1912: A jazz orchestra organised by James Reese Europe plays at Carnegie Hall

1913: Darktown Follies at Lafayette Theater (the “beginning” of Harlem nightlife)

1919: 369th Regiment (AKA the Harlem Hellfighters) parades up Fifth Avenue to Harlem after WWI

1920:
National Prohibition Act goes into effect.
Jack Johnson (the first black heavyweight champion) opens Club Deluxe (name changed to the Cotton Club in 1923).
Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association holds a national convention in Harlem.

1921: Shuffle Along (an all black musical) sets a new standard on Broadway

1922: The Harmon Foundation is established

1923: Running Wild, an all black Broadway musical, introduces the Charleston

1924: Louis Armstrong plays at the Roseland Ballroom with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra

1925: Small’s Paradise opens

1926: The Savoy Ballroom opens

1927:
The “400″ Club starts at the Savoy
The Cotton Club starts a live radio broadcast of the Duke Ellington Orchestra
Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight

1929:
Chick Webb’s orchestra and “Shorty George” Snowden featured in After Seben
The Stock Market crashes (Beginning of the Great Depression, which effectively ends Harlem Renaissance)

1931: Chick Webb’s band starts its long residency at the Savoy

1932:
Duke Ellington releases It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got the Swing, heralding in the Swing Era
The Apollo Theatre becomes a black vaudeville house

1933:
Weekly floor shows introduced at the Savoy
National Prohibition Act repealed

1934: Chick Webb records Stompin’ at the Savoy

1935:
Harlem Race Riots
The first Harvest Moon Ball dance contest

1936:
A business peak is reached at the Savoy Ballroom
The Lindy Hop is introduced to Europe by Harvest Moon Ball contestants
The Cotton Club relocates downtown
Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton join Benny Goodman
Jesse Owens makes heroic achievements at the Berlin Olympics in Nazi Germany

1937:
The battle of bands at the Savoy features Chick Webb vs. Benny Goodman
Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers featured in Marx Brothers’ A Day at the Races
“Cotton Club Revue” featuring Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers tours Europe
All female swing band “The Sweethearts of Rhythm” formed in Mississippi

1938:
The battle of bands at the Savoy features Chick Webb (with vocalist Ella Fitzgerald) vs. Count Basie (with vocalist Billie Holiday)

1939:
Chick Webb dies and Ella Fitzgerald assumes the leadership of the band
New York World’s Fair (features swing, television is introduced)

1940: The Cotton Club (downtown) closes

1941:
Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers featured in Hellzapoppin
Teddy Hill hires Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke at Minton’s Playhouse
U.S. enters WWII - the Lindy Hop is introduced around the world by the U.S. soldiers.

1943: The staff of hostesses at the Savoy is discontinued

1944: Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., elected the first black congressman from the East

1945: WWII ends

1949: Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson dies

ca1950: Mura Dehn documents dancers from the Savoy Ballroom on film

1958: The Savoy Ballroom closes

1959: The Savoy Ballroom building is replaced by Delano Village

Burlesque Frequently Asked Questions Part 2
Is all burlesque the same?

Burlesque takes many different manifestations, as varied and unique as the many individuals who strut the burlesque stage. Burlesque is not a danceform that you need to conform to, but a danceform that moulds to your individual tastes, style and body type. Burlesque is for everyone! Your personality, your body type, your musical instincts and your personal inspirations will influence your particular brand of burlesque.

At Sugar Blue Burlesque we adore the 1920s, 30s and 40s and we love authentic vintage jazz and swing dances. But you might be a burlesque beauty of the bell epoque, a glitter and glam burlesque showgirl, or maybe punk-rock burlesque might be you thing, or gothic burlesque, burlesque-a-go-go, even boylesque… anything you can imagine!

Photo above of Sugar Blue Burlesque’s A’dora Derriere.
Taken by David Woolley: www.vintageglamourphotography.com

The 12 October 1942 edition of the New York Times (page 13) gives us this little gem, an article about the New York Society of Teachers of Dancing finally accepting jitterbug - in a modified form - into the world of ballroom dance. This is the beginning of the end for Lindy Hop, its transformation from a social street dance to the institutionalised, simplified and soulless ballroom jive we know today.

