What is Lindy Hop?

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The Lindy Hop An Overview of America’s National Folk Dance START

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The Lindy Hop: America’s National Folk Dance The Lindy Hop is part of the only dance form that truly originated in the United States: jazz dance. It grew out of the Depression Era as an outlet to the stresses of financial, political, and racial burdens. Originally popular in the 1930s and 1940s, the Lindy Hop is still danced today and has become a phenomenon that has spread around the globe. The Swing Revival has taken the world by storm! SKIP INTRO NEXT

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The Lindy Hop: America’s National Folk Dance Learn more about the dances that had an influence on the Lindy Hop. Discover how the Lindy Hop blossomed at the Savoy Ballroom. Meet the legendary dancers that made the Lindy Hop famous. Experience the Swing Revival. Find out where you can see examples of the Lindy Hop on video. To get a full understanding of the Lindy Hop, be sure to visit every page. Now let’s dance! SKIP INTRO ENTER THE DANCE HALL! PREVIOUS

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MAIN MENU Early Influences The Swing Revival The Golden Age at the Savoy The Early Lindy Hoppers Examples on Film Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers QUIT Site Map

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Early Influences When Africans were brought to America in the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries as slaves, they brought their cultural and dance traditions with them. Although dance movements varied depending on the slaves’ original home, the basic vocabulary of the dances was quite similar. Some common characteristics include segmentation of the body, use of multiple meter, angularity in body positions, percussive performance, improvisation, call and response, competition, and endurance. As dance in America evolved, these characteristics remained and can still be found in African‐American dances today. Back to Main Menu NEXT QUIT

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Early Influences Dancing was an effective way for the various African ethnicities to maintain their cultural identity, despite the trials and tribulations of slavery. In fact, the slaves often used the dances to covertly plan insurrections and to subtly criticize the white masters. As the various ethnicities danced together, they combined characteristics of their native dances with mimicry of the European partnered dances. On Sundays, the slaves would dress in fine clothes and imitate the dances of their masters, who would watch in amusement. In this way, the Cakewalk was born. Slaves would gather and dance their imitations of the European dances, competing for the prize of a cake, donated by the mistress of the plantation. Back to Main Menu NEXT PREVIOUS QUIT

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Early Influences After the Civil War and emancipation of the slaves, early African‐American vernacular dances, such as the Snake Hips, Texas Tommy, and Black Bottom, quickly spread across the South via traveling Negro minstrels. White performers integrated the dances from the minstrels into their own shows, and soon many of the black dances caught on with the general white population and became dance crazes. The Charleston, which has become synonymous with the excess of the 1920s, spread in this way. Elements of the Lindy Hop can be traced to these early African‐American roots, and the Lindy’s development closely paralleled the evolution of jazz music from Dixieland and ragtime through swing. Back to Main Menu PREVIOUS QUIT

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The Golden Age at the Savoy As black Americans traveled north, the music and dance traditions that had developed across the South soon found their way to the ballrooms of New York City and Harlem. Two of the most famous ballrooms, Roseland Ballroom in New York City and the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, opened during the late 1920s. Although both were known for their fantastic music and dancing, the Savoy was the center of dance development and the place to go. Roseland was a “whites only” venue, while the Savoy marketed its integration. White patrons, including many movie stars and other celebrities, would travel to Harlem specifically to visit the Savoy Ballroom and see the feats of athletic dancing that were developing there. NEXT Back to Main Menu QUIT

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The Golden Age at the Savoy Dance competitions were quite popular in the 1920s and 1930s. In the spirit of the African traditions of competition and improvisation, the black dancers would take basic steps they knew from the Charleston, the Texas Tommy, and other popular dances and add their own flair through improvisation in order to stand out in the competition. Sometime after Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight in 1927, “Shorty George” Snowden was executing some particularly flashy moves in one of these competitions and caught the attention of a reporter, who asked Shorty what dance he was doing. Supposedly, Snowden had seen a recent headline, like the one on the left, so he replied to the reporter, “I’m doing the Lindy Hop!” This is the first reported usage of the name of the dance. NEXT PREVIOUS Back to Main Menu QUIT

