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Chapter I: Lindy

Characteristics as a Dance

Social dancing is a harmless competitive sport. Break dancing competitions among adolescent street kids are socially preferable to gang wars. Dancing as a fun blend of music and exercise can serve as a physio-psychological release of tension, an outlet or activity that keeps one fit as well as keeps one occupied and out of trouble. It is good exercise and brings balance and centeredness to the whole being. If done well, it may rise to the level of artistry and spiritually uplift the participants and audience.

Social dancing can be done in a group, individually, or in couples. All this being true, the reason the Lindy took so long to be accepted by white upper society is that it was new and different and predominantly black in its origins and influence. Society was not yet ready to praise the black aesthetic and welcome with open arms black people and their talents. The Lindy was often attacked by the older generations as dangerously sexual. One writer defends enthusiastic Lindy dancers (Jitterbugs) against such attack, and praises active social dancing as a healthy activity.

I hear the frightened gasps of well-meaning, old ladies who are shocked by the jitterbugs. But I see no cause for worry there. The jitterbugs seem to me to be the true folk dancers of today. The folk spirit will not be repressed. And this folk spirit seem to me to be exuberantly breaking out in all these _Jitterbugdances. Athletic, spirited, joyous, they show a true and irrepressible folk spirit. And I wouldn't worry about their being sexy. I don't think they are. A good _Jitterbugis so active, so busy, so near the edge of exhaustion, I don't believe he has time to think of sex. It may shock grandmother to see the skirts fly out of place, when his partner slides -under his legs or is - thrown over his head. But that's gymnastics. That isn't sex. I don't guarantee what he's doing when he is not dancing. But while he is dancing, I feel sure he is perfectly safe. If you want to worry about sex, you would better watch that quiet couple pressed close together back in the corner of the dance hall, hardly moving as they sway and bend together. Don't worry about the jitterbugger. He is burning up steam in a very safe and entirely moral way. And once the grotesque posturing and the wiggling hips soften out of it a bit, he may make a real contribution to the history of the dance.(1)

The Lindy is also a ballroom dance. Ballroom dancing is touch partner dancing, originally done socially, requiring leading and following. The earliest couple dances about which much is known are the European folk and peasant dance dating back to 1350.(2) Unfortunately, today's ballroom dance teachers and studios have given, for self-elevating or commercial reasons, ballroom dancing a more rigid structure requiring the learning of rules, positions, and levels of step lists. This creates a social environment of snobbery and competition, the antithesis of the joyful exuberance and relaxed atmosphere that pervade a social setting. Thus I am making a distinction between the social ballroom dancing and the ballroom dancing that has evolved from the teachings of ballroom studios and their professional competitions. They have developed a style of their own which is void of authentic ethnic quality. The Lindy was danced socially at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem and many other ballrooms around the country long before it was accepted by the ballroom dance associations as a ballroom dance. Its form and character were changed by teachers' associations in order to be acceptable and easily taught.

When the large dance halls closed down after the war, ballroom studios kept teaching the Lindy, without the exciting input from the street dancers at the clubs. Thus the dance that was taught became a watered down remnant, taught with ten or so other dances that students were to learn in eight classes. The use of improvisation and creativity, so important to the dance, almost disappeared, until new swing dance enthusiasts recently banded together and organized new dancing clubs.

The Lindy is a Jazz dance. This is probably one of its most important characteristics. If it does not have that jazz feeling, the dance is not the Lindy. Jazz is an American phenomenon born of two cultures, black (African) and white (European). Jazz is a blend of improvisation and structure. The individual performer expresses his own mood, cool or hot, and improvises. He allows his soul to speak through his body's own individual language. This honest, stylistic expression, involving the music and one' partner, is of utmost importance. Jazz dance calls for artistry which uses technique as a vehicle rather than as an end. The technical judging of ballroom competitions puts ballroom dancing on the level of an Olympic sport, rather than on the level of a social or artistic expression. Technical achievement outweighing creativity promotes cloning and monotony.

Technical Elements

To define Lindy or Swing not only as a Jazz dance, but as having a certain rhythmic feeling, is very important. To dance Lindy well, one must understand the music and the timing of the basic steps, interpret these, and play with them. Ballroom studio Lindy and old Jazz (authentic) Lindy are totally different. One is refined and confined, the other is relaxed, creative, and free. One is totally involved in the music. Good swing music is essential to achieving the feeling of the Lindy. It doesn't have to be super fast to swing. It doesn't have to be wild to be alive. Many confuse wildness with a characteristic of the Lindy. (The two ideas, wildness and aliveness, both seem to be missing from studio Swing.)

Where does the idea of wildness come from?

• Moves were exaggerated for performances and competitions, such as the Harvest Moon Ball, which began in 1935. Acrobatic air step and fat dancing were included to thrill audience, to win prize money, or to get jobs. These professionals or semi-professionals were skilled dancer and wildness was expressed from a base of expertise.
• One would see the film A Day at the Races, or Hellzapoppin', and think Lindy has to include aerials. People got the erroneous idea that Lindy meant jump around and tug away. They might see a back step, misinterpret it a a tug, and in an unskilled, uncoordinated way, imitate it by running, jumping, pulling and pushing at their partner, with no regard for other on the dance floor, thinking they are jitterbugging. This kind of imitation of the Lindy, from past visual recollections of untrained dancers, is common and dangerous. It spread a false concept as well as endangering the participants and onlookers bodies and eyes!).
• The third source of the idea of wildness is intentional misrepresentation for cultural and political reasons, to ban it from "nice" society. It was termed "wild" and a reversion back to primitivism. The Lindy was "condemned" by church groups as leading to the decay of the young. Sociologist Theodore Adorno, a German emigree who had fled Nazi persecution, warned about the "authoritarian impulses" latent in the strong swing beat.(4) In Sweden, preachers preached sermons against the dance, calling their dance halls "dens of iniquity.(5) In the United States, the Lindy was a threat to society because it was mixing all races and different classes at the popular dance halls. The Lindy introduced freedom in the form of generous hip movements and in the form of improvisation, a response to the unfamiliar African polyrhythms and syncopated Jazz feeling in the new swing music. Musicians improvised solos within a jazz structure and dancers created a dance in which they did the same. All this shocked the more traditional ballroom formalists and much of society, who didn't want this foreign influence. They feared it would lead to anarchy and perversion.

The essential characteristic of the Lindy include its basic steps, an 8-count and a 6-count one, plus a swinging feeling which relate to the music's syncopated beat, which accents off-beats instead of only the usual first beats of the phrase. Swinging is not a body upswing as in an arc of a circle, but refers to how the beat is felt and attacked, or dropped and picked up. The beat is felt in an offset 1, a2, the way a swing drummer plays it, rather than in an even 1 and 2, like a polka. The body or drum stick is loose enough to drop into the beat with weight, and picked up exactly afterwards so as to repeat the drop or attack. The drop does not end in a splat or finish, but is picked up so the rhythm is continuous, dependable, and smooth, as easy as a bouncing ball. This can be done at any tempo, which makes it more fun. The variety opens up the possibility for more different moves and moods.