There are so many things I like about this article - how the “Lindy Hop” is in quotation marks every time, that the jitterbug is an “indoor sport”, the idea of “modified cavortings”, especially those demonstrated by Mr and Mrs Rutherford, oh my…

Click on the thumbnail to see the original article, or read the text below:

Jitterbug Jumps From Low To High
Teachers Here Approve Modified Cavortings for Ballroom

The jitterbug, handmaiden of swing, is rising from its lowly estate, members of the New York Society of Teachers of Dancing were told yesterday at their October meeting in the Hotel Astor.

This delight of the youngsters, hitherto scorned or derided by the conservative pundits of the ballroom floor, and a direct descendant of the “Lindy Hop”, no longer can be ignored, according to those who spoke of the trend of social dancing.

With its cavortings refined and modified to fit the usually crowded floor, this season it will take its place beside rhumba, samba, foxtrot and waltz. As in all the history of social dancing, it was stated, the old must give way to the new.

To demonstrate how this refinement and modification can be brought about and how teachers can meet the demand of the tweenagers [sic] for recognition of one of their most popular indoor sports, George Rutherford of Poughkeepsie, with Mrs Rutherford, presented combinations of the “Lindy Hop” and jitterbug steps.

A short article I found in the New York Times, 25 January 1939 edition (page 18).

Advises Jitterbugs to Train
Jitterbugs should train in the same way that athletes do, or face the prospect of thick ankles, broken, maladjusted feet and exhausted nervous systems, according to Dr. John J. Lalli of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathy. He holds that no good can come from doing the Susie-Q, the Big Apple or other such modern dances, and describes them as “throwbacks to the war and religious dances of primitive tribes.”

Burlesque Frequently Asked Questions Part 1
What exactly is burlesque?

Burlesque is the hottest trend in town, a type of performance bringing together a sizzling dance style with elaborate vintage costumes, cool retro tunes and a lot of sassy fun!

Burlesque as an entertainment artform evolved from the late 19th century through to the “bump and grind” era of the 1940s and 50s. In burlesque’s heyday (those golden days before television, when people had to go out to be entertained) burlesque was a grand affair. A burlesque show combined live music, comedians, variety acts, a chorus line and of course, glamorous burlesque headliners, in an elegant theatre with a full orchestra, grand sets and elaborate costumes!  A burlesque queen in this golden era would enchant with her beauty, delight with her dance, and captivate her audience with the art of the tease.

Burlesque died out in the 1960s, as the sexual revolution transformed gender norms and sexual taboos, and full nudity and explicit pornography flooded the market, but it was revived in the 1990s as a postmodern movement by women for women. The neo-burlesque movement champions the natural beauty, glamour and sex appeal of women of all ages, shapes and sizes. In particular, neo-burlesque performers around the world have adopted the aesthetics of the 1940s and 50s, embracing the womanly curves denied by modern popular culture.  Today’s burlesque is a sugar-coated approach to sexuality, bringing mystery, allure, fantasy and glamour back to the stage!

To find out more visit www.sugarblueburlesque.com

Here is an article I wrote years ago for the Perth Swing Dance Society. Funny to read it years later, but it still holds true…

Social dancing is what swing is all about, and just like any other social situation there’s a level of etiquette required to make sure everyone has a good time, which is the whole point! In general, if you’re polite and considerate, and pay attention to your partner and others around you, then you’re doing fine! Here are a few swing etiquette tips to think about when you go out social dancing…

When you’re not Dancing

Don’t stand on the dance floor, and especially don’t stand there while you sip a drink! If at all possible, stand well out of the way and encourage others to do the same.

If you notice a hazard on the dance floor (usually it’s a spilled drink), then make sure people don’t dance into it, and if need be, alert the bar staff so they can clean it up. If you see something dropped on the dance floor, like a leaflet, just pick it up.

