Lindy Hop
Encyclopedia
The Lindy Hop is an American social dance, from the swing dance family. It evolved in Harlem
, New York City
in the 1920s and '30s and originally evolved with the jazz
music of that time. Lindy was a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based on jazz
, tap
, breakaway
and Charleston
. It is frequently described as a jazz dance
and is a member of the swing dance
family.
In its revival in the 1980s by American, Swedish, and British dancers, the Lindy Hop is now represented by dancers and loosely affiliated grass roots organizations founded in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.
: "The lindy-hoppers at the Savoy even began to practice acrobatic routines, and to do absurd things for the entertainment of the whites, that probably never would have entered their heads to attempt for their own effortless amusement. Some of the lindy-hoppers had cards printed with their names on them and became dance professors teaching the tourists. Then Harlem nights became show nights for the Nordics."
Charles Buchanan, manager of the Savoy, paid dancers such as Shorty Snowden to "perform" for his clientele. 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 "Air steps" or "aerials" such as the Hip to Hip, Side Flip, and Over the Back (the names describe the motion of the woman in the air) began to appear in 1936, 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
was part of a new generation of Lindy Hoppers, and is the most celebrated Lindy Hopper in history. Al Minns
and Pepsi Bethel, Leon James, and Norma Miller
are also featured prominently in contemporary histories of Lindy Hop. Some sources credit Frankie 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. 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
(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
and Irene and Vernon Castle began teaching Lindy Hop. By the early 1940s the dance was known as "New Yorker" on the West Coast.
Lindy Hop moved off-shore in the 1930s and 40s, again in films and news reels, but also with American troops stationed overseas, particularly in the United Kingdom
, Canada
, Australia
, New Zealand
, and other allied nations. Although Lindy Hop and jazz were banned in countries such as Germany
, both were popular in other European countries during this period.
In 1944, due to continued involvement in World War II
, the United States levied a 30 percent federal excise tax
against "dancing" nightclub
s. Although the tax was later reduced to 20 percent, "No Dancing Allowed" signs went up all over the country.
The 1962 Ballroom Dancebook for Teachers included an entire chapter on "Lindy".
According to the book Social Dance, copyrighted in 1969, by 1960 The Lindy Hop was known as swing.
Al Minns' early students formed the basis for 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
, Erin Stevens, Steven Mitchell, Terry Monaghan and Warren Heyes who formed London's Jiving Lindy Hoppers performance troupe, and Stockholm's Rhythm Hot Shots / Harlem 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 Frankie Manning
, Al Minns
, Norma Miller
, Jewel McGowan
and Dean Collins
. In the mid-to-late 1990s the popularity of neo swing music of the swing revival
stimulated mainstream interest in the dance. The dance was propelled to wide visibility after it was featured in movies such as Swing Kids
in 1993, and Swingers
in 1996, and in television commercials for GAP
in 1998. The popularity led to the founding of local Lindy Hop dance communities in many cities.
The small village of Herräng
in Sweden (north of Stockholm
) has unofficially become the international mecca of Lindy Hop thanks to the annual Herräng Dance Camp
run by the Harlem Hot Shots, with an attendance from around 40 countries. Lindy Hop tends to be concentrated in small local scenes in different cities in each of these countries, although regional, national, and international dance events bring dancers from many of these scenes together. Local swing dance communities in each city and country feature different local cultures. 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.
Lindy Hop today is danced as a social dance
, as a competitive dance
, as a performance dance, and in classes, workshops, and camps. In each, partners may dance alone or together, with improvisation
a central part of social dancing and many performance and competition pieces.
It is featured in several music video
s, including Marilyn Manson
's "Mobscene
", the 2002 music video to Elvis Presley
vs. JXL remix of "A Little Less Conversation
", the 2007 music video to Christina Aguilera
's song "Candyman
", the 2008 video release from Millencolin
; Detox and the music videos to Movits!
's songs "Fel Del Av Gården" and "Sammy Davis Jr.".
The Lindy Hop was performed by Homer Simpson
while dressed up as a panda
in The Simpsons
episode "Homer vs. Dignity
".
The Harlem
Lindy Hop dance club and zoot suit
culture forms a colourful backdrop in the early part of Spike Lee
's film Malcolm X
, starring Denzel Washington
. Spike Lee
's character is called "Shorty".
In the 2009 Strictly Come Dancing
final the Lindy Hop was performed by the two remaining contestants.
