An Analysis of Swing Dancing
Before analyzing the effects of swing dancing on our
society we need to understand the history of swing. Lindy was the first form of swing that was accepted by white society.
There were many early styles of swing before the Lindy that were not accepted
by white society because of their African American origin. The first recorded version of the Texas
Tommy, which is said to be the first style of swing, was done in San Francisco, California in
1909. Texas Tommy was a kick and three
hops on each foot, followed by a slide and then a breakaway where partners
separated and could do whatever they wanted before returning to close dance
position. The Texas Tommy may go
all the way back to a famous black dancer named "Tom from Palestine", Texas
who had a habit of dancing with a glass of water on his head during the civil
war.
To understand the development of swing from the Texas Tommy
to the forms that we see today, it’s helpful to consider the dance forms that
lead up to its invention. According to
Dancing USA magazine (Kerchmar, (NOV. 1994 p.3) traditional closed dancing
began in the United States after 1860, when young people moved from rural
environments to the cities looking for employment. In adapting to city life many young adults sought a social life
at dancing establishments. The dances
of the late 1800’s —such as the waltz and polka—allowed closer-than usual
spacing between partners. Therefore,
large segments of the public condemned this behavior. In 1912 closed couple dancing became acceptable when the dance
team of Vernon and Irene Castle began performing dances in closes
position. Also in 1912, Harry Fox came
up with a dance called fox trot. The
Fox Trot was a mild dance compared to the other dance forms that would be
invented during and after World War One.
Dances like the Grizzly Bear and Bunny Hug rocked the population in a
dance revolution around world war one.
Around the time of World War I most of the world decided rebel against
traditional values. It seemed that
everyone wanted freedom to do what he or she pleased. This attitude was apparent in the music of the time. By 1916, New Orleans jazz was in full bloom.
Jazz musicians started having freedom to improvise, though the music was still
arranged in an orderly fusion.
Similarly, dances of this time period started to allow the dancer
freedom to improvise. The emerging
dance forms valued free expression as couples began to experiment on the dance floor:
They separated, broke apart, twirled, and jigged.
The effects of World War One on America’s culture carried
over into the twenties. Now that the
soldiers were home, Americans continued to value the freedom for which they
fought. In the "Roaring
Twenties" women called flappers made a statement revolting against
traditional values, wearing short skirts, cutting hair short, painting their
face, smoking and drinking in public.
Some saw this as a symbol of moral decay; others saw it as a symbol of freedom
and progress. In the twenties Americans
found that the were free to do whatever they pleased; they could even buy
things with money they did not have, ultimately causing the Great Depression. The dance that accompanied these social
changes was the Charleston, which had a considerable impact on Swing as we know
it. Some say that Swing is a
combination of the two-step and the Charleston. The social conditions of the twenties lead right in to the
invention of Lindy, since it also valued freedom of expression. In 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St. Louis,
nonstop from New York City to Paris.
One Legend has it that a young man at
the Savoy Ballroom in New York’s Harlem was over come with the trill of the
flight and joy in his dancing; when asked what he was doing on the dance floor
her replied, “I’m just flying like
Lindy”. Another legend has it that at a
dance marathon at New York City’s Manhattan Casino, one of the finalists called
George Shorty Snowden who did a breakaway and improvised a few solo steps to
Ragtime and Blues came up with the name of
“Lindy Hop”. Regardless of the
names origin, Lindy can be defined as a creative, expressive jazz rhythm dance
that came from street social dancers.
It is marked by African characteristics such as connection with the
earth, and vertical bounce.
After Lindy caught on with white society it eventually
became known as Jitterbug. There are
many different ideas on the significance of this term. Some say the word Jitterbug came from a
radio announcer who was referring to Lindy dancers. It has also been related that at the Savoy Ballroom, which has
been said to be the home of Lindy, all lady dances were called jitterbugs. Jitterbug was also a derogatory term used to
describe white dancers who weren’t very good.
