Early 1920's:
The "Roaring 20's" were given such a name for a good reason. For the first time in history women were voting and smoking cigarettes. Women also cut their long tresses into a short bob hairdo, and began dancing the Charleston in the local Speakeasies. The name "Charleston" originated in Charleston, South Carolina. In the beginning, this dance was considered scandalous and irreverent. The 1920's were the prohibition period and to enter the speakeasies you needed to know the secret password. This is where you could see the flapper girls performing the Charleston. However, the Charleston was short lived due to its controversy, and so it evolved with kicks and hops and more and more people began to pair up doing side by side movements.

American jazz music was a major influence to social dance. The early jazz sounds originated as a result of Irish and African-American music forms, much of which originated from the Louisiana bayous and New Orleans. Harry Fox fashioned a dance called the fox trot in 1912, which led to the development of the Charleston in the Roaring 1920's. The music evolved into swing jazz during the 1930's, and attracted big bands, large dance halls, AND ... swing dancers.

Lindy Hop is a joyful dance, with a solid, flowing style that closely reflects its music -- from the late 20's hot Jazz to the early 40's Big Bands. Just as Jazz combines European and African musical origins, Lindy Hop draws on African and European dance traditions. The embracing hold, and the turns from Europe, the breakaway and solid, earthy body posture from Africa. The dance evolved out of the Charleston and other popular dances of the era (Collegiate, Breakaway and the Black Bottom). Lindy Hop is a social dance. Partners are connected smoothly and gently to each other, while relating closely to the music, in feeling, improvisation and phrasing. The core tempo range is 120-180 beats per minute. Before the Lindy Hop, partners danced in the European style of ballroom dancing or they danced the Charleston, both of which required them to dance arm in arm continuously. The Lindy Hop was the first social dance to allow partners to separate for periods and dance independently.

Late 1920's:
In the late 1920's in Harlem, Lindy Hop was breaking out wherever people were partying. But it wasn't until the opening of the Savoy Ballroom that Lindy Hop got its name and a home. At the Savoy, the Lindy Hop got hotter and hotter, as people (including the late Malcolm X and friends) danced to the top Big Bands. The dancers created new steps for the dance. Popular Saturday night competitions at the Savoy and Apollo pushed good dancers to greatness. As it is often said, a young dancer named Frankie "Musclehead" Manning created the first airsteps (aerials), and the Lindy Hop "soared."

The Lindy styling was so refined and executed so well that the dance was a joy to watch as well as do. As a performance art, the Lindy involved ensemble dancing, choreographed routines and acrobatic air steps. Lindy Hop may also live up to its name from the amount of time that dancers spend airborne, seemingly flying all over the floor. It has been sometimes said that "the dancers spend more time in the air than Lindbergh himself." Far from being just acrobatic antics, aerials are in fact smooth, extremely precise, and perfectly in synch with the music. They require a superb degree of expertise and are usually not danced socially, but only for performance, if only inside a protective ring of spectators, as in the Cats' Corner jams at the Savoy Ballroom.

Despite the name "Lindy Hop", the dance has no "hop" in it. On the contrary, it is smooth and solid, and while there is a constant rhythmic 8-count "pulse" that you feel in your bones, there is no hopping, bopping, or prancing in the dance. The Savoy style Lindy Hop, as taught by Frankie Manning and Steven Mitchell, has the lightest, gentlest, and smoothest connection of all the common swing dances. It is solid, low, relaxed and energetic.