Lindy Hop features in the 2010 Taiwanese film 'Au Revoir Taipei
', in which Amber Kuo
's character goes to dance classes at night. One of these classes is seen at the end of the film.
In 2011, satirical news organization The Onion
claimed that the Lindy Hop was a form of anti-semitism
devised to terrorize Jewish shop-owners, and that its name derived from aviator and "Nazi
sympathizer" Charles Lindburgh.
Lindy Hop dancing today:
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in the 1920s and '30s and originally evolved with the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music of that time. Lindy was a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based on jazz
Jazz dance
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance...
, tap
Tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sound of one's tap shoes hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is also commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the...
, breakaway
Breakaway (dance)
From 1919 to 1927, Breakaway was a popular swing dance developed from the Texas Tommy and Charleston in Harlem's African American communities. The Breakaway was danced to jazz, and while it often began in closed position, the leader would occasionally swing the follower out into an open position,...
and Charleston
Charleston (dance)
The Charleston is a dance named for the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild and became one...
. It is frequently described as a jazz dance
Jazz dance
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance...
and is a member of the swing dance
Swing (dance)
"Swing dance" is a group of dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s-1950s, although the earliest of these dances predate swing jazz music. The best known of these dances is the Lindy Hop, a popular partner dance that originated in Harlem and is still danced today...
family.
In its revival in the 1980s by American, Swedish, and British dancers, the Lindy Hop is now represented by dancers and loosely affiliated grass roots organizations founded in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.
History
As white people began going to Harlem to watch black dancers, according to Langston HughesLangston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
: "The lindy-hoppers at the Savoy even began to practice acrobatic routines, and to do absurd things for the entertainment of the whites, that probably never would have entered their heads to attempt for their own effortless amusement. Some of the lindy-hoppers had cards printed with their names on them and became dance professors teaching the tourists. Then Harlem nights became show nights for the Nordics."
Charles Buchanan, manager of the Savoy, paid dancers such as Shorty Snowden to "perform" for his clientele. 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 "Air steps" or "aerials" such as the Hip to Hip, Side Flip, and Over the Back (the names describe the motion of the woman in the air) began to appear in 1936, 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
Frankie Manning
Frankie Manning was an American dancer, instructor and choreographer. Manning is considered one of the founding fathers of the Lindy Hop.-Early years:...
was part of a new generation of Lindy Hoppers, and is the most celebrated Lindy Hopper in history. Al Minns
Al Minns
Al Minns , was a prominent American Lindy Hop and jazz dancer. Most famous for his film and stage performances in the 1930s and 1940s with the Harlem-based Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, Minns worked throughout his life to promote the dances that he and his cohorts helped to pioneer at New York's Savoy...
and Pepsi Bethel, Leon James, and Norma Miller
Norma Miller
Norma Miller is an American swing dancer known to many people as The Queen of Swing. The daughter of parents from Bridgetown, Barbados, Miller was born and raised in Harlem, New York. She was interviewed along with dance partner Frankie Manning in Ken Burns documentary Jazz...
are also featured prominently in contemporary histories of Lindy Hop. Some sources credit Frankie Manning
Frankie Manning
Frankie Manning was an American dancer, instructor and choreographer. Manning is considered one of the founding fathers of the Lindy Hop.-Early years:...
, working with his partner Freida Washington, for inventing the ground-breaking 'Air Step' or 'aerial
Aerial (dance move)
An aerial is a dance move in Lindy Hop where one's feet leave the floor. The term has come to mean a wide range of special and unusual dance moves, including dips, slides, and tricks....
' in 1935. One source credits Al Minns and Pepsi Bethel as among those who refined the air step. 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
Whitey's Lindy Hoppers was a professional performing group of Savoy Ballroom swing dancers, started in 1935 by Herbert "Whitey" White. The group took on many different forms, with up to 12 different groups performing under this name or one of a number of different names used for the group over the...
