The term Swing Dance, also Jazz Dance, refers commonly to the dances of the swing era, which had its peak in the 30s and 40s, in Harlem, New York. Swing Dances are African American art forms, which are rooted in Black Culture and developed in times of oppression of people of color. It tells the story of people who survived in such times.
There are a lot of swing dances that developed, evolved, intertwined and drifted apart again over time. In the descriptions below, we present the main danceforms, which we currently dance in our scene.
LINDY HOP couple dance
Lindy Hop is a couple dance with its origin in the 30’s and 40’s Harlem, New York. It was born on the streets of Harlem and its life is very intertwined with the one of the Savoy Ballroom. The name “Lindy Hop” was inspired by Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic solo airplane hop in 1927.
Lindy Hop developed from and along with the Swing music (one genre within jazz). Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford and Chick Webb are good examples of Big Bands from the 30’s and 40’s that played truly swinging jazz.
Lindy Hop is often referred to as a fast dance with a lot of kicks and acrobatics. Surely this is one side of the dance and this is often what we see in movies, clips and shows. But it is danced to all kinds of tempos, including slow music. Lindy Hop is a simple dance in its basic structure but can also get very advanced when learning the rhythmical language of jazz and improvisation. Its core is improvisation – you play, you improvise, you communicate with your dance partner and develop your musicality and rhythms. It is mostly characterized by a breakaway move, known as the “Swing-Out”, where the lead sends the follow out of closed position and allows both of them to improvise solo steps.
Lindy Hop is suitable for everyone, since everyone can adapt it to their own personality.
Some videos:
Listen to Frankie Manning, one of the most influential dancers and the man that has had a crucial impact on Lindy Hop. He was a leader and choreographer for Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers.
a bit of current day lindyhop!
SOLO JAZZ
Solo Jazz, or Authentic Jazz, grew concurrently with early jazz music. As much as Lindy Hop, it comes from African American Culture. Used loosely, it describes all dance styles that were invented to accompany jazz music, including partnered styles, but nowadays it is used to describe the purely solo dance styles that grew in the 1920s and 30s.
A number of classic routines have survived the decades more or less intact, but authentic jazz is a repertoire of steps, derived mainly from tap, African dance, Charleston. New steps have been invented since that time, retaining the vintage styling to differentiate them from modern jazz dance. However, what makes Solo Jazz authentic is the personal interpretation of the dancer: personal interpretation, improvisation and variations of the steps and of the body movements, together with the individual expression of the music, are characteristic elements of this dance.
Solo jazz is a lot of fun, and very expressive – you can let loose without worrying about a partner! It is also great for your partnered dancing as it improves rhythm, musicality, styling and understanding of jazz structure.
Some famous choreographies include the Shim Sham, the Tranky