inc., pp. 5.1–5 Minns joined the dance center and began a swing program there in 1981. Frankie Manning joined the Center in 1985. Al Minns' early students formed 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 Sylvia Sykes is an American swing dancer, instructor, judge, and choreographer. She is known for reviving the swing dance style balboa. Career Sykes and her dance partner Jonathan Bixby started dancing together when she was fourteen years old. T ...

in the United States and Stockholm's 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

, Al Minns, and

. In the mid-to-late 1990s the popularity of neo swing music of the

swing revival The swing revival, also called retro swing and neo-swing, was a renewed interest in swing music, beginning around 1989 and reaching a peak from the early/mid to late 1990s. The music was generally rooted in the big bands of the swing era of the ...

stimulated mainstream interest in the dance. The dance was propelled to wide visibility after it was featured in movies such as ''

Swing Kids The Swing Youth (german: Swingjugend) were a group of jazz and swing lovers in Germany formed in Hamburg in 1939. Primarily active in Hamburg and Berlin, they were composed of 14- to 21-year-old Germans, mostly middle or upper-class students, ...

'' in 1993 and in the "Kakhis Swing" television commercials for Gap in 1998. In 1999, ''

Swing! ''Swing!'' is a musical conceived by Paul Kelly with music by various artists. It celebrates the music of the Swing era of jazz (1930s–1946), including many well-known tunes by artists like Duke Ellington, William "Count" Basie, Benny Goodma ...

'' opened up on Broadway, featuring world-class Lindy Hoppers Jenny Thomas and

Ryan Francois Ryan Francois is a swing dancer, choreographer and actor, who played a central part of the revival of the Lindy Hop . Specialising in dances related to the Jazz & Swing era - including the Lindy Hop, Charleston, Tap and Authentic Vernacular Jazz, ...

, Latin swing dancer Maria Torres and her partner Carlos Sierra-Lopez, country swing stars Robert Royston and Laureen Baldovi, and west coast swing couple Beverly Durand and Aldrin Gonzales. Carol Bentley, Scott Fowler, Caitlin Carter, Edger Godineaux, Geralyn Del Corso, and Keith Lamelle Thomas were also featured in various swing-related dance pieces in the

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

-nominated show during its run at the St. James Theatre. The show closed in January 2001, yet continues to be set in regional and international cities around the world.

Hollywood-style Lindy Hop

Hollywood-style Lindy Hop is sometimes referred to as Dean Collins or Smooth-style, but these terms also sometimes refer to different styles of Lindy Hop. Hollywood is the style reconstructed by Erik Robison and Sylvia Skylar based on movies from 1930s and 1940s featuring dancers like Dean Collins,

Jewel McGowan Jewel McGowan (1921-1962) is best known as a dancer of Lindy Hop, a form of swing dance, in the 1940s and 1950s. She also danced in other, non-swing films, and with modern jazz dance pioneer Jack Cole. She is known among dance aficionados as the fr ...

Jean Veloz Jean Grinnell Veloz ( Phelps, March 1, 1924 – January 15, 2023) was an American lindy hop dancer and actress, best known for her roles in 1940s and 1950s musicals. She innovated a style of swing dance that was "silky smooth", now known as "Ho ...

and others. They were the first to call it "Hollywood Style". The swingout (the basic step of Lindy) is danced in a position often described as someone about to sit on a stool, thereby bringing their center point of balance closer to the ground. This piked position is the classic look of Hollywood with the back straight and a slight forward tilt. The Hollywood style is also a

slotted dance In slotted dances, the dance slot is an imaginary narrow rectangle within which the follower moves back and forth in relation to the leader, who is comparatively stationary. Slotted dances include: West Coast Swing, Dallas Push, Houston Whip, Su ...

, meaning the follower travels in a straight line instead of the more elliptical or circular

Savoy-style Lindy Hop The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the Black communities of Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy is a fusion of many danc ...

. A popular variation of Hollywood-Style Lindy Hop called LA-style Lindy Hop has a few technical changes in the footwork and fewer steps. The steps are shortened or "cheated" to create this look. The style is geared towards performance and is heavily based on short choreographies. Originating in Los Angeles, LA-style is a favorite on the west coast of the United States. It is featured in a bravura number with

Martha Raye Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including Broadway. She was honored ...

in the 1941 film of '' Hellzapoppin’''.

Savoy-style Lindy Hop

Savoy-style Lindy Hop was danced at the

in Harlem in the 1930s and 1940s. This contrasted with Hollywood-style Lindy Hop or 'Smooth-Style Lindy Hop', popularly associated with Dean Collins and his Lindy Hop choreography in Hollywood films. Savoy-style is characterized by a high energy, circular, rotating style, in contrast with the smooth, slotted styling of Hollywood (Smooth). The Savoy Ballroom was the end of the line for an ascending network of clubs, church socials, in New York and beyond. George Snowden, Frankie Manning and George Sullivan were all dismissed by prospective partners for having allegedly inadequate dance skills. With an unusually high preponderance of skilled social dancers there was an infinite variety of interpretations. As Frankie Manning put it, "Everyone at the Savoy had their wnstyle." And there was no specific "Savoy style" of Lindy Hopping. A more modern style of dance called "lindy hop" also occurs, characterized by slower music, more improvisation, and "groove" style. This usage evolved in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the late 90s to distinguish it from the "Hollywood" or "LA Style" that was becoming popular. The latter styles were typically done to faster music and with less room for improvisation, limited to what could be fit into existing patterns. The coinage was based on the erroneous idea that black dancers on the East Coast danced in a slow, "groovy" manner with much improvisation not fitting within the typical patterns. This usage seems to be diminishing in usage and the term is often used today to describe faster lindy hop based on moves from Whitey's Lindy Hoppers and other dancers from the Savoy ballroom. However, as most dancers of this style do not possess the years of ingrained African American movement possessed by these early dancers, it is difficult to replicate, and it might be said that most modern dancers more closely resemble Dean Collins and his West Coast contemporaries.