Partnering in the Lindy require improvisation. The man and woman can play within the phrase of the basic step without having to mirror one an other's footwork, a long as they come back on the same part of the phrase together. These improvisation are called syncopations. Thus knowing the basic steps and phrasing, and how to lead and follow, is essential, but still not enough to execute the dance.

Musicality and freedom of the body and feet, control and agility, are also needed so one can solo within the led amount of time. Constant attention to the music and the partner makes it an ali ve and fun dance, an active, involved conversation.

The basic 8-count step for the man is:

 s l o w   I quick I quick I  s l o w   I quick I quick
  1 Q 2 ! 3 1 4 1 5 - 6                  i 7 1 8
   left    I right I left  I   right    i left  I right

diag. fwd circling around slow to        back    front
around a       clockwise a top
circle

  1 a2    3 4             5 a6             7       8
  L-R-L   R L             R-L-R            L      R
                   triple time

where a slow gets two counts and a quick gets one.  The
basic 6-count step is :
 8 1 0 W  1   6 1 0 W I quick I quick
  1 - 2   1    3 - 4 1 5 1 6
  left    I    right I left I right (single time)


  1 a2        3 a4 5 6
 L-R-L        R-L-R back front triple time)

The slow beats, step on count 1, hold on count 2, may be danced by holding on count 1 and stepping on count 2 or may be replaced by three steps in the two counts (triple time) which would allow you the same foot free as if you stepped the one step. Thus the 8-count may be written in two-count units, as odd, even, odd, even; the 6-count as odd, odd, even for each two counts, telling you how many steps you can take in the two beats of music. (See Skippy Blair's book, Disco to Tango and Back, for further elucidation on this two-count unit system, which she calls the Universal Unit System.)

The man rocks backforward on counts /B of the eight, or on counts 5/6 of the six. The woman steps on the right foot when he's on the left. The hold is more relaxed than other ballroom dances, with his right hand on her back, his left hand near waist or hip level, holding her hand as if he were going to kiss it. The position is semi-open, about 90 degrees, between facing one another and standing side-by-side. All the moves stem from the basics, by playing with the variables of: steps and moves per two-count unit, facings relative to the partner, angle of the torso, direction of the movement side, front, bac, diagonal), level (low, high, on the ground, off the ground), direction of the movement along the floor. defining the floor Pattern

(circular, linear, front, back, diagonal, stationary), and repetition of segments. The way each dancer chooses to vary and combine these variables gives him his own personal style. This is the appealing distinction of the Lindy -- each good dancer does it differently without departing from the basic structure of the dance, without destroying the integrity of the dance.

Origins and Evolution

Lindy, Jitterbug, and Swing: What the Lindy Developed From and Into

"Lindy" is synonymous with "Jitterbug" and "Swing" when referring to the Lindy, but _Jitterbugand Swing may refer to different dances as well. While Swing and _Jitterbugare generic terms, the Lindy is a specific dance.

The Lindy includes both 8-count and 6-count step and rhythm patterns. It originated in the 1920's and was called the Hop, and it was danced to the new swing music being developed by the newly formed big bands. It became known as the lindbergh Hop, or Lindy Hop (now just Lindy), after Charles Lindbergh made his trans-Atlantic solo airplane hop in 1927.

Marshall Stearns gives credit to Shorty George Snowden for naming the Lindy. "On June 17, 1928, the Manhattan Casino, a huge ballroom in NYC was jammed. . . . The occasion was a new craze: dance marathons." One of the dancers still on the floor July th, when it was closed by the Board of Health, was George "Shorty" Snowden. During one of the short contests among the surviving couples,

Snowden decided to do breakaway, that is, fling his partner out and improvise a few solo steps of his own. In the midst of the monotony of the marathon, the effect was electric, and even the musicians came to life. Shorty had started something.

At one point Fox Movietone News arrived to cover the marathon and decided to take a close up of Shorty's feet. The general impression that Shorty was out of his mind and his dancing a kind of inspired confusion was gaining currency. "What are you doing with your feet," asked the interviewer, and Shorty, without stopping, replied, "The Lindy." (6)

Dorothea Ohl, on the ballroom page of the 1956 Dance Magazine, explains the birth of the Lindy thusly:

Legend has it that way back in 1927 when Lindbergh made his historic solo flight to Paris, the people of New York's Harlem were just as excited as the rest of the world. Would he make it? When the news that he had arrived was announced at the Savoy Ballroom, Harlem's best known dance spot, pandemonium broke loose. People jumped for joy; strangers pounded one another in glee. One young man, overcome by the thrill, took off over the floor, shouting, "Look! Look! I'm flying just like Lindy!" He seized a partner in passing and away they went. The floor soon filled with dancers following his lead, improvising turns and twists on their own, all chanting, "Lindy! Lindy! Lindy!" And so it was born.

Many sources (Marshall Stearns, Ernie Smith, Brian Gillie, and Richard Powers) claim the Lindy is supposed to be a direct descendant of the Texas Tommy, but no one seems to know exactly what that dance looked like. "Tommy" is slang for prostitute, and the dance appeared in the red light district of San Francisco between 1905 and 1910. It was danced by black couples performing at Lew Purcell's Cabaret, the only black club on the Barbary Coast (the performers were black, the clientele white).(9) Supposedly some black dancer brought it up from the South. It appeared on Broadway in Darktown Follies in 1912 and was a great hit. The basic step, "a kick and a hop about three times on each foot followed by a slide,--l! was different from the Lindy basic.

But both have a breakaway after that, where the partners separated and could do what they wanted to, before returning to one another. Both were thought to be acrobatic and both had couples creating their own steps and groups of couples performing them. Both were originated by black dancers and had black dance teams performing them.

Never having seen the Texas Tommy, I believe the Lindy to be a direct blend of the Two-step and the Charleston. Both have the same 8-count rhythm pattern that the Lindy had, quick-quick, slow; quick-quick, slow. Charleston replaces the quick-quick with a two-count kick. In the 1928 film After Seven,(11) three couples do a closed position Charleston. Shorty George Snowden, one of the creators of the Lindy, is one of the dancers. The dance looks like a blend of Charleston and Lindy, a halfway point between the two in the development of the Lindy. The Lindy uses a rock step (quick-quick or back/front which rocks away from and towards your partner), but sometimes uses a kick instead. Charleston sometimes uses a rock-step replacement for the kick. Charleston moves are used in the Lindy breakaway section. A common thing to do is to break into a side-by-side or back Charleston where you're facing your partner's back which is nested in front of you, do that for a few bars of music, and then swing back into a Lindy.