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The Golden Age at the Savoy The Savoy had two bands every night. When one band would take a break, the focus moved to the other end of the ballroom where the second band would start up. The competition between the two bands at the Savoy to be the best band of the night spurred the development of the music. The lively musical environment encouraged the dancers to continue to innovate on the dance floor. As the dance developed, the dancers urged the musicians on to faster tempos and greater levels of ability. Thus, jazz music and jazz dance were forever joined in their history and development. NEXT PREVIOUS Back to Main Menu QUIT

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The Golden Age at the Savoy As the music accelerated to faster tempos, the dancers found new ways to use their momentum more aerodynamically. Instead of dancing in the upright pose of ballroom dances, the upper body was bent at the waist, becoming more parallel to the floor. In this way, the dancers could better maintain their body weight at the faster speeds. The breakaway soon developed out of this innovation. Instead of the leader always holding his partner with both arms, the leader releases the follow with his left hand, breaking away from her. Both dancers are free to improvise individual steps while staying within the same rhythm. Although their footwork is different, the two complement each other. The breakaway was a revolutionary movement in partnered dance and opened up the realm of possibilities. PREVIOUS Back to Main Menu QUIT

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The Early Lindy Hoppers In the early days at the Savoy, the best dancers would try to out-dance each other in one corner of the ballroom, often referred to as “The Cat’s Corner.” Of all the dancers that entered that circle in the late 1920s and early 1930s, three couples stood above the rest: Shorty George Snowden and his partner Big Bea; George “Twistmouth” Ganaway & Edith Matthews; and Leroy “Stretch” Jones & Little Bea. Back to Main Menu NEXT QUIT

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The Early Lindy Hoppers Back to Main Menu Shorty George Snowden & Big Bea Shorty was the top dancer in the Savoy Ballroom from its opening in 1927 into the early 30's, when he formed the first professional Lindy Hop troupe, the Shorty Snowden Dancers. They performed with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra at the Paradise Club downtown through most of the thirties. Shorty was barely five feet tall, while his partner Big Bea towered over him. They often ended their routines in their signature comic move in which she carried him off the dance floor on her back. Shorty also parodied himself in his signature step, "Shorty George,“ which involved forward motion with acutely bent knees swinging from side to side. NEXT PREVIOUS QUIT

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The Early Lindy Hoppers In the early days at the Savoy, the best dancers would try to out-dance each other in one corner of the ballroom, often referred to as “The Cat’s Corner.” Of all the dancers that entered that circle in the late 1920s and early 1930s, three couples stood above the rest: Back to Main Menu George “Twistmouth” Ganaway & Edith Matthews An early rival of Shorty George, Twistmouth soon went on to become a professional solo dancer and did not frequent the Savoy during the 1930s. Twistmouth George and his partner Edith are credited with at least one lasting element of Lindy Hop: the twist or swivel styling step performed by the follow on the one-two count of the basic Lindy Hop swing out. Leroy “Stretch” Jones & Little Bea Known for his grace and flashy movements, Stretch was six feet tall while his partner Little Bea stood no taller than five feet. Around 1935, Stretch chose to leave the Savoy and join the Shorty Snowden Dancers. While no specific element of Lindy Hop has been attributed to Stretch Jones, his influence was undeniable. Frankie Manning, who played a major role in the later history of Lindy Hop, idolized Stretch and regarded him and his partner Little Bea as the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of Lindy Hop. PREVIOUS QUIT

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Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers As the caliber of dancers at the Savoy improved, Savoy manager Herbert “Whitey” White, the consummate entrepreneur, saw an opportunity. He hand‐selected the best dancers and formed dance troupes that performed and competed throughout the country, internationally, and in the movies. The troupes were known by various names, including Whyte’s Hopping Maniacs, Whitey’s Hopping Maniacs, Congaroo Dancers, and most famously Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. Although the dancers who formed these troupes soon became regarded as professionals, they never forgot that the Savoy was their home. Between movies, special appearances, and international tours, they always came back to dance to the bands at the Savoy. Back to Main Menu NEXT QUIT