Buy a drink! Even if there’s a cover charge, most venues still make most of their money through drinks sales. If we don’t buy drinks, the venue can’t justify having a swing dance night, and we’ll lose the gig. Lindy Hoppers are rough enough customers as it is - we demand space, we move furniture, we dust up the floor, we make the dancefloor a terrifying and dangerous place to be, and we drink water all night! True, it’s not exactly adviseable to hit the hard liquor and dance at the same time, and besides all we usually want to drink is a long glass of cold water, but do make sure you buy at least one drink a night at every venue, especially if you are taking advantage of their free water. Even if it’s just a coke or OJ, we must support the venues that support us!

Asking for or accepting a dance

Never turn down a dance because you don’t know the person, you’re nervous or they don’t dance at your level - absolutely the best way to improve your dancing (whether you’re a beginner or advanced), is to dance with different people, at different levels and with different styles. Remember, this person has got up the guts to ask you to dance - so get up the guts and dance with them! Don’t be afraid to ask people, no matter what level you are, and remember ladies, it’s the 21st century now, so you can ask the guys to dance too! Finally, don’t monopolize one dance partner all night, no matter how much you like to dance with them!

Though we’d love to dance every song, not all of us have quite that much energy! If you’re too tired to dance, politely explain this to the person asking (they’ll understand), and perhaps promise to dance with them later on. If you’ve declined an invitation from one person, it’s impolite to accept a dance with someone else for that song.

Dancing with your partner

This is a social dance, so engage with your partner! Make eye contact, be aware of how they move, and smile!
Some people like to chat on the dance floor and others don’t. If you’re partner clearly doesn’t want to talk, just concentrate on the dance. Besides, isn’t dancing just another form of communication?

Try to dance to the level of your partner and always keep it fun! Remember leads, your job is to make your partner look good, and ladies it’s your job to be in-tune and follow. Nobody likes a “dig-me” dancer (that goes for girls and guys), and leads, you’re not going to impress your partner with fancy moves if you can’t lead them and/or she can’t follow them. Sure, challenge your partner, but don’t over-challenge them. Fun first, ok?

Leads, if your partner doesn’t quite pick up a move or variation the first time, lead it again a little later. This is a fantastic way for follows to learn, and you’ll be very popular with the ladies.

Here’s another way to be popular with the ladies - leads, be careful of your partner’s makeup and hairdo! Some of those hairdo’s took hours to do, and that fire engine red lipstick will definitely stain your clothes (or hers) if you bump her. Make sure you leave enough room for her to clear your arm in underarm turns, etc.

If something goes wrong, just smile and keep dancing! Don’t blame your partner and don’t expect an apology, it was neither of your faults. Remember, there’s no such thing as a wrong move, just a new move!

Don’t dip a girl if you don’t know her (or her dance level) very well. Some girls feel very uncomfortable about dips since it completely throws off their natural balance. Be considerate, and if in doubt, end with something else.

Here’s a big one - never instruct on the social dance floor, unless specifically asked! We go to classes to learn, but we go out social dancing just to have fun!

Floor Craft

Leaders, it’s your job to keep your lady safe. Be aware of the environment around you, including the stage, furniture, bystanders, and of course other couples. Dance appropriately for how crowded the dance floor is and always be careful where you lead your partner. The same goes for ladies - try to be spatially aware, and keep an eye out for any dangers behind your partner’s back. If you do collide with another couple, be sure to apologise and make sure no damage has been done.

Sometimes it is difficult to share a dance floor with people dancing a different style (foxtrot, rockabilly, Latin, etc.), but remember, they have just as much right to the dance floor as we do. Just be especially careful to avoid collisions, be patient, and if it’s really too difficult, move elsewhere on the dance floor. It may help to know that most travelling dances (like the foxtrot, whereas swing is a stationary dance), move around the dance floor in an anti-clockwise direction, and if you are sharing the dance floor with these dancers, it is safest to stay in the centre, while the others dance around the outside.

NEVER do aerials on a crowded social dance floor - it’s just plain dangerous, for you and for everyone around you. The same goes for dips, tricks or kicks which might be bigger than your average moves. Use common sense, and save these moves for the jam sessions. While we’re on the topic of aerials, remember that aerials are dangerous and difficult, and you should never attempt them unless you’ve been properly trained and are with a partner with whom you’re very familiar.