The Two-step, which now is really the same as the Foxtrot box step (guick-quick slow, quick-quick low), was done at the turn of the century. The Lindy also uses guick-quick slow, quick-quick slow, only circling clockwise and moving the partners back into a rock step on one quick-quick or releasing the partner out and in within the eight counts, as opposed to staying in the closed dance position of the Two-step for the entire eight counts.

The Charleston was introduced with the James P. Johnson song "Charleston," in an all-black Broadway show, Runnina Wild, in 1923. The dance supposedly went back years earlier. There's a questionable story that says slaves were punished for crossing their knees so as soon as their work day was over, they'd cross and uncross them, and that's how the Charleston was born. The Black Bottom (1924) and the Collegiate were later introduced but never achieved the lasting popularity of the Charleston. The Collegiate, also thought to be like the Lindy, was something based on the Charleston, only new and flashier for the college kids.(12) Brian Gillle, dance historian, said the Varsity Drag of 1927 was a combination of the Charleston and the original Foxtrot.(13) It may be the Varsity Drag is the Collegiate.

In the video portion of my thesis, I asked Frank Manning, chief choreographer of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers in the 30's and 40's, what dances the Lindy came from. He said the Collegiate, and proceeded to demonstrate what I would call a closed position Charleston.

It is hard to trace the exact roots or birth of a dance. George Lloyd, Savoy Lindy Hopper with whom I won the 1983 Harvest Moon Ball, said in the video tape that the Lindy came from the Two-step. He then did a Two-step into the Lindy. To me this seems to me the most sensible lineage; just change the direction of the quick-quick from side-together to back-front, and you have the Lindy. (I did not discuss this question with Frank or George prior to the interview, and the two together supported my own independent hypothesis that the Lindy came from the Two-step and the Charleston.) The influence of the music on the Two-step from being more syncopated, then more swinging, could account for the changeover to the new and different feeling of the Lindy.

Musical changes had a lot to do with the creation of new dances. Before 1900, European-based dances were the ones found in the ballrooms, the Waltz being the most popular. At the turn of the century, people were ready for a change, something new and different for the new century. Sometimes, rather than looking for similarities, it makes

more sense to look at differences.(14) People get bored and want a change, a rebellion from the past, or something to call their own. (Kids don't want to do the same dance as their parents.) Ragtime music, a new march-like music with many rhythmic syncopations, became popular. People started dancing the One-step, a new and easy dance that anyone could do. Originally called the Four-step, it was simply walking evenly, one step on every beat of the measure, and was much easier than the Two-step or the Waltz. The songs "Everybody's Doin' It" (1910), "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1911), as well as the official One-step dance, the Turkey Trot (1911), came out and helped the acceptance and popularization of the new ragtime music and dancing. The dance craze peaked around 1912-1914.

W. C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues" also came out in 1911 and helped popularize the blues. (The Blues feeling and musical structure were major influences in the development of the greatest swing music, such as that of Benny Moten and Count Basie.) Blues dance were close held one-steps. Animal Dances, such as the clutching Grizly Bear, were the rage. They were just one-steps done in silly postures imitating animals. The Foxtrot appeared in 191, a combination of slows and quicks, not like the smooth Foxtrot of today, but a dance with hops, similar to the European-based schottische which was popular at the time. As syncopations, new instrumentation, and improvisation increased the complexity of the music, new dances were called for. The New Orleans- style music changed the solo piano rags to ensemble material which included collective improvisation, all improvising at once. in 1917, the Original New Orleans Jazz Band opened in New York.

There was not much dancing during World War I, but the Roaring 20's made up for it. With the war over, a new sense of freedom, a spirit of letting loose, set the stage for the flamboyant Charleston, which paved the way for the more technically challenging Lindy. Swing music is a development of a form of Jazz created by Louis Armstrong. He took the New Orleans style of group improvisation, where all the players improvised simultaneously, one step further. He brought solo improvisation to an ensemble group. The swing ensemble became tighter and more organized, adding more instruments and calling for arrangements of whole sections rather than single instruments. Soloists were allowed greater individual freedom to stretch out, in turn, one at a time. The dancers, following suit, stretched out in their solos too. All these changes in music created new feelings and sources for expression which came through the bodies of dancers.

Walter Page, bassist of the Count Basie band, played a four-beat walking bass, which added a new dimension to swing music. it traveled more, and added to the excitement of the dancers. Music, previous dances, social climate and reactions, and the desire to try something new, to create something specific to one's own generation, all add up to the magical birth of a new dance.

The Lindy Hop became known as the _Jitterbugin the 1930's. George Wendler, an older man from Detroit, said that as early as 1929, the Lindy reached Detroit known as the Jitterbug.(15) Upon researching it, I found the word "Jitterbug" to be an ambiguous term. I found different opinions among almost everyone I spoke to. According to Frank Werber, the late Al Minns, former member of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, a group which toured the world in the 40's, dancing on stages and in films, said _Jitterbugwas a derogatory term used to describe white dancers who weren't very good.16 Another black Lindy Hopper who used to dance at the Savoy said all Lindy dancers were called jitterbugs. Cynthia Millman conducted a survey for the 198 July-September issue of the NY Swing Dance Society Newsletter Footnote, asking, "What's the difference between Lindy, Swing and Jitterbug?" Frank Manning, also a former member of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, said,

Lindy and swing are the same. _Jitterbugis from the 40's. It's bouncier and faster. It was a white thing as rock'n'roll was a white version of rhythm and blues. It's also more what was done in the 50's than the Lindy which was smoother. The _Jitterbugdoesn't necessarily contain aerials.(17)

Let's Talk Jitterbug, by Ray Walker, president of the US Swing Dance Council (based on the West Coast), says _Jitterbugcarried a stigma that using the term "Swing" avoids.

The term _Jitterbugwas first used in the southern part of the country to describe people who displayed the symptoms of secondary syphilis, uncontrollable jerking and trembling and lack of muscular control. Such observers were apparently unable to perceive the precise and intricate coordination that is essential to our kind of dancing, even when performed by those early swingers. But the name took hold and we were stuck with it. We became Jitterbugs and for the most part, we accepted the title with good grace and tolerant humor. The general public, however, did not view us in turn with equal tolerance. Because our kind of dancing was so completely new to the public view, and so different from anything that had ever been seen on the dance floor before, we were regarded a wild, undisciplined, vulgar, overly obsessed with sex (which is not necessarily bad in my opinion), crude, and totally lacking in manner and moral. That was the general opinion of swing dancers in the late 1930's, but big band music took the nation by storm Jut about that time, and since Jitterbugging was the only kind of dance capable of doing Justice to this new and exciting music, we were less and less mallgned with the passing of years. By the l950's, we were referring to ourselves as swing dancers, and the term _Jitterbugwas heard only occasionally. (19)

Cab Calloway had a song called "The Call of the Jitterbug" that came out in 1933. In the S.O.S. Carefree Times, the newsletter of Shag (South Carolina Lindy derivative) dancers, there is an article called "Hey, Jitterbug" explaining where the term "Jitterbug" came from. In the 30's, Cab Calloway had a hep cat trombone player in his band that nipped the auce too much. Cab would tell him, "Better quit drinking that bug juice, man, or you'll shake and jitter to death." Soon the guys in Cab's band were calling the 'bone player a "Jitterbug".