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Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers acquired jobs in many Hollywood films, including A Day at the Races (1937), Radio City Revels (1938), and Keep Punching (1939). Their dancing improved with each movie, and by the time they appeared in Hellzapoppin’ in 1941, no other dance troupe could compare to the insane speed and death‐defying acrobatics performed by these legendary dancers. It is unknown just how many dancers were a part of Whitey’s dance troupes over the years. However, those named below played important roles in the development of the Lindy Hop. Choose a name to learn more about each one. Back to Main Menu Frankie Manning Al Minns & Leon James Norma Miller PREVIOUS QUIT

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Frankie Manning Known as the “Ambassador of Lindy Hop,” Frankie Manning is the most famous of all the original Lindy Hoppers. Frankie started dancing at the Savoy in 1933. He watched the expert dancers in the “Cat’s Corner,” memorizing all of their moves and practicing them each day before coming back to dance again at night. An unwritten law of social dancing was that a dancer never copied another dancer’s moves. A dancer could imitate a move but always changed it slightly and made it his own. Manning made sure to follow this rule. By 1934, Whitey had asked Manning to join one of his dance troupes. Back to Main Menu Back to Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers NEXT QUIT

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Frankie Manning In 1935, Frankie changed the face of the Lindy Hop forever. Until that time, Shorty Snowden was the reigning king of the ballroom’s weekly dance competitions. Frankie had seen Shorty signature move with Big Bea hoisting him up on her back and walking off the dance floor. Frankie wanted to improve upon this move. He and his partner Frieda Washington worked on a variation of the move and decided to unveil it during one of the Savoy’s competitions. Shorty and Big Bea finished their spotlight dance, exiting with their signature move. Frankie and Frieda bolted onto the dance floor. During a break in the music, they linked arms like Shorty and Big Bea. But instead of walking off, Frankie flipped Frieda all the way over his head in a move they called “Over the Back,” she landed on the beat, and they continued to dance. The crowd was stunned into utter silence while they processed the fact that they had just seen the first airstep ever performed. Seconds later, the ballroom erupted with cheers and applause. The aerial transformed the performance possibilities for Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. Back to Main Menu Back to Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers NEXT PREVIOUS QUIT

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Frankie Manning After creating the first aerial, Frankie quickly became the unofficial choreographer for Whitey’s dance troupes. and continued to alter the Lindy Hop’s dance vocabulary. Up until this point, the couples in the dance troupes would never dance simultaneously. Instead, each couple would “spotlight.” Frankie created the synchronized dancing that is seen in Lindy Hop performances today, in particular the sequence of a swingout from closed position, followed by two swingouts and a Lindy circle. Frankie entered the army, like many other young dancers, when America joined World War II. By the time he returned, Lindy Hop had already started to fade, as the music evolved from swing to rock ‘n’ roll and was not conducive to Lindy Hop. He “retired” from swing dancing and began a 30-year career with the U.S. Postal Service. In the 1990s, the new wave of swing dancers brought Frankie out of his dance retirement. He began teaching and touring the world, spreading his love for the Lindy Hop and winning hearts with his signature smile. Back to Main Menu Back to Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers NEXT PREVIOUS QUIT

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Frankie Manning Sadly, in April 2009, Frankie passed from this life to the next, just a few weeks shy of his 95th birthday. Swing dancers around the world mourned the loss of the legend. Plans were already well underway to celebrate Frankie’s 95th birthday in New York City. After much thought, the organizers decided to continue on with the Frankie 95 festival. It became a celebration of Frankie’s life and lasting legacy. Back to Main Menu Back to Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers PREVIOUS Frankie will always be remembered for his infectious smile, his kind heart, and his enduring role in the development of the Lindy Hop. QUIT

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Norma Miller Norma Miller was first discovered as a gifted young Lindy Hopper by Twistmouth Ganaway when she was just 14 years old. Since she was too young to go into the Savoy Ballroom, she often danced outside on the sidewalk where the music could be heard quite well. Twistmouth asked her to compete in the weekly Savoy dance competition with him, and she wowed the crowd. Not long after that, she was invited to join Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. Norma Miller was the youngest of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers when she joined the group. She was from the start a very creative dancer with her own often comic style and she possessed an outstanding sense of rhythm. A vivacious and outspoken person, she was always the life of the party. NEXT Back to Main Menu Back to Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers QUIT