Further, it has been explained that this term applies to swing dances
because it was a term used in the southern part of the country to describe
people who displayed symptoms of secondary syphilis, with uncontrollable
jerking and a lack of muscular control.
Whatever the exact origin was, it is clear that it was so name because
of its wild appearance. How did swing get to be so wild? When white people first noticed the Lindy, they hired Africans
American dancers to teach them how to do it.
Before long, African American Dancers became extremely competitive, and
they invented wild moves to get attention and business.
While the jitterbug
was rising in popularity, the American
Society of Teachers of Dancing and the Dance Teachers Business Association
denounced the Lindy as "a fad and would not last out the winter" and
"its devotees were victims of economic instability". They kept up
this way of thinking and ignored the Lindy.
Later, they realized that this dance style could no longer be ignored so
they strived to come up with a milder version of the jitterbug. They came up with an offshoot of the
Fox-trot or Syncopated Two-Step which also came to be known as Jitterbug.
A descendant of the Lindy Called West Coast Swing—which
consists of 6-beat and 8-beat patterns—then entered the picture. To explain what West Coast Swing is, I need
to introduce a man named Dean Collins who danced at the Savoy
Ballroom in New York.
Dean moved to California to get into the movies, and brought his version
of the “Savoy Style Lindy” with him. He
started teaching this version and soon everyone on the West Coast was doing it. Then, with some success in Hollywood, Dean
showed it to the rest of world. This
style of dance came to be known as West Cost Swing, and the milder version of
the Jitterbug that the dance associations created then came to be known as East
Coast Swing.
The popular movie “Swing Kids” showed
how swing dancing became popular around the World during War II. This highlights the reoccurring trend that
during times of war wild dance forms are adopted. During the First World War there was a dance revolution with dances like the Grizzly Bear that lead to the invention of
Charleston in the twenties. Then again, with the Second World War wild forms of
Swing gained popularity around the world.
Further, around the onset of the Vietnam War many of the young
generation of the 1960's rebelled. This
caused the style of dance to changed to an extreme style in which partners were
couples only in name and each allowed his or her body to dance directly to the
sounds, lights and strobes. In this
way, swing that we know of today seams to be a product of the two World
Wars. World War I brought about the
“Roaring Twenties” lifestyle from which the Charleston and the Lindy Hop
grew. Then the unrest of World War II
heightened the popularity of swing to an even greater extent.
Referring to Swing Dance, the ballroom associations
concluded that, "its devotees were victims of economic
instability". Why would they reach
such a conclusion? Did this mean that
only lower class people were engaging in Swing Dance? Obviously not, since the white dancers were paying to learn the
dance. Apparently, the ballroom
associations must have been hinting at the dancers loose spending habits that
lead to the Great Depression. Also, since
Lindy was a dance that came from street social dancers, it may well have been
the preferred dance form of the lower class.
This would have helped the Lindy to survive the Great Depression, since
no expensive ballrooms would have been necessary for street dancing.
At the present time we swing dance
to a variety of music, but before the end of the swing era in about 1945 the
music form from which it derived its name accompanied the dance. Louis
Armstrong’s rhythmic feeling was a rare combination of tension and relaxation
that inspired the word swing. Duke
Ellington and Benny Goodman then had a role in developing the Big Band sound of
swing. The increased freedom to
improvise with a big band allowed the dancers to feel free to dance as they
pleased. The carefree attitude of the
twenties continued to show up in Swing dancers of latter generations.
The
quick music and dance of Swing attracted a young and energetic crowd. Just as young people searching for social
connections took to energetic dances in closed dance position like polka in the
1800’s. Young people continued to use
Swing for the same reason though the years.
Though, couple dancing lost popularity in the 60’s and Swing temporarily
took a back seat to dances like the Twist, swing dancing continues to be a
popular social activity among energetic dancers in our new millennium.
Sources
http://www.dancedancedance.com/histswing.htm
http://www.streetswing.com/histmain.htm
http://www.swingsouthflorida.com/historyswing.htm