The phrase stuck and spread around the black musical community to mean one that was super hip (or "hep" in those days).

Later the meaning changed to the name of the dance. It also kept its connotation of hep and cool, however, through the 50's.

To the police of O.D. (Ocean Drive, the nightclub/beach strip in Myrtle Beach), "Jitterbug" once meant all guys with long hair and draped pants . . . prime candidates for the pokey! (20)

Craig Hutchinson of Alexandria, Virginia, sections his article "Swing America" into "Twenties Lindy Hop," "Thirties Jitterbug," "Forties Swing," "Fifties Rock'n'Roll," "Sixtie Solo," and "Seventies Hustle." In "Thirties Jitterbug," he writes,

A bouncy six-beat variant was named _Jitterbugby the band leader Cab Calloway. Music played by Calloway's orchestra in such hot spot as Harlem's Savoy Ballroom was popular among the blacks, and Calloway introduced a tune in 1934 titled "Jitterbug." The _Jitterbugalso contained a style of violent and frenzied athleticism that was hazardous for performers and other dancers, and a Jitterbugger with fast feet was called a flash dancer at the black dance clubs. . . .

. . . kids hooked on _Jitterbugwere called "jive addicts." One faster version, called Shag, had a characteristic kick backwards and forward stomp. Movies which popularized _Jitterbugwere "A Day at the Races," "Swing Sister, Swing," "The Prisoner of Swing," and a cartoon called "I'm Just a Jitterbug." And topping the 30's off was an electrifying exhibition of Jitterbugging couples at the 1939 world's fair. (21)

The word "Jitterbug" came from a radio announcer covering the 1936 or 7 Harvest Moon ball. It was on Movietone news and he said, referring to the Lindy dancers, "They all look like Jitterbugs." And so it caught on after that. (22)

As you see, some have their own special meaning for the term Jitterbug, distinguishing it from the Lindy in general. Some say it's 30's dancing, others 50's, others 40's dancing, some say it's six-beat only, or only fat, some say it's derogatory, others complimentary.) To me, Jitterbug, refers to the Lindy, means the same thing, but I would not use it unless someone did not know the word "Lindy." Because it means so many differing things to different people, it lacks a clear definition, whereas Lindy means one thing.

The same problem arises when the word "Swing" is used. The Lindy was originally danced to swing music; the dancers were called swing dancers, the dance Swing. But now, Swing may refer to a myriad of descendants of the Lindy, such a East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, and Southern Shag.

East Coast Swing is more like a remnant of the Lindy, or what some uninformed westerner thinks people are doing on the East Coast. It contains mainly 6-count patterns. I often call Lindy "East Coast Style" to distinguish it from West Coast Swing, and also to give the East Coast a better name. Lindy, Shag, and West Coast Swing are all smooth dance and include both 6- and 8-count patterns as basics. Shag and West Coast Swing are danced in a linear floor pattern, whereas the Lindy circle with changing orientation. The three vary in when, at which point in the rhythm pattern, the partners move away and towards one another. Shag (9) the official dance of South Carolina. (Congressman John "Bubber" Snow is not only a Shag enthusiast, but a Shag dancer himself.) In Shag the torso is upright and relaxed, and most of the fancy improvisation is done with the lower extremities (knees and ankles). Shag is done to what is called beach music, a slow rhythm and blues.

West Coast Swing is danced to 510w RB, disco, rock, and swing-like music, all with a heavy beat. (There is a group in California, affiliated with the United States Swing Dance Council, that is lobbying to get Swing passed as the National dance!) In West Coast Swing, the torso is held more upright than in the Lindy. The styling is more like modern television jazz as opposed to old black jazz. West coasters claim their style is more sophisticated than its ancestor dance, the Lindy. Many East coasters don't know there is a West Coast style, or don't care. West Coast Swing supposedly developed its slot floor pattern because the dance floors were too crowded and dancing in a slotted arrangement accommodated more couples. There are currently many more small private swing clubs in the West, than in the East. On the East Coat there are New York; Washington, D.C.; and Boston Swing societies; plus many small Shag clubs in the South.

Swing may also refer to Country Western Swing, which has a different basic rhythm pattern. Country Western Swing has an even one-step pattern danced circling in a four-handed open position. It developed in the Southwest in the 30's when bands such as Bob Wills's were developing concurrently with the eastern urban swing bands. The instrumentation differed, mandolins and fiddle were used, but a similar jazz swing feeling was achieved. Country Western Swing dancing includes many more arm moves, an influence of Latin American dances that came up through Mexico and the South- west. In Lindy, you see more of a focus on lower-body movements, hip, knee, and fast foot movements in more complex rhythm patterns. To confuse things even more, Western Swing, which is short for Country Western Swing, is what West Coast Swing used to be called. Also, there is a move in square dancing, called Swing, as in "swing your partner," which is the buzz step, one of the basic variations in Country Western Swing. It is done in closed po6ition, circling around, with the inside foot rooted like it is on a scooter. The beat is even one-step with the downbeat accented.

Thus, ironically, the major difference between the various swing dances is the music it is danced to, when the word "Swing" got its name referring to the swing music it was danced to. Different music gives the various swing dances very different stylings and feelings.

Aside from the regional differences in the various dances which have evolved from the Lindy, there are also regional differences in counts and feeling within the dances currently considered to be the Lindy.

The "Lindy" danced n part of the Northeast (Boston, Washington, D.C.) and in the West (Washington, Colorado) is mainly a 6-count, and thus lacks the flow and smoothness the 8-count gives the dance. (have recently been asked to teach for the DC society, who have expressed an interest in learning the 8-count, so thus may change in the near future.) Without the 8-count, it is not the Lindy and does not have the Lindy feel.

The English International Ballroom dance "Jive" is supposed to be a derivation of the Lindy, the same way their Tango is supposed to resemble a Tango. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Jive is done only to fast music, always looks stiff and overdone, with rocking shoulders and swinging arms, and has absolutely no swing feeling. Jive is danced in competitions with specific technical rules, and danced in costume that would be more appropriate for ice skating or parade floats. The way Europeans do Swing explains where the derogatory term "white dancing" comes from.

French/English Le Roc (already the rock'n'roll in its name, it is different), and Swedish Lindy are also off-shoots of the Lindy. Many Europeans learn their dancing from watching tapes or films and lack tactile learning. I spoke to one of the member of the Swedish Swing Society who said he never does any social dancing, he is too busy for that. He is a serious competition dancer. His dancing lacked the smooth finesse of a social dancer. His lead was heavy and rough, and he had trouble leading those who did not already know his routines. The Swedes are known for their gymnastic ability and their agility in doing aerials, but their swing dancing lacks the easy, soulful approach. Their energy comes from an excited, lifted, ungrounded place; there seems to be no black influence -- not only in their dance environment, but in their street environment. The way people lounge and walk in Europe is different than the way people lounge and walk in the United States. The climate and thus the dancing is physically looser and freer here. The Lindy is not as ways done fast with frantic lunges, twists, and bounces. It can also be danced to slow or moderate tempos.