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Norma Miller After Whitey's Lindy Hoppers disbanded in the early forties, she formed her own company in California, Norma Miller's Dance Company and had her own show at the legendary Club Alabam in the Watts section of L.A. In the early fifties she, Billy Ricker, and drummer Michael Silvers worked as the Del Rio Trio, until the night Sammy Davis Jr. saw the group and promptly hired away Mike Silvers to be his drummer. In the later fifties she formed Norma Miller’s Jazz Men, which included fellow Lindy Hopper Billy Ricker and Frankie Manning's son, tap dancer Chazz Young. NEXT PREVIOUS Back to Main Menu Back to Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers QUIT

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Norma Miller As a comedienne, Norma worked in Las Vegas with Redd Foxx for over 10 years, including appearances in his TV show, “Sanford and Son,” where she is remembered as the airline stewardess who offered "Coffee, tea, or ME?“ In the seventies, she formed another Lindy Hop and jazz performance group, the Savoy Swingers. In addition to many standard entertainment venues, this group did a series of performances in the New York City public school system, introducing African-American dance history to the new generation. Since the passing of Frankie Manning in April 2009, Norma is now the sole surviving member of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. She continues to perform and teach around the country. PREVIOUS Back to Main Menu Back to Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers QUIT

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Al Minns & Leon James One of the great dancers of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, Al Minns was an energetic dancer with a wild, crazy-leg style. He appeared in the feature film Hellzapoppin' and in the popular soundie, Hot Chocolates.  As the youngest dancer in this group until Norma Miller joined, he was particularly fit and flexible. On the initial backstep of his swingout, he formed a striking horizontal plane. Back to Main Menu Back to Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers Leon James had one of the greatest on-stage personalities in Lindy Hopping. With his constantly moving legs and hands and his flashing eyes, everyone would always notice him first. His styling was a favorite of the ladies at the Savoy, who still like to remember the way he moved his hips. He and partner Willamae Ricker were featured in the 1943 Life Magazine spread on Lindy Hop. NEXT QUIT

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Al Minns & Leon James Because of poor eyesight, James was one of the few original Lindy Hoppers who was not drafted into the service in World War II. He remained active as a dancer and stage personality until his death in the 1970s. James and Minns developed a novelty act in which they danced together and charmed audiences with their playfulness and ingenuity. They continued to perform Lindy Hop and jazz dance together throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Together, they served as informants to Marshall Stearns and his wife Jean for their classic book, Jazz Dance. They both feature prominently in Mura Dehn's The Spirit Moves, in solo and duet performance. They performed in nightclubs, worked the college campus circuit with Marshall Stearns, and also made a number of TV appearances. Back to Main Menu Back to Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers PREVIOUS QUIT

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The Decline of the Golden Age of Lindy Hop As America entered World War II in 1941, scores of men were drafted and sent overseas, including Frankie Manning and other members of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. Through U.S.O. tours and traveling G.I.s, the Lindy Hop spread globally. Meanwhile, Dean Collins and Jewel McGowan, two famous Lindy Hoppers who were not part of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, appeared in Hollywood films and began to teach the Lindy Hop in California. When the dancers returned home from the war, the face of social dance and the sound of jazz music had changed dramatically. The new sound, be‐bop, was not conducive to the 8‐count patterns of the Lindy Hop. Gradually, the dance that once was predominantly black had become more and more popular with white dancers, especially college students. NEXT Back to Main Menu QUIT

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The Decline of the Golden Age of Lindy Hop As rock ‘n’ roll materialized and Elvis Presley reigned supreme on televisions and radios across the country, the Lindy Hop evolved into the more frenetic Jitterbug, which focused on 6‐count patterns, much like East Coast Swing, and was characterized by bouncier movements. The Jitterbug eventually gave way to Jive, Carolina Shag, and Western Swing, which all had roots in the Lindy Hop. Manning, who had attempted to run his own troupe of dancers after returning from the war, took a job with the United States Postal Service in 1955, imagining that the chapter in his life devoted to the Lindy Hop had closed for good. NEXT Back to Main Menu PREVIOUS QUIT