Cleanliness

Swing dancing is definitely a contact sport, and you can’t expect anyone to want to dance with you if you don’t have a certain level of cleanliness. Be sure you’re clean and deodorized before you start dancing. Bring your deodorant along with you, and let yourself cool down (and dry off) every now and again throughout the night. Breath mints aren’t such a bad idea either.

If you tend to sweat a lot, wear an undershirt, and always bring a change of shirt (or two or three!) and a towel. There’s nothing worse than Lindy Hop with someone dripping wet…except maybe Balboa with someone dripping wet! And we’re not just talking about the guys here, the same goes for ladies.

Clothing

It doesn’t matter what you wear to Lindy Hop, as long as you’re comfortable and your clothing doesn’t cause problems for your partner. Ladies, some leads may not feel comfortable leading you on bare skin, just keep that in mind with tops that reveal a large amount of midriff. The same goes for guys with tank tops and the like. Ladies, strapless tops might lead to… costume malfunctions.

Make sure your clothing is comfortable and you have a full range of movement. Tops that are overly baggy can be difficult to dance in, and any clothing which you need to keep adjusting during a dance is not good.

Remove any potentially dangerous accessories (watches, rings, bracelets, necklaces) which might catch, tangle or hit someone while you dance. Don’t carry keys in your pocket when you dance!

Ladies, be careful of long ponytails - no one likes to get whipped in the face with flying hair during spins and turns.

After the Dance

Though it doesn’t really need to be said, when the song is finished, thank your partner! If it was a wonderful dance, tell them so. Oh, and if there’s a live band, do show you’re appreciation by applauding.

Traditionally, once the song had finished, the lead would escort his lady back to the place where he had first asked her to dance. Though this might be a little formal these days, don’t just abandon your partner on the dance floor as soon as the song has ended.

With just a little commonsense and consideration, everyone can enjoy social dancing and get down to what it’s really about - doing the dance we love, making friends and always having fun!

This is a paper I wrote whilst studying US history at university, to do with racial issues surrounding Lindy Hop. It covers some of the history of Lindy, though there are some generalisations (it was written for the academic eyes of a lecturer who had no interest in dance). It’s a little dry and academic, but Lindy Hoppers might enjoy some of the quotes to do with how Lindy Hop was received by the general (read white) public in the 20s and 30s. I’ll see if I can dig up some of the old sources I refer to, and post them on my blog. And of course, this was written many years before Frankie Manning’s autobiography was released, but I would certainly have referred to that in this essay, had it been available at the time.

Lindy Hop was born amidst the heady cultural atmosphere of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, when African-Americans were migrating en masse from the rural south to the northern urban centres, including New York City. These new urban ghettoes cultivated a distinctly African-American culture, despite continuing racial discrimination, unemployment, low wages, scarce housing, high rent and overcrowding. The migration from South to North became a paradigm shift for African-American identity - from rural peasant Negro to urban “New Negro” and Harlem became the Mecca of urban African-American life.

With roots in African dance, secular social dancing had played an integral part in African-American life since slavery, and the growing Black community in Harlem continued this tradition. With the birth of jazz came also Black jazz dances, and these African-American cultural forms evolved alongside each other in the dancehalls, nightclubs, cabarets and rent parties[1] that sprung up in Harlem. On 12 March 1926 the grandiose Savoy Ballroom opened its doors in Harlem, occupying an entire city block from 140th to 141st Streets. Unlike other ballrooms in Harlem, the Savoy was not segregated, and catered specifically to Harlem’s African-American community. There the Lindy Hop was born and thrived alongside the greatest African-American swing bands, until well after World War II. Lindy Hopper Norma Miller remembers:

“Everybody came to the Savoy Ballroom. It was the home of Black dancing. It was the home of Swing, and everybody wanted to learn Swing. You had to come to the Savoy Ballroom. It was the dance that was created in Harlem.”[2]

Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of the wonderful vintage swing dance photographs you see on this blog are thanks to this fab Picasa album.

Enjoy!

Here is an article I wrote for AusDance magazine a few years ago. It’s more of an academic/professional magazine, read mostly by dancers in other styles (especially contemporary, classical and ballroom), who in Australia don’t tend to know much about Lindy. So it’s essentially a brief introduction to what Lindy Hop is all about and what makes it stand out from other danceforms.