Social History: Black Culture

The Lindy: African/American Cultural Phenomenon

Throughout the history of American social dance, new dances that have been introduced by the black community have first shocked, and then been accepted by white society -- and then capitalized upon. Unfortunately, sometimes by the time this happens the dance is so changed that only the name reminds us that it is the same dance. From black performance of Cakewalk, to Charleston, to Lindy, to Breaking, this is the case. The structure nay be present, but the feeling is gone. The Harvest Moon Ball sponsors have now replaced the Lindy competition with young white kids from New Jersey competing in breakdance ensembles at Roseland!

Anne Barzel in the Dance Encyclopedia writes, "Modern ballroom dance has its roots in the religious ritual, the funeral, the wooing, initiation and war dances of primitive times.--24 European white formalism was combined with African rhythm. Lynne Eery in Black Dance in the United States from 1916 to 1970 writes,

The heart and soul of Africa i, in effect, a gigantic drum, and the rhythms of it dance are basic to social cohesion, ritual observance, the maintenance of tradition, preparation for war, auto-hypnosis, the expression of grief and joy, and the satisfaction of play and sexual selection instincts.25

The pattern of diffusion exhibited by this first jazz dance -- black solo or group dance to black ballroom to commercial theater to white ballroom dance -- was followed by most of the popular dances of the early twentieth century.27

She Cakewalk first originated on the plantations with blacks imitating and making fun of the formal manners and formal dance of their white after6.23 They exaggerated their upright body position into a leaning back prance and then added what they wanted in terms of improvisation. "It Cakewalk combined Afro-American rhythms, posture, improvisation and some mildly acrobatic movements with white ocial dignity and some contact between partners."29 In 1903 films, Cakewalk, Cakewalk on the Beach, and Comedy Cakewalk, dancers used rubbery in-and-out knee movements, leaps and jumps, and a great deal of individual improvisation, not the type of movements one would see done in white European-based ballroom dance.3! (These 6ame African-derived movements show up later in social dances and black theater.) Seyreated going back and forth, from imitation, to innovation, to performance by blacks for whites, to dancing by white imitating black performer, by the l900's, Blacks and whites were dancing the ame social dances; this trend began with the Cakewalk, he first social dance fad to cut across racial barriers. The two races remained world apart, however. White fad dances were toned-down, 6implified variations of "the real thing," and they usually filtered down to the white world after they had gained and lost ascendancy in Black circles.31

After the Civil War, there was a low migration of blacks to the North. Most stayed in the South initially a tenant farmers. Their main social center was the church, and even though at that time the church banned dancing, dancing was their main activity for enJoyment and entertainment. Not only did white society fear the influence of black dancing, but Negro civic leaders spoke out against it as well. In the early 1900's, one leader from Alabama said, "In my area many are making the effort to eliminate the dance by the skating rink and such other amusements that will take up their time at times when they usually go to the dance halls."32 Others at the time called dance halls the "curse of the day," "our greatest struggle," and "harmful."33

But these adverse attitude didn't top people from dancing. "Jook houses" and segregated dance hall sprang up all over the South. "Jook is the anglicized pronunciation of 'dzugu,' a word from the Gullah dialect of the African Bambara tribe meaning 'wicked."'34 (The word "jukebox" comes from this.) It was in these jook houses that blacks danced and created steps that, when later brought up North, spread among the whites and influenced later dances such as the Lindy.

The Black Bottom originated in "Black Bottom," the ook section of Nashville, Tennessee.35 The Big apple began in a church converted into a black dance hall in Columbia, South Carolina, and includes many African-based moves which were used later by Lindy performing groups, and even by Arthur Murray in his watered-down version of the dance (the Big Apple).36 When blacks loved North, they brought with them not only the Black Bottom and the Big Apple, but also the Charleston, Ballin' the Jack, the Shimmy, and the Mooche.37 Movements from these dances were influential in the development of the Lindy. They were used in the improvised breakaway section of the Lindy where dancers momentarily did separate moves, or as set routine sections during Lindy performances and contests.

"The combination of World War , with its plentiful jobs in the defense industry, and years of poor crops, and a rise in lynchings in the South, drew thousands of Negroes to the North.--38 During eighteen months, beginning in 1916, 350,000 blacks moved North; Harlem grew from 50,000 blacks in 1914 to 80,000 by 1920, to 200,000 by 1930.

Black music and dances from the South came up with the people. Shis mass of black people and culture had to be integrated into Northern society.

From 1910 to 1920, "animal dances" found their way into white fashionable ballrooms. "Animal fad dances such as the Surkey Trot, the Buzzard Lope, and the Possom Trot originated in plantation dances which themselves reflected retentions from African animal dances."4! Tin Pan Alley capitalized on this new public interest, or dance mania, and made up hundreds of dance songs with instructions on how to do the dance. The animal dances "were simple to a point of awkwardness, and for the first time, they permitted what was denounced as 'lingering close contact.''4l A Paterson, New Jersey, court imposed a fifty-day sentence on a young woman for dancing the Turkey Trot. Fifteen young women were dismissed from a well known magazine after the editor caught them enjoying the abandoned dance at lunchtime. Turkey trotters incurred the condemnation of churches and respectable people, and in 1914 an official disapproval was issued by the Vatican.42

Thus, animal dances, so popular in the dance craze of the new century, met with much opposition. Despite such criticism, these dances remained in vogue for a while. Anna Pavlova was reported in the newspapers as seen Turkey Trotting in a dive in San Francisco, "to learn some native American dances."

Whites "slumming" at black clubs helped spread the popularity of certain dance within white society, then and throughout history. In 1913 Vernon and Irene Castle performed the Turkey Trot in the Broadway show Sunshine Girl. Due to their huge success in this and The Merry Widow in 1907, they decided to open an elite dance studio, Castle House, in 1914. So capitalize on the anti-animal dance uproar, they sided with "proper" society and denounced the animal dances as orgiastic, "ugly, ungraceful, and out of fashion.n44 The elite upper-class society wouldn't want to be involved with such lewd behavior or to mingle with the masses. She Castles offered them a dancing alternative. They could till dance and not be associated with the common, vulgar, fad dances. The grace, specific steps and rules they taught required lots of training and lessons, and the wealthy had the money to pay for them. The Castles printed a book of proper dance etiquette, excluding hopping, shaking of the hips, wriggling of the shoulders, and twisting of the body.