(also known as the Harlem Congaroos), Hot Chocolates and Big Apple Dancers exhibited the Lindy Hop. Hollywood films, such as Hellzapoppin'
Hellzapoppin' (film)
Hellzapoppin' is a 1941 Universal Pictures adaptation of the musical of the same name directed by H.C. Potter. The cast includes Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson , Martha Raye, Mischa Auer, Shemp Howard, and The Six Hits.The credits for the movie assert that "any resemblance between Hellzapoppin and a...
and A Day at the Races
A Day at the Races (film)
Further reading* Elisabeth Buxbaum: Veronika, der Lenz ist da. Walter Jurmann – Ein Musiker zwischen den Welten und Zeiten. Mit einem Werkverzeichnis von Alexander Sieghardt. Edition Steinbauer, Wien 2006, ISBN 3-902494-18-2-External links:*...
began featuring the Lindy Hop in dance sequences. Dance studios such as those of Arthur Murray
Arthur Murray
Arthur Murray was a dance instructor and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the dance studio chain that bears his name....
and Irene and Vernon Castle began teaching Lindy Hop. By the early 1940s the dance was known as "New Yorker" on the West Coast.
Lindy Hop moved off-shore in the 1930s and 40s, again in films and news reels, but also with American troops stationed overseas, particularly in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and other allied nations. Although Lindy Hop and jazz were banned in countries such as Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, both were popular in other European countries during this period.
In 1944, due to continued involvement in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the United States levied a 30 percent federal excise tax
Excise
Excise tax in the United States is a indirect tax on listed items. Excise taxes can be and are made by federal, state and local governments and are far from uniform throughout the United States...
against "dancing" nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
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: 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".
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 in New York were instrumental in bringing Al Minns and Frankie Manning back into teaching Lindy Hop at their dance center. 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 basis for 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
Sylvia Sykes is a swing dancer, dance instructor, judge and choreographer. In particular she is considered by most to be the leading authority on the dance Balboa....
, Erin Stevens, Steven Mitchell, Terry Monaghan and Warren Heyes who formed London's Jiving Lindy Hoppers performance troupe, and Stockholm's Rhythm Hot Shots / Harlem Hot Shots) went about 'reviving' Lindy Hop using archival films such as Hellzapoppin'
Hellzapoppin' (film)
Hellzapoppin' is a 1941 Universal Pictures adaptation of the musical of the same name directed by H.C. Potter. The cast includes Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson , Martha Raye, Mischa Auer, Shemp Howard, and The Six Hits.The credits for the movie assert that "any resemblance between Hellzapoppin and a...
and A Day at the Races
A Day at the Races (film)
Further reading* Elisabeth Buxbaum: Veronika, der Lenz ist da. Walter Jurmann – Ein Musiker zwischen den Welten und Zeiten. Mit einem Werkverzeichnis von Alexander Sieghardt. Edition Steinbauer, Wien 2006, ISBN 3-902494-18-2-External links:*...
and by contacting dancers such as Frankie Manning
Frankie Manning
Frankie Manning was an American dancer, instructor and choreographer. Manning is considered one of the founding fathers of the Lindy Hop.-Early years:...
, Al Minns
Al Minns
Al Minns , was a prominent American Lindy Hop and jazz dancer. Most famous for his film and stage performances in the 1930s and 1940s with the Harlem-based Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, Minns worked throughout his life to promote the dances that he and his cohorts helped to pioneer at New York's Savoy...
, Norma Miller
Norma Miller
Norma Miller is an American swing dancer known to many people as The Queen of Swing. The daughter of parents from Bridgetown, Barbados, Miller was born and raised in Harlem, New York. She was interviewed along with dance partner Frankie Manning in Ken Burns documentary Jazz...
, Jewel McGowan
Jewel McGowan
Jewel McGowan was a dancer of Lindy Hop, a form of swing dance, in the 1940s and 1950s. She is known among dance aficionados as the frequent partner of dancer Dean Collins. Jewel was considered by her fellow Los Angeles dancers to be the best female swing dancer who ever lived. In addition to their...
and Dean Collins
Dean Collins
Dean Collins was an American dancer, instructor, choreographer, and innovator of swing. He is often credited with bringing swing dance, or Lindy Hop, from New York to Southern California...
. In the mid-to-late 1990s the popularity of neo swing music of the swing revival
Swing Revival
The Swing Revival was a late 1990s and early 2000s period of renewed popular interest in swing and jump blues music and dance from the 1930s and 1940s as exemplified by Louis Prima, often mixed with a more contemporary rock, rockabilly or ska sound, known also as neo-swing or retro...
stimulated mainstream interest in the dance. The dance was propelled to wide visibility after it was featured in movies such as Swing Kids
Swing Kids (film)
Swing Kids is a film produced in 1993, directed by Thomas Carter and starring Christian Bale, Robert Sean Leonard and Kenneth Branagh. The runtime is approximately 112 minutes. The film is considered as being part of the Lindy Hop revival of the 1980s and 1990s...
in 1993, and Swingers
Swingers (1996 film)
Swingers is a 1996 comedy-drama film about the lives of single, unemployed actors living on the 'eastside' of Hollywood, California during the 1990s swing revival...
in 1996, and in television commercials for GAP
Gap (clothing retailer)
The Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and founded in 1969 by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The company has five primary brands: the namesake Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. As of September 2008,...
in 1998. The popularity led to the founding of local Lindy Hop dance communities in many cities.
