"The basic answer is that it is one of the most exciting dances created in the 20th century ... The Lindy emerged in 1927, as the style of dance that complemented early swing music (that is big band jazz) in Harlem, New York City and other city areas where African Americans lived. The name is said to commemorate Charles Lindbergh’s first solo flight across the Atlantic of that year. In 1935 it was drawn into Benny Goodman’s swing craze and renamed the Jitterbug. In the 1950’s a simpler version became known as Rock’n’Roll/Jive in Europe, whilst keeping the names Jitterbug and Lindy in the USA. Recently the term "Swing Dance" has replaced them in the US, but not elsewhere.

"The Lindy Hop is not just a single dance form. It grew out of the Charleston and it developed into other dance forms after the Big Band swing music era was finished. Dance steps are not forgotten they are reworked into something else by using different rhythms. The Charleston roots of the Lindy can still be detected in a number of steps which bear the name of that early 1920’s dance craze. The Charleston. the Lindy Hop, the Jitterbug and many different types of Jazz Tap along with many other dances are part of the US Authentic Jazz Dance tradition which was an integral part of the development of jazz during the first half of the 20th century."

There is a hugh resurgence of Lindy/swing in the US, especially in California, and in the UK and Sweden. Many young people are learning the dance and going to clubs playing swing music.

One of the aims of Swingin’ in Melbourne is to foster the establishment of a Lindy/swing scene here, similar to that in LA.

For further background, the following links are useful:

http://dancing.org/lindy-what-is.html

http://www.totalswing.com/articles/frlhop.htm

http://www.jitterbuzz.com/lindyhop.html

http://www.savoystyle.com/frankie_manning.html

 

 

Last updated 13 January 1999