The Castles were highly instrumental in popularizing social dancing. They were a bit ahead of their time in that they worked with a black band leader, James Reese Europe, and his black band. The Castles had spent time in Paris, where black musicians and artists were more venerated and fashionable than in America. Vernon Castle, an amateur jazz drummer himself, appreciated African rhythms and actually enjoyed doing the animal dances, which he would pick up from watching black dancers.46

In the teens and twenties, black performers in vaudville, nightclubs and Broadway shows (sill segregated), would combine steps long known at the ook houses and on the plantations, and with the help of new song, create new dances for the white public to learn.47 A song was written and the lyrics would be dance instructions, or the name of a new song would also be the name of a new dance presented in a show, which had specific steps. Everyone would want to see the new dance and learn to do it, thus helping to popularize the song and the show.

In 1923, the Charleston was popularized in this manner, though the black Broadway musical Running Wild, accompanied by James P. Johnson's hit song, "Charleston," written for the show. The Charleston's popularity was soon superseded by that of the Black Bottom48 (although the Charleston's simplicity and unique character made it lastingly more popular throughout the years). The Black Bottom hit Broadway in Georae White's Scandals of 1926, to a DeSilva, Brown and Henderson song. The original "Black Bottom" song was published by Perry Bradford as a dance instruction song in 1919. The dance was "as old as the hills" but didn't gain popularity until the 1926 show with the new Black Bottom song with its Charleston rhythm.49 The songs since "Charleston" were moving away from explicit directions in their lyrics, as evidenced by the Varity Drag, Truckin', and the Lindy, which were the next big dances to appear after the Black Bottom.

The Lindy first appeared around 1927. The growth in popularity of the large public dance hall and wing music were two developments that allowed for its creation. People were going out, and both space to dance and large orchestras were affordable. It was inexpensive to go out and hear a great band. Touch dancing was done by most people then. With the excitement of the new swing music, the larger orchestras, and the energy of all the musicians and dancer came the development of a new dance. The Lindy used a closed dance position as well a a breakaway position for soloing, as the music used ensemble arrangement as a base from which the musicians would break away and solo.

Of the ballrooms in New York, the Savoy, panning an entire city block on 141st Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem, was the biggest, and the most important to the development of the Lindy. It was there that the Lindy was supposedly created, and definitely where it was expanded and popularized.

As stated previously, social dance is a vehicle for social cohcion, expression of grief and joy, courtship, initiation, and satisfaction through play. The social climate in Harlem was changing as blacks moved in, from the 2018 to the 0's. The neighborhood, being in transition, needed a new center of quilibrium for blacks, a replacement for the old world'6 church to provide structure, a positive influence, and a vehicle for advancement, within and without the community.5! Social dancing and dance halls like the Savoy ended up providing the center. Street gangs were prevalent, serving the need for fellowship, protection in the streets, and providing structure in a crumbling and alienating area. Banding together gave the individual more power in the outside world as well as a position and task within the group. Herbert White, "Whitey," proved that one could get ahead with such power by organizing and imposing a tight control on his group. Whitey began a gang called the Jolly Fellows in 1923. They had a clubhouse with their own pool table, a rather rough initiation for new members, "hanging an uppercut on the aw" of an astonished proprietor "and stand there without running,nSl and a membership that grew from 100 to over 600 in the 1930's.52 The Jolly Fellows became "the" club for the great dancers of the Savoy.

Whitey became the bouncer and his club ruled the Savoy. It was a real status symbol to be a member of his gang. It meant respect, and survival in an arca where one could get beat up frequently on the streets. "Whitey demanded unquestioning obedience from the Jolly Fellows, and in return, gave them protection and a place in the 8un.n53 Slmes were tense in the 30's and a premium was placed upon force and recklessness. Harlem had become a fiercely competitive jungle, and the Savoy Ballroom syphoned off much of the nervous energy this constant pressure generated among the lucky few who became deeply interested in dancing. In turn, this emotional climate was reflected in the tireless vigor and daring invention of the Lindy, or Jitterbug.54

Whitey's war became a dance war, which he won; his group, Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, captured all the prizes for dancing around New York, and was contracted for world-wide tours and Hollywood films. His dancers, even if under his iron-clad rule and underpaid, moved from a possible position of being "nobodies" in a poor environment, to stardom in films and world touring shows. It was the black dancers from this environment, from Whitey's group, who helped popularize the Lindy around the world in the late 30's and 40's. It was at the Savoy that this group all danced and practiced. The Savoy, owned by Charles Buchanan, became a social center for blacks as well as a showcase for their dancing. It was open seven days a week, with regularly scheduled events. Monday was ladies night; Thursday was Kitchen Mechanics night (when maids and cooks had the night off);

Tuesdays were reserved for the 400 Club (only the best dancers were its members); on Saturdays, any white onlookers came and there were big dance contest;* Sundays, everyone dressed in their Sunday best and many celebrities were there. Mondays and tuesdays attracted the regulars only; admission was only thirty cents before six, sixty cents from six to eight, and eighty-five cents after eight. Dancing became a way of life for many since it was cheap entertainment, plus a way to make money for the good dancers. Contests had cash prizes; couples would meet there and practice for contests there and elsewhere (all the ballrooms had contests), or they would practice for performing jobs at nightclubs and theaters. White patrons would see dancers and employ them for lessons or tip them there. Celebrities would attend, providing excitement, class, and * According to Marshall Sterns, Jazz Dance, dance contest, which awarded five and ten dollar prizes, took place on Sundays; Sterns quotes "Shorty" Snowden as saying Sundays were a very big night at the Savoy to pick up cash from tips and contests (p. 322). According to Frank Manning, contests at the Savoy were on Saturdays, the big nights being Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

possible commercial contact.

There was a special area reserved for the 400 Club called the "Cat' Corner." A in African tribal dances, all would form a circle around the couple who danced in the center, one at a time. The winner of the last contest, "the King," would start it out; no one was allowed to dance before him. Among the best dancers, there was an unwritten law that forbade them to copy each other's steps.55 The aura around this area was exhilarating and competitive. Individual creativity and innovation were valued most. The aspect of performing free for an audience at a dance hall, yet dancing full out in almost religious ecstasy to the rhythm of the music, i similar to African tribal rituals, where musicians and dancers conversed and reached new heights through this competitive conversation, aided by the excited involvement of all the spectators (who could partake as well). It was a new approach in America that blurred the distinctions between amateur and professional and created a group spirit.56 People could lose themselves in the exuberance of the music and the group. This enhanced their freedom for creativity and improvisation. The music at the Savoy was electrifying. It was played by the very best big bands in all history. Two band played there every night. The Lindy developed as a response to the polyrhythms and innovations of the music. Great black jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, who furthered the importance of solo improvisation, Joe Jones, who introduced the many different ounds and texture that could be produced by the drums, and Walter Page, who accentuated the /4 feeling of the walking bas as opposed to the 2/4 feeling of ragtime and New Orleans jazz -- and arranger such a Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington, who expanded thee musical concepts to include whole sections of an orchestra -- helped develop swing music, and thus the dancing done to it. The rhythms called for a more syncopated basic dance step, and the allowance of time for musical improvisation within the musical structure inspired the dancer to "go out" and improvise within the dance structure.