Current status
There are thriving communities throughout the world, and Lindy Hop can today be found in almost every large westernized city.The small village of Herräng
Herräng
Herräng is the northernmost locality in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 443 inhabitants in 2005. It is located along the coast at the bay Singöfjärden, 40 kilometres north of the municipal seat Norrtälje....
in Sweden (north of Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
) has unofficially become the international mecca of Lindy Hop thanks to the annual Herräng Dance Camp
Herräng Dance Camp
Herräng Dance Camp is the largest annual dance camp that focuses on African American jazz dances such as Lindy Hop, boogie woogie, tap, authentic jazz, and balboa...
run by the Harlem Hot Shots, with an attendance from around 40 countries. Lindy Hop tends to be concentrated in small local scenes in different cities in each of these countries, although regional, national, and international dance events bring dancers from many of these scenes together. Local swing dance communities in each city and country feature different local cultures. The concept of a Lindy exchange
Lindy exchange
A lindy exchange is a gathering of lindy hop dancers in one city for several days to experience the dance venues and styles of that local community and to dance with visitors and locals alike...
, a gathering of lindy hop
Lindy Hop
The Lindy Hop is an American social dance, from the swing dance family. It evolved in Harlem, New York City in the 1920s and '30s and originally evolved with the jazz music of that time. Lindy was a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based...
dancers in one city for several days to dance with visitors and locals, enables different communities to share their ideas with others.
Lindy Hop today is danced as a social dance
Social dance
Social dance is a major category or classification of danceforms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing...
, as a competitive dance
Competitive dance
Competitive dance is a popular, widespread activity in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, and tap—before a common group of judges...
, as a performance dance, and in classes, workshops, and camps. In each, partners may dance alone or together, with improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
a central part of social dancing and many performance and competition pieces.
Popular culture
Lindy Hop has been featured in popular media since its inception. Variants include the Double Lindy and Triple Lindy.It is featured in several music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s, including Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
's "Mobscene
MOBSCENE
"Mobscene", stylized as "mOBSCENE", is the inaugural single taken from the 2003 Marilyn Manson album The Golden Age of Grotesque. Lines in the song chanted by female vocalists, "Be obscene, be, be obscene..." are inspired by a quote by Oscar Wilde that has been commonly used as a chant among...
", the 2002 music video to Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
vs. JXL remix of "A Little Less Conversation
A Little Less Conversation
"A Little Less Conversation" is a song written by Mac Davis and Billy Strange that was originally performed and written for American rock and roll icon Elvis Presley for the 1968 film Live a Little, Love a Little. When the song was released as a single with "Almost in Love" as the b-side, it became...
", the 2007 music video to Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
's song "Candyman
Candyman (Christina Aguilera song)
"Candyman" is a swing jazz song written by Christina Aguilera and Linda Perry for Aguilera's third studio album, Back to Basics. It was released as the album's third and final American single in early 2007. It received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at 2008 Grammy...
", the 2008 video release from Millencolin
Millencolin
Millencolin is a punk rock band that was formed in October 1992 by Nikola Šarčević, Mathias Färm, and Erik Ohlsson in Örebro, Sweden. In early 1993, drummer Fredrik Larzon joined the band...
; Detox and the music videos to Movits!
Movits!
Movits! is a Swedish music group from Luleå. The group plays swing mixed with hip hop. Their debut album Äppelknyckarjazz, literally translated as Apple swiper jazz, was released in November 2008 and has been recognized by national Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter...
's songs "Fel Del Av Gården" and "Sammy Davis Jr.".
The Lindy Hop was performed by Homer Simpson
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
while dressed up as a panda
Panda
Panda or Panda bear most often refers to:*Giant panda, an animal in the Bear familyPanda may also refer to:*Red panda, the only living member in the Ailuridae family-In biology:* Species related to the Giant panda...
in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "Homer vs. Dignity
Homer vs. Dignity
"Homer vs. Dignity" is the fifth episode of the The Simpsons’ twelfth season, first broadcast by Fox on November 26, 2000. In the episode, Mr...
