My name is Sharon Davis

I am an Australian dancer, based in London.
I dance Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues & Burlesque

email / me@sharondavis.com.au
phone / (+44) 0777 444 6100 (UK)

Category Page

// Jazz History
VintageJazzArt.com

VintageJazzArt.com

My friend Mike Thibault just launched the new website for Vintage Jazz Art, which sells gorgeous prints of – yes, you guessed it – vintage jazz art. I’m so excited about this, I’m breaking my personal vow to stop blogging until after ESDC. But this is so g...
So, what’s a Killer Diller anyway?

So, what’s a Killer Diller anyway?

I got asked three times recently, where the name of our team The Killer Dillers comes from. The phrase “killer diller” is jazz slang, in common use in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. To be a “killer” or a “killer diller” meant you were red hot, back in...
New footage of Frankie Manning

New footage of Frankie Manning

I just got pointed towards a snippet of footage of the late great Frank Manning, social dancing in the Savoy Ballroom in 1937!  I have so much vintage footage in my collection (over 2,000 short clips on my laptop alone), that sometimes it seems impossible that I could ever stumbl...
The Masters 1937

The Masters 1937

How great is this photo?! Chick Webb, Artie Shaw and Duke Ellington, jamming together for the launch of the Master and Variety record labels, in 1937. Photo from Jazz: A History of America’s Music; by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns....
Jazz Primer by Marc Sabatella

Jazz Primer by Marc Sabatella

Want to understand jazz music and improvisation better? Check out this jazz primer online text by Marc Sabatella: http://www.outsideshore.com/primer/primer/index.html You can purchase the paperback version, but the entire text is generously available online. I’m no musician...
1921: Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation?

1921: Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation?

I just adore this article from the August 1921 edition of the Ladies Home Journal (pages 16-34). It was written by Anne Shaw Faulkner, head of the Music Department of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. According to Miss Faulkner, I am clearly going to hell. Enjoy! Doe...
1932: Savoy Shatters Its Own Record

1932: Savoy Shatters Its Own Record

Another 30′s newspaper article I dug up, this one reading “Savoy Shatters Own Record “, from the Wednesday 5th of  October 1932 edition of the New York Amsterdam News. Can you imagine that lineup – all four bands, in one ballroom, on one day!?! Click on th...
1930: Savoy Ballroom, Fess Williams, Fletcher Henderson and all things good

1930: Savoy Ballroom, Fess Williams, Fletcher Henderson and all things good

Lindy Hoppers can geek out over this newspaper article from the New York Amsterdam News, Wednesday 1st October 1930 about the Savoy Ballroom. Check out the advert in the bottom right entitled “Savoy Night of Happiness”. Mentions of Fess Williams’ and Fletcher He...