Lindy Hop is a partnered swing dance that evolved from the Charleston in the late 1920s and flourished in the Swing Era of the 1930s and 40s. It spread from the ballrooms of Harlem, New York, across the United States and to the rest of the world. In Europe it was often called the Jitterbug. You might have heard of other dances like Jive, Boogie Woogie, Rock ‘n Roll, Rockabilly, West Coast Swing or Ceroc – these dances all evolved out of Lindy Hop over the decades after World War II. Lindy Hop is the mother of them all – the original swing dance!
Lindy Hop is alive and kicking today, with thriving social dance scenes in all major cities. Here are 9 reasons why you’ll love it.
LEARN ABOUT BLACK CULTURE
Any discussion of Lindy Hop needs to start by celebrating it as an African-American art form. Many of the best jazz musicians had found their way to New York by the late 1920s, and with the music came dancing. In Harlem, the heart of New York’s black community, they were dancing The Charleston (and other dances) anywhere people were partying. In this jazz-infused atmosphere, their dance was evolving into something unique, special and rooted in Harlem’s culture. When the legendary Savoy Ballroom opened in Harlem in 1926, this new dance found its home and was eventually named The Lindy Hop (after the daredevil aviator Charles Lindbergh).
With the best jazz bands in the world playing at The Savoy, the Lindy Hop kept evolving and growing, with new steps being born every day. Weekly Saturday night dance contests at The Savoy pushed the Harlem dancers to be the best in the world, and the dance just kept getting hotter. A Harlem dancer named Frankie Manning invented the first acrobatic “airstep”, taking the dance to (literal) new heights. Harlem’s elite Lindy Hoppers performed at nightclubs like the Cotton Club, in Broadway shows, in Hollywood films and toured the USA and the world in the 1930s and 40s.
Like all good black culture, the dance was quickly co-opted by America’s white youth and it soon spread around the world – particularly in the Second World War, when American armed forces brought the dance to many countries overseas. The Lindy Hop was being danced by all types of people around the world by the 1930s, and continues to be enjoyed by a diverse community of dancers today. But we continue to celebrate Lindy Hop as a joyous and important part of black history, honour its creators and preserve its culture & values.
THE MUSIC IS INFECTIOUS
By definition, swing dancing just means dancing to swing music. “Swing music” means swinging jazz, the pop music of the late 1920s through to the 1940s.
Swing was made for dancers, it’s irresistibly toe-tapping! When you hear this, you’re going to want to dance, and Lindy Hop is the dance to do.
Sometimes there’s a DJ, and sometimes a live jazz band. Swing dancing to live music is an intoxicating experience – the horns blaring, the rhythm section driving, the dance floor bouncing. Experience it once and you’ll be hooked.
IT’S FOR EVERYONE
Lindy Hop can be danced to fast or slow tempos. It can be wild and energetic, or it can be smooth and sexy. You’ll find all ages on the dance floor – twenty-somethings, sixty-somethings, all dancing together. Lindy Hop can be adapted for all levels of fitness or injury too.
TOUCH SOMEBODY!
Lindy Hop is all about tactile communication with your partner – meaning, it’s time to touch somebody! Human contact is good for the soul and sorely missing in modern social scenarios. Since the 1960s, popular dances have been done solo, but partner dances are now making a comeback.
In Lindy Hop there is a leader, who controls the dance, and a follower who follows the moves and footwork initiated by the leader. Traditionally the leader was male and the follower female, but today Lindy Hoppers choose whichever role suits them and often learn both roles (called “switch dancing”).. The trend now is to teach Lindy Hop with gender-neutral language in class.
Once you’ve learned some fundamental lead/follow techniques, you can dance with anyone. This connection and communication is hugely satisfying, and every dance becomes a physical conversation. Learn the language of dance!
JUST LIKE MAGIC
People seeing Lindy Hop at a party for the first time, often presume it must be a routine. The moves are so complex, the footwork so synchronised, there are so many different positions, yet the couple is so together – surely it’s a choreography that they’ve practiced for tonight?
Not so! In a show you might see a Lindy Hop routine, but at a party everyone is social dancing, meaning it’s totally improvised. The dance you are watching is being spontaneously created, in that very moment, like magic.
All those steps, that fancy footwork, the spins and turns and kicks and breaks – the leader is thinking it up on the spot, leading it through the connection, so the follower can feel what to do. They can even lead their partner to do a step they have never done before! Magic.
BE YOURSELF
Unlike some other dance forms, Lindy Hop is all about developing your own unique style. One swing dancer might look completely different to another, even though they are doing exactly the same step.
With good technique, your style won’t interrupt the connection to your partner, so the opportunities for individual expression are endless – you can be as acrobatic or as smooth, as wild or as graceful, as goofy or as cool as you like.
TIME TO GET SOCIAL
Lindy Hop is a street dance (as opposed to a standardised ballroom or classical dance), and above all it’s a social dance. In the 1930s and 40s, everyone went out dancing to find a sweetheart and see their friends. This social spirit remains.
In classes you will rotate partners, so you don’t need to bring a dance partner to learn. If you’re a follower, you will meet every leader in the room during class, or vice versa.
At a party, beginners and advanced dancers all dance together, and the social atmosphere is warm and welcoming. Both men and women ask each other for dances, and though there’s no taboo about saying no, invitations are rarely refused. So go and ask that girl with the flower in her hair!
FLY IF YOU WANT TO
Lindy Hop is most famous for its high-flying acrobatic “airsteps,” but if that’s not for you, don’t worry. When you go to a Lindy Hop party, you generally won’t see anyone’s feet leaving the ground. It’s not safe to do acrobatics in a crowded ballroom anyway, and plenty of Lindy Hoppers never learn any airsteps. If gravity is your friend, it can stay that way.
But if you’re interested in defying the laws of physics, Lindy Hop provides! With a partner you trust, you can learn to back flip, front flip, fly, soar and float through the air. It’s a great workout too – and way more fun than the gym!
WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES
There’s also a universe of swing culture to immerse yourself in. The swing dance community is home to passionate jazz music devotees, as well as enthusiasts of the history, films and fashion of the Swing Era.
And of course, swing dancing doesn’t end at Lindy Hop. There are a variety of jazz and swing era dances, including Charleston, Balboa, Shag and the Big Apple, all of which are still danced today.
And fancy a dancing holiday? If you want to spread your wings, swing dancing is everywhere! There are festivals and dance camps all over the world, and Lindy Hoppers love to travel for their hobby. Swing tourism is a big thing.