Improvisation was not new to black dancers. Being descendants of members of African tribes, of slaves who buc danced on their porches, and of those who created new steps to win a Cakewalk contest, it seems natural that black dancer would improvise doing the Lindy. But it was new to white ballroom dancers, who were used to dancing steps in an upright, rigidly controlled fashion. At the Savoy, one saw a loosening of barriers, a blending of black and white distinctions. Black were dancing a ballroom pattern and whites were improvising within it, copying one another and trading off ideas. One would ee black and white musicians playing in the same orchestra. (Swing band were the first to have this integration, Benny Goodman' the very first.

The One-step was danced to the even beat of ragtime, marchlike in its quality, at the turn of the century. Then song instruction dances and animal dances invaded white ballrooms. Ragtime music became more syncopated, there were songs that were too low to do a One-tep to. The Foxtrot, with a combination of lows and quicks, was invented. Some say it wa6 Harry Fox in his vaudeville how, others say it was Vernon Castle, upon hearing the music of James Reese Europe, who invented it. In any event, it was more like the Two-step. it was a closed-position dance, with et steps. Swing dancing was a big change because of the breakaway position, the excitement of the faster music, and the more flashy body movements, complex rhythmic improvisations, and foot yncopations. It was difficult for the established ballroom community to accept.

Underlying this was the racial problem of the mixed dance halls. Bob Creae, a co-founder of the New York Swing Dance Society and dance archivist, addrese the social and racial is6ues surrounding the Lindy in his article, "Swing Story," published in the Atlantic.57 Black danced in the same clubs as whites. Whites admired black dancers, some as role models, and some black admired some whites. Black and white musicians played in the same bands. The criteria for prestige and respect were based on dance ability and musical talent, rather than on income, social tatu, or color. Established institutions denounced the dance to the questioning public in hopes of tifling this new movement and dance community with it threatening effect.

The Lindy was a dangerous dance in the America of the thirties, and was all the more disturbing because it mixed races as well as classes. Whites and Blacks mingled in dance halls and nightclubs called "black and tan" clubs, where the Lindy reigned. Guardians of public morality, such as Dr. John J. allio of the Philadelphia College of Oteopathy, branded the Lindy as a throwback to "the war and religious dances of primitive tribes." Anxious parents wrote to publications such a Hvaea, a magazine of the American Medical Association, to ask whether Lindy Hopping led to poor posture, delinguency, or sexual perversion; HYaea replied that the dance indicated that some members of the younger generation were disintegrating under the stress of "unemployment, financial stringency, political confusion, and personal bewilderment.-'58

Ballroom dance teachers were threatened not only because of their position in society as previously having defined elegance and poise in another manner, but because they themselves a dancers weren't able to capture the essence of the dance, nor teach the improvisation that was part of it. They were serving a wealthier or more conservative clientele a menu of poie, good manners, and etiquette, a necessity for all prominent members of society. When churches and magazines were still denouncing the dance as evil and destructive, they feared there would be no market for it in the elite circle. To change clientele to people who went out to clubs already and possibly already knew the dance, was unrealistic. Also, the teachers who had been trained in the Castles' image, by their book, which restricted certain Lindy of body movement (hip and torso), probably would not be familiar enough with the dance, or agile enough to perform its movements in the street style and spirit. Even if they were able to let lose and improvise themselves, if a student came to learn steps, the teacher had to have steps to teach him, or a way of teaching improvisation. This may not be in demand by the student. Also, once a student could improvise creatively as an %nd, a teacher might fear he would have nothing left to teach.

In 1939, Irene Castle said, "'Jitterbug dancing is neither graceful nor beautiful. One should float to the music.' By "Jitterbug" does she mean bad Lindy or all Lindy dancing? The Dancing Teachers Association warned that Lindy dancing was 'a form of hysteria that will prove harmful to the poise of the present generation."'S9 This was after Benny Goodman played at the Paramount Theater in January 1937 to a sold-out house that was dancing in the ailes! This was also during the time when stars such as Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, and Lana Turner (who dubbed the Savoy Ballroom "The Home of Happy Feet") were frequent patrons of the Savoy.60 This was after the first Harvest Moon Ball of 1936, promoted by the Daily News, had to be postponed and relocated from Central Park to Madison Square Garden because the park was so crowded with would-be spectators that the contestants couldn't get through to the stage, or even near it!61 This was the year that Whitey's Lindy Hoppers performed in the Marx Brothers' film A Day at the Races. (Aerial Lindy had developed by then, beginning around 1936, as an organic outgrowth of the mufiic, the rhythm, and the desire to do fiomething more fipectacular than the next person in competitions and performances. Socially, Floor Lindy was still being done and was actually preferred by many.)

Finally, in the fall of 1943, the New York Chapter of Teachers of Dancing, Inc., became the first association of instructors to face up to reality and recognize the "Lindy- Jitterbug" as an official American dance.62 They began to teach it, taming it down, simplifying it, and stripping it of its energy, making it accessible and acceptable to their students .

The Lindy remained popular through the 1940's, but due to recording bans and a twenty percent entertainment tax passed to support the war effort, many Harlem nightclubs were forced to close.63 Harlem's leaders, including Adam Clayton Powell, claimed that La Guardia, the Mayor of New York, clofied the Savoy to stop blacks from dancing with white women.64 The Lindy, with its resemblance to the old African challenge dances in the solo improvisations of the breakaway, . . . the huffling steps, hip movements, and the shimmy,-'65 with its use of Charleston and Black Bottom steps, finally had been accepted by the white public but died out shortly after due to economic or political restrictions. Maybe it really hadn't been accepted. Maybe it was swallowed up in an attempt to have it transformed and resegregated. Although it was assimilated into American culture, at least in some areas, it is danced somewhat like it was originally danced. To those early dancer, the Lindy was not merely one of many dances, but a way of life. At the weekly Sunday New York Swing Dance Society big band dances at the Cat Club, at the Swing Now Trio's Wednesday engagements at the North River Bar, and at Al Cobbs's Monday night gigs at Northern Lights, you will find black and white old-timers and newcomers, all dancing together, re-creating the Savoy-style Lindy and spirit.

Additional Notes and Conclusions

I heard various stories about who created the Lindy. Twist Mouth George at the Savoy evidently was the first to twist or swivel his partner at arm's length after he swung her out. I heard some misinformed Californian say that Dean Collins invented the Lindy (he was the man responsible for bringing the Lindy to, or popularizing it in California). Then I heard someone else say that it came from Southern Cajun dancing. There are about as many stories about where it came from as there are forms of th dance existing today. People like to claim it came from their area or from someone they knew. I believe it actually probably did come from their area or someone they knew! I believe the Lindy began in clubs like the Savoy, around the country, concurrently springing up as a response to swing music. The bands traveled, people traveled, and Southerners influenced Northerners, Easterners influenced Westerners.