".
The Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
Lindy Hop dance club and zoot suit
Zoot suit
A zoot suit is a suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. This style of clothing was popularized by African Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Italian Americans during the late 1930s and the 1940s...
culture forms a colourful backdrop in the early part of Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
's film Malcolm X
Malcolm X (film)
Malcolm X is a 1992 biographical motion picture about the Muslim-American figure Malcolm X . It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington as the titular character. It co-stars Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman, Jr., and Delroy Lindo...
, starring Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
. Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
's character is called "Shorty".
In the 2009 Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
final the Lindy Hop was performed by the two remaining contestants.
Lindy Hop features in the 2010 Taiwanese film 'Au Revoir Taipei
Au Revoir Taipei
Au Revoir Taipei is a 2010 Taiwanese romantic comedy film set in Taipei. Au Revoir Taipei is called "One Page Taipei" in Chinese which means one night or one page in Taipei. Au Revoir Taipei is Arvin Chen's feature directorial debut...
', in which Amber Kuo
Amber Kuo
Amber Kuo was born on 19 February 1986. She is a Taiwanese Mandopop singer and actress. Kuo graduated from National Taipei University with a bachelor's degree in social work in 2008.-Career:...
's character goes to dance classes at night. One of these classes is seen at the end of the film.
In 2011, satirical news organization The Onion
The Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
claimed that the Lindy Hop was a form of anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
devised to terrorize Jewish shop-owners, and that its name derived from aviator and "Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
sympathizer" Charles Lindburgh.
See also
- List of lindy hop moves
- Hollywood-style Lindy HopHollywood-style Lindy HopHollywood-style Lindy Hop is a variety of Lindy Hop, an American vernacular dance. It is also sometimes referred to as Dean Collins or Smooth-style, but these terms also sometimes refer to different styles of Lindy Hop....
- Savoy-style Lindy HopSavoy-style Lindy HopSavoy-style Lindy Hop is a contemporary term used to describe Lindy Hop as danced by African American dancers at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in the 1930s and 1940s. It has been used in contrast with the terms 'Hollywood-style Lindy Hop' or 'Smooth-Style Lindy Hop', popularly associated with Dean...
- Jitterbug
- Swing Camps
Further reading
- DeFrantz, Thomas. Dancing Many Drums: Excavations in African American Dance. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2001.
- Emery, Lynne Fauley. Black Dance in the United States from 1619 to 1970. California: National Press Books, 1972.
- Friedland, LeeEllen. "Social Commentary in African-American Movement Performance." Human Action Signs in Cultural Context: The Visible and the Invisible in Movement and Dance. Ed. Brenda Farnell. London: Scarecrow Press, 1995. 136 - 57.
- Gottschild, Brenda Dixon. Digging the Africanist Presence in American Performance. Connecticut and London: Greenwood Press, 1996.
- Hazzard-Gordon, Katrina. Jookin': The Rise of Social Dance Formations in African-American Culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990.
- Jackson, Jonathan David. "Improvisation in African-American Vernacular Dancing." Dance Research Journal 33.2 (2001/2002): 40 - 53.
- Malone, Jacqui. Steppin' on the Blues: The Visible Rhythms of African American Dance. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1996.
- Szwed, John F., and Morton Marks. "The Afro-American Transformation of European Set Dances and Dance Suites." Dance Research Journal 20.1 (1988): 29 - 36.
- Thomas, Amy. "Infinity Dance: The Move That Never Ends". California: National Press Books, 2006
- Batchelor, Christian, This Thing Called Swing. Christian Batchelor Books, 1997, ISBN 0953063100
External links
Lindy Hop history:- Savoystyle Archives of early Lindy Hop - resource for Lindy Hop history, sanctioned by Frankie ManningFrankie ManningFrankie Manning was an American dancer, instructor and choreographer. Manning is considered one of the founding fathers of the Lindy Hop.-Early years:...
- Dancehistory.org resource for Jazz Dance history
- Lindy Hop Terms
- History of the Swing Revival in DC
- Lindy Hop and Retro Lifestyle
Lindy Hop dancing today:
- The Lindy Hop resource listing of many Lindy Hop links including teachers, communities, and forums.
- Yehoodi: The website for the hardcore hep-cat swinger! international discussion forum for all things lindy hop.
- I am Lindy Hop stories from modern day Lindy Hoppers on Lindy Hop today