Lindy Hop is the original swing dance that evolved from the Charleston and other jazz dances in the 1920s and flourished in the Swing Era of the 1930s and 40s. It spread from Harlem, New York where it was born, across the United States and to the rest of the world. Named after Charles Lindbergh and his famous ‘hop’ across the Atlantic, in Australia it was commonly known as the Jitterbug. Lindy Hop is most famous for its acrobatic “airsteps”, but this is only one aspect of the dance. It can be danced socially to fast or slow tempos and it is perfect for all ages and levels of fitness. So what makes Lindy Hop so special? Here are some of the defining characteristics of the Lindy:

The Music

By definition a swing dance is danced to swinging jazz, a musical style popular in the 1930s and 40s. This is what differentiates Lindy Hop from dances like Rock ‘n Roll, Rockabilly, Jive, West Coast Swing or Ceroc - these dances all evolved out of Lindy Hop over the decades, and they are all danced to other types of music. Lindy Hop is the original swing dance. Of course you can dance Lindy Hop to other music too, but it will never feel as fantastic as dancing to music with a swinging pulse. Lindy Hop evolved alongside jazz, so it echoes the nature of the music. Swing dancers are musical - this means that they listen to the music and interpret it spontaneously into dance form, regardless of whether they know the song or have never heard it before. Like jazz, Lindy Hop is based on rhythms and syncopation.

Connection

Lindy Hop is all about tactile communication with your partner, through a physical connection that continues regardless of the position you are in (Lindy Hop includes all variety of open and closed formations). Once you’ve learned some fundamental connection and lead/follow techniques, you can dance with anyone. Through this connection followers are able to intuitively follow moves even if they’ve never done them before, and this communication conveys to her the spaces in the dance free for her own improvisation. Leads have control of their partner’s movement and can therefore manipulate the dance spontaneously, to react to the music or to flow one figure organically into the next. This connection and communication is hugely satisfying, and every dance becomes a conversation. Learning the connection, counter tension, frame and lead/follow techniques of Lindy Hop will put you in good stead for any partnered dance.

Improvisation

Like jazz music itself, Lindy Hop has a highly improvisatory nature. That is, not every step is defined or choreographed. The best dancers are those that can improvise their dancing in a way that reflects the music - and improvisation isn’t just for the leaders! A unique feature of Lindy Hop is the freedom of expression available to the followers, who aren’t merely locked into the movement defined by the leader, but actually have space and time within the Lindy Hop framework to improvise movement and styling. When two dancers are feeding off each other’s improvised movement and style, a ‘call and response’ relationship (again, just like in jazz itself) is created.

Individual Style

Unlike many 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. There are a number of character styles (and an infinite number of unique individual styles), but it’s all Lindy Hop - the fundamentals are the same, the same connection and communication is there and all Lindy Hoppers can dance together, regardless of style. With good technique, your styling and improvisation 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 you like.

Social Aspect

Lindy Hop is above all a social dance (as opposed to an institutionalised or standardised ballroom or classical dance). It evolved organically alongside swing music in the social atmosphere of the American ballrooms of the 1920s, 30s and 40s, and this social spirit remains. You don’t need a dance partner to learn (classes rotate partners) and you don’t need to achieve any particular skill level before you can start social dancing - all levels dance together. Both men and women ask each other for dances, and it’s generally accepted that social dancing with a variety of partners is the best way to improve your Lindy Hop fast.

There’s also a universe of swing culture to immerse yourself in. Swing dance communities are home not only to fans of the dance, but also to passionate jazz and swing music devotees, as well as enthusiasts of the history 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, such as Charleston, Balboa, Collegiate Shag and Big Apple. If you still want to spread your wings, swing dance is an international phenomenon, with camps and exchanges in Europe, Asia and the USA, with a huge online community to make contacts for your travels. Many swing dance schools and societies also fly in international teachers to give workshops for local dancers.

Lindy Hop is an addictive and hugely satisfying dance, and Australian swing dance communities are known for being some of the most warm and welcoming in the world. Take a class, and it won’t be long before you’re in love with Lindy Hop too.