There are regional differences in the Lindy and its derivatives, and differences in the use of the same terminology which confuse dancers and make teaching and writing dance history difficult. Often the same word, such as "Shag," has three different meanings. (South Carolina's Lindy derivative, the old-time 1930's dance, and a new California dance are all called the Shag. All three are totally different dances.)

The Lindy, as a complete dance, contains two rhythm patterns; the dancer alternates between 6-count and 8-count rhythms. So do (S.C.) Shag and West Coast Swing, both descendants of the early Lindy. Any Lindy with less than these two is incomplete. The Lindy i a smooth dance. So is the Shag (as evidenced by the best Shaggers I saw in Myrtle Beach, Harry Driver and JoJo Putnam) and West Coast Swing (as seen in the great dancing of Jimmy Bontemple of Ontarlo, California, and Phil Trau of San Francisco). When one is cxperienced and fine-tuned enough, one can play with the step, the music, and one's partner, and through improvisation and subtle nuances, converse with one's partner and the musicians (and the audience, if one is performing).

The Lindy can travel through space, across the room, whereas the Shag and West Coast Swing usually are danced in one spot. This may be due to the more crowded dance floors in the areas in which those dances are danced.

Swing dancing, including Lindy, Shag, and West Coast Swing, is becoming more popular, although there is a lot more dancing done in the South and in the West than in the East. In general, West Coast Swing dancers like their dance better than their ancestor dance, the Lindy, which they consider old. Easterners tend to prefer the Lindy and don't seem too interested in West Coast Swing. I find this situation unfortunate because I think people are missing out on great things from each.

Washington, D.C. and Boston are following in the footsteps of the New York Swing Dance Society and organizing more activities to preserve the Lindy, to learn it and to dance it. These three group function as ingle city-wide non-profit organization, as opposed to the numerous smaller clubs you find in the West and the South.

What i interesting iQ that although the Lindy is a black-rooted dance, in New York at the New York Swing Dance Society dances, there are many black dancers, but most of them are older, many original Savoy dancers. There are not many young black dancers doing the Lindy. On my travels West and South, saw almost no black dancers at all doing the Shag or West Coast Swing. I would say zero, but I couldn't swear to it.)

There are some on the West Coast, like Erin Stevens of Pasadena, and Jonathan Bixby and Sylvia Sykes of Santa Barbara, who like the Lindy. There are others, like Shirley Fietsam of Anaheim and Nick Lawrence of San Francisco, who are interested in all styles, and some on the East Coast, like myself, Margaret Batiuchok, and some of my students like Susan Hoffman, who like them all too. Jonathan and Sylvia do a style of Lindy that was developed on the West Coast by Dean Collins. Dean Collins, an excellent white New York Lindy Hopper brought the Lindy out West in the 30's, where he taught and choreographed Lindy routines for shows and movies. His style is not a black style, but it is very smooth and circular, using swing outs and switches (a swiveling movement directly descending from Twist Mouth George's partner's move).

You might say it is the white groups around the country that are working to keep swing dancing alive. The New York Swing Dance Society was formed by a group of ten young white swing dance enthusiasts, myself included, who wanted to have a place to dance. We had danced at a club called City Limits, where I met my partner George Lloyd in 1983. When it closed we all would go up to Small's Paradise where Al Cobbs's band used to play, in Harlem. During that time some members of the Swedish Swing Society visited New York and got us thinking about the idea of starting a New York swing society. Soon after we began having meetings and held our first dance at the Cat Club on May 5, 1985. We have been in existence ever since. We have a steady membership of about three hundred. We are dedicated to the preservation of the Lindy and emulate the older black dancers, the best of whom I am privileged enough to have as my partners. We encourage participation of all races, but especially black dancers.

This is not to say that there aren't equal efforts by black individuals around ew York such as Frank Manning, Norma Miller, Al Cobbs, and Mama La Parks. out of respect for their contribution, and especially the good black dancers, of which there are many. (This is not say there are not excellent white dancers whose contributions and dancing deserve respect.)

When I was planning a trip to Greenville, South Carolina, for George and myself, I was cautioned by a Southerner currently living in ew York that George might not be welcomed because he is black. I didn't understand this. She said they had private clubs down there to exclude certain races. The club members were older, as opposed to the younger members of the ew York Swing Dance Society. We ended up not going because of it. Also, when I was in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Myrtle Beach, I didn't see any black dancers. To me this was unusual, since I have many black partners. I can't come to any definite statement about this, except to say either black dancers are not wanted in these places, or they do not want to go to these places, or they do not know about these places. Although racial prejudice may exist I think that if black dancers went to these events, there would be sufficient welcome and support from the other dancers to change the situation. I think the situation has Just never come up that black dancers have gone to these events. Maybe they feel too uncomfortable as the only black person. I showed a tape of George and myself to a dancer teacher in California and she was very surprised that my partner was black. She didn't say why, but she didn't seem impressed with the dancing. Maybe it was that she didn't like the Lindy as well as West Coast Swing, maybe she didn't like our dancing.

I am not one to say black culture is totally responsible for the Lindy, that black dancers are better than white dancers. In some of the research I did, I got the idea that the writers were advocating black supremacy or crediting blacks for everything. There were white dancers at the Savoy, like John Lucchese, and dancers like Dean Collins, who were excellent as well, and who helped popularize the dance. American popular culture, black and white, embraced swing music. One might say it was not until Benny Goodman, a white band leader (who happened to have been the first band leader to cut across racial barriers and hire ia black musician, thus having the first lnterracial band), came along that swing was accepted; It may be true that black bands who were as good as his were not noticed until Benny Goodman's success opened the door, but that doesn't say Benny Goodman wasn't good. It must says that society was still prejudiced at that time, and it probably still is.

Jazz music and swing dancing are fun, soulful expressions that can be shared by black and white, Easterners and Westerners, together. I see nothing wrong with wanting to keep one's own style, or liking it best, as long as one respects the different styles of another good dancer. Personally, I want to learn as many styles and as much as I can that appeals to me, and thus develop my own style in the process. My dream is that I will take from each what it has to offer me, fits me best, so I can assimilate it into my own style. I want to be able to dance well, communicating in an inspiring manner, with any other good dancer from any area or style. Developing a larger vocabulary allows more versatility and expression in interpreting different types of music. It also allows for changes of mood within the same piece.

Dancing is an artistic and physical means of communication. How it feels is most important to the dancers and the partner, and also comes through in how it looks. Joy, grief, anger, and playful wit, as well as visual moving design, can all be expressed and shared through dancing. Each dancer's soul is a valuable and irreplaceable unique entity. It is a gift to one's life experience. It would be a shame to miss out on one because of regional or racial differences. These kinds of limitations create barriers. Opening up and learning from others is not only enriching, it's fun.

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