Herräng Dance Camp
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Herräng Dance Camp (commonly abbreviated HDC, officially Herräng Dance Camp Aktiebolag) is the largest annual dance camp that focuses on
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 ...
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boogie woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pi ...
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Tap dance Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perf ...
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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 danc ...
, and balboa. It is held for 5 weeks annually from late June through July in
Herräng Herräng () is the northernmost locality in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden, with 422 inhabitants in 2010. It is located 40 kilometres north of the municipal seat Norrtälje along the coast of Singöfjärden, a bay on Roslagen. ...
, Sweden and focuses both on instruction and dancing. Swing era dancers including
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 born ...
,
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 ...
, Chazz Young, and Dawn Hampton presented at the camp. With over 750 people attending each week compared to a population of the village of
Herräng Herräng () is the northernmost locality in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden, with 422 inhabitants in 2010. It is located 40 kilometres north of the municipal seat Norrtälje along the coast of Singöfjärden, a bay on Roslagen. ...
of between 400 and 600, the camp assembles a significant amount of infrastructure each summer to meet the needs of the large number of dancers. Some of the most noticeable additions to Herräng during Herräng Dance Camp includes several cafes; a full cafeteria serving buffet-style meals; a shop for dance supplies, accessories and daily essentials; bicycle rental; housing of various standards; and nightly entertainment. The camp is owned and run by Lorenz Ilg, Frida Segerdahl, Fatima Teffahi, Daniel Heedman, and Lennart Westerlund.


History

The first Herräng Dance Camp was held for one week, starting on 1 August 1982, and was organized by the Swedish Swing Society, a swing dance organization based in Stockholm, Sweden. It was attended by around 25 participants and was entirely taught by John Clancy from New York. Attendance increased to nearly 100 students in its second year. For the following five years, the camp grew in popularity in and around Sweden, and was only attended by Swedish dancers. During the swing revival in the late 1980s, the camp began to gain international attention. In 1989, two separate camps were organized in Herräng, one by
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 ...
and another by the traditional organizers, the Swedish Swing Society. For the 1989 camp organized by The Rhythm Hot Shots,
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 born ...
, a surviving member of the swing era, was invited to teach at the camp. The competing dance camps were held for five years, until 1994, when the two groups held the first unified Herräng Dance Camp. During the 1990s, the camp gained greater international attention, beginning to attract many dancers from countries outside of Sweden and Europe. The camp almost went bankrupt in 2003; at that time it was taken over by its current ownership. In 2020 the camp was cancelled due to
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Herrang Dance Camp Lindy Hop Dance festivals in Sweden Music festivals in Sweden