Swing

The history of Swing dates back to the 1920's, where the black community, while dancing to
contemporary Jazz music, discovered the Charleston and the Lindy Hop. On March 26, 1926,
the Savoy Ballroom opened its doors in New York. The Savoy was an immediate success with its
block-long dance floor and a raised double bandstand and the nightly dancing attracted most of
the best dancers in the New York area. Stimulated by the presence of great dancers and the
best black bands, music at the Savoy was largely Swinging Jazz. One evening in 1926, following
Lindbergh's flight to Paris, a local dance enthusiast named "Shorty George" Snowden was watching
some of the dancing couples. A newspaper reporter asked him what dance they were doing. There
was a newspaper with an article about Lindbergh's flight sitting on the bench next to them, and the title of the article read, "Lindy Hops The Atlantic." George, scratching his head, glanced down and said with a smile, "The Lindy Hop." The name stuck.

In the 1934, band leader Cab Calloway introduced a tune called "Jitterbug," a bouncy six beat variant, and named a new dance. Dancers soon incorporated tap and jazz steps into the many Swing styles.

In the late '30's, the Lindy had become increasingly popular in the United States, while receiving a cold reception from most dance teachers. In 1936 Philip Nutl, president of the American Society of Teachers of Dancing, expressed the opinion that swing would not last beyond the winter, and in 1938 Donald Grant, president of the Dance Teachers' Business Association, said that swing music "is a degenerated form of jazz, whose devotees are the unfortunate victims of economic instability." However, by 1942 members of the New York Society of Teachers of Dancing were told that the jitterbug could no longer be ignored.

In 1938, the Harvest Moon Ball included Lindy Hop and Jitterbug competition for the first time. It was captured on film and presented in movie newsreels between 1938 and 1951.

As music evolved and changed in the Twentieth Century, (Jazz to Rock, Rhythm & Blues to Disco and to Country), the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy, and Swing also evolved across the U.S. with many regional styles. In the early 1940's the Arthur Murray studios looked at what was being done on the dance floors and directed their teachers to teach what was being danced in their respective cities. As a result, Arthur Murray Studios taught many different styles of undocumented Swing in each city. In 1951 Laur� Haile first published her dance notes as a syllabus (including something she called Western Swing) for the Santa Monica Arthur Murray Dance Studio.

In the late 1950's, television brought "American Bandstand", "The Buddy Dean Show" and other programs to teenage audiences, increasing Swing's popularity. In 1959, California born Western Swing's name was "officially" changed to West Coast Swing, so it would not be confused with country and western dancing.

Today, dancers well into their sixth decades are still kicking, boppin', and Lindy Hoppin' beside both children and grandchildren, and Swing has returned to dance preeminence.

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