1930's:
In the mid 1930's, as the swing music of Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford and Lionel Hampton embraced the nation, the lindy hop became the rage of the young generation. The 1920's dance bands and smaller jazz ensembles slowly changed into larger big bands, with a large brass sound. The combination of swing music’s popularity and the talented dancers moved the lindy from ballroom to the stage and screen. A bouncer at the Savoy, Herbert "Whitey" White began organizing professional lindy hop dance troupes in 1935. Generally known as "Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers", his various groups toured the globe until World War II, performing in various diverse locations, including Broadway and in several films (including the Marx Brothers’ "A Day at the Races" and "Hellzapopin"). These exceptional dancers included Frankie Manning and Norma Miller, both who are still alive and still teaching around the world today. Other members of the troupe included Willamae Ricker, Leon James, and Al Minns. The term "swing" became associated with the Lindy Hop as Big Band Swing came into popularity. In 1943, Life magazine featured a cover story on the lindy hop proclaiming it "America’s national dance" and the country’s "only native and original dance form" along with tap dance.

1940's:
The 1940's brought war time. People were very patriotic. The Big Band Era had arrived and it was exciting. Some of the biggest bands included Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw and Harry James. These Big Bands traveled all over the United States. Audiences would follow the adventures of their favorite band in newspapers and magazines. Some bands also took up residences in the larger hotel lounges and ballrooms, broadcasting from those locations on national network radio. Here in Hollywood, the Palladium was packed and considered "the place" to go dancing. The dance of the 40's evolved out of the Lindy Hop was called the Jitterbug, and in the later 40's also know as the West Coast Swing, when migrated out to Hollywood and other areas in California. Hollywood directors and choreographers in the movie industry wanted to fit more dancers on the floor for the camera without losing their faces with the circular movements of Jitterbug, and so the West Coast Swing was born, danced in a straight line or a slot. Swing music's popularity continued through the World War II years when ensembles toured Army and Navy camps both at home and abroad. The effects of wartime stress were eased by the live performances of the touring bands as well as the special radio shows broadcast to the armed forces.

1950's:
World War II ended in 1945, and unfortunately swing dancing and swing music declined in popularityar II, being replaced by other forms of jazz, and eventually rock-and-roll. Men came home from war, married and raised families, taking pride in their homes. Television kept people home more than ever before, except for the dancers who drove their Chevy's and Ford's to the Sock Hops where they danced to Elvis tunes all night.

1960's:
The 1960's brought in freestyle dancing where people did not touch. However, true devotees of Swing never stopped, even through the 60's when couples dancing was looked upon as being real square.

1970's:
When the 1970's rolled in, John Travolta brought back couples dancing with his movie role in Saturday Night Fever. Live Bands playing in nightclubs were replaced with DJ's and Discotheque's. The dance of the 70's and early 80's was called the Hustle, originating in New York City. The Hustle is still done today, except without the polyester suits that were stylish in that decade.

1980's:
The 1980's were anti-Disco and pro-freestyle, meaning dancing alone in front of a partner once again. But committed dancers never stopped dancing together, no matter what the media or fashion dictated. With the popularity of movies such as "Urban Cowboy", again starring John Travolta, Country Western Line dancing and music became popular in the late 80's, and into the early 1990's.

1990's:
The 1990's brought partner dancing back into popular style. Country Western Line dancing shifted towards Country Two-Step and the Waltz. Nightclub dancing is also popular again, with dances such as the Hustle, Nightclub 2-Step, and the Latin-music dances such as the Salsa, Cha-Cha, and Rhumba. Swing dance has seen a huge revival since the late 1980's. The revival has traversed the globe from the USA, England, Sweden, and Singapore; East Coast Swing (aka Jitterbug), West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, and Lindy Hop. There's even a little rivalry between East Coast Swing (more of a purer, faster Savoy Ballroom swing), and West Coast Swing Style (sultrier, slower variation of the Savoy Lindy Hop). People are now dancing to all types of music, which makes all forms of couples dancing popular. Various organizations and clubs now sponsor dances, classes, workshops, weekend festivals, products, and newsletters devoted to swing dancing. At ballrooms and dance clubs around the world, you now find the dance floor filled with twirling, jiving swing dancers showing off their best Lindy Hop steps and having a ball. No matter what your taste in music, there is a particular dance that fits your favorite tunes!

Stayed tuned in, and we'll find out what happens in the next century!!!

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