Savoy Ballroom dancers

Savoy style Lindy Hop was most frequently associated with living dancers from the 1930s such as

, and with the Swedish dance troupe

The Rhythm Hot Shots The Hot Shots is a collective name for two closely related Swedish dance companies based in Stockholm, Sweden: The Rhythm Hot Shots and the Harlem Hot Shots. The Hot Shots specialize in faithful reproductions of African-American dance scenes in A ...

(now replaced by the

Harlem Hot Shots The Hot Shots is a collective name for two closely related Swedish dance companies based in Stockholm, Sweden: The Rhythm Hot Shots and the Harlem Hot Shots. The Hot Shots specialize in faithful reproductions of African-American dance scenes in A ...

). The term 'Savoy-style Lindy Hop' applies a generic relationship between all African American Lindy Hoppers (and aficionados of their styles) which ignores the variety and diversity of Lindy Hop in the 1930s and 40s. Lindy Hop historians see clear differences between the Lindy Hop of the early years of its development (the late 1920s) and dancers such as "Shorty" George Snowden, dancers of the 1930s (such as Manning), and then between individual dancers during these periods. Lennart Westerlund - a key member of The Rhythm Hot Shots and authoritative Lindy Hop historian - described the differences in styles between Manning and Al Minns, the dancer he worked with in the earliest years of the Lindy Hop revival. Al Minns and Leon James are often considered authoritative figures in the academic discussion of Lindy Hop, in part for their work with

Marshall Stearns Marshall Winslow Stearns (October 18, 1908 – December 18, 1966) was an American jazz critic and musicologist. He was the founder of the Institute of Jazz Studies. Biography Stearns was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Edith Baker Wins ...

and Jean Stearns (in their book ''

Jazz Dance Jazz dance is a performance dance and style that arose in the United States in the mid 20th century. Jazz dance may allude to vernacular jazz about to Broadway or dramatic jazz. The two types expand on African American vernacular styles of dance ...

'' and documentary films). Lindy Hop historians also draw clear distinctions between the dancing styles of key female dancers such as

and Ann Johnson. The most useful point to be made about this variation within a single community of dancers in one historical moment, is that

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

African American dance, and Lindy Hop in particular, prioritised individual style and creative improvisation and musical interpretation within a particular dance style.

Features

In describing Savoy style Lindy Hop, observers note that the follower is led out of the basic Swingout sideways as a default. This is not the case, however, as leading a follow out backwards or forwards is just as likely. Savoy style is also said to be characterized by a pronounced downwards 'bounce', which is again something of a misnomer, as different dancers employed varying degrees and types of 'bounce', and observers of

have noted changes in his own dancing style in this respect over the years. Despite these comments, it is important to note that the 'bounce' described is characteristic of many African American vernacular dance forms. One of the clearest distinctions between Hollywood and Smooth style Lindy Hop and Savoy style Lindy Hop is the open ' connection' and relative freedom of the follower to improvise within the structure of the Swingout in particular. Again, this technical difference varies between individual dancers, and between teachers today. Historians may also note that Hollywood style, while often characterized by a more intense connection (characterized at its extreme by counter balance), also featured extensive variations and individual improvisation within the swingout in other instances.

African American identity

Perhaps the most useful employment of the term 'Savoy-style Lindy Hop' lies in the association of the

(and dancers who were associated with it, particularly those of the

) and ethnicity. Despite the differences noted above, there are marked tropes in African American and African dances which are present in the Lindy Hop of these dancers in this period. These may include: * clear angles at the ankle - between leg and foot - and often at the wrist and/or elbow * wide-legged stances for both women and men, particularly in the follower's swivel * Frankie Manning's characteristically 'athletic' stance - like a runner spread out in motion, parallel to the ground - echoes African dance * particular 'variations' or jazz steps associated with Savoy-style date back to the African communities from which African American slaves were taken (and are discussed in the

History of slavery in the United States The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Slave ...

article), including the move "the itch" which then moved on to white communities and across to the west coast of America with dancers like Dean Collins.

Current status

Lindy Hop at Washington, DC's DuPont Circle

There are lindy hop communities throughout the world. 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. The first Lindy exchange was called 'The Weekend', and occurred on December 4–6, 1998, in California, between the cities of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California.

References

External links

"Savoystyle Archives of early Lindy Hop"
resource for Lindy Hop history

{{Authority control Dancesport Competitive dance Swing dances Dance terminology Articles containing video clips Social dance Novelty and fad dances