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The Swing Revival In the early 1980s, long before the famous Gap commercial of 1994, dancers in California were beginning to explore the roots of East Coast Swing. The Lindy Hop was being unearthed like a fossil preserved for decades. Erin Stevens and Steven Mitchell, who were running a ballroom studio in Pasadena at the time, stumbled upon the now‐famous 1943 issue of LIFE magazine that included the photographic essay on the Lindy Hop. The couple traveled to New York in search of any surviving original Lindy Hoppers, hoping to learn all that they could of the dance’s origins. Meanwhile, Norma Miller frequented Small’s Paradise in Harlem in the early 1980s. New, young dancers constantly asked questions about the early days of swing. One night, she told them about Frankie Manning and that he was still there in New York, working in the post office. NEXT Back to Main Menu PREVIOUS QUIT

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The Swing Revival NEXT Back to Main Menu PREVIOUS Stevens and Mitchell tracked down Manning, who agreed to meet the dancers but not to teach them. During that first meeting, they talked and looked at Manning’s photo albums. He watched them dance; the dancer that had been in hibernation for so long awoke. hat night, he gave Stevens and Mitchell the first of many lessons. That night, Manning came out of his dance retirement and the swing revival effectively began. Stevens and Mitchell returned to California to spread the word about the Lindy Hop. They advertised lessons in “East Coast Swing / Jitterbug” and covertly snuck in Lindy Hop moves on their unsuspecting students. In this way, the Lindy Hop scene in Pasadena began to grow and thrive. QUIT

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Swing Revival In the early 1990s, several clubs on the West Coast, including The Derby, were premiering a new kind of music: punk musicians were getting interested in the classic sound of big band swing, and neo‐Swing was born. Rough and tumble musicians layered with tattoos and spiky hair and wearing bright zoot suits took storm, including Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Indigo Swing, and Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers. Back to Main Menu PREVIOUS Movies like The Mask (1994) and Swingers (1996) included scenes with swing dancing, while Swing Kids (1993) featured swing dancing as a major theme in its World War II plot. As swing dancing was once again appearing in the mainstream, dance communities similar to that in Pasadena began to spring up throughout the country and around the world. NEXT QUIT

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The Swing Revival: Harlem vs. Hollywood Since the Lindy Hop was more or less a lost art, this new generation of Lindy Hoppers traveled to attend classes and workshops. Other hard‐core students of the dance scoured vintage film clips, playing dance scenes over and over in an effort to learn the moves of the original masters. Two schools of style arose -- “Savoy‐style” and “Hollywood‐style” -- and in the late 1990s and early 2000s, an unspoken rivalry played out on the dance floor. Back to Main Menu PREVIOUS NEXT QUIT

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The Swing Revolution Any dancer that learned from Frankie or emulates the style of the dancers of the Savoy was considered to be “Savoy‐style.” This style is characterized by a deeply crouched position and upper bodies that are nearly parallel with the floor. Dance patterns are more circular in nature, often include aerials or lifts during performances, and include the extension of the arms and legs backwards behind the body while in open position. Back to Main Menu Erik Robeson and Sylvia Skylar, two L.A. dance instructors, studied Dean Collins’ films and dubbed his style “Hollywood‐style.” This style is characterized by a more upright torso positioning; the dancer sits back away from his or her partner, placing the body weight behind the balls of the feet and creating counterbalance. The movements are in a linear, slotted motion and are smooth. The upper body remains quite still while the lower body glides. “Hollywood‐style” dancers favor the linear whip over the circular swingout. NEXT PREVIOUS QUIT

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The Swing Revolution Back to Main Menu Since that time, Lindy Hoppers have explored the other facets of the Lindy Hop, including the predecessors and cousins: the Charleston, both solo and partnered; the Big Apple; Balboa; even the Peabody. Today, very few dancers qualify their dancing style as “Hollywood” or “Savoy.” Instead, greater value is placed upon improvisation and making the dance one’s own. PREVIOUS QUIT

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Examples on Film Do you want to see the Lindy Hop in action? Pick one of the film clips below. Back to Main Menu A Day at the Races (1937) Chool Song (1942) Hellzapoppin’ (1941) Groovie Movie (1944) Buck Privates (1941) All the Cats Join In (1946) Don’t Knock the Rock (1956) ULHS Competition (2006) QUIT

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Site Map Back to Main Menu All images were taken from the Web and are not the property of Lovin’ Lindy. Special thanks to Dorry Segev for use of many of his images. (http://www.imagesofswing.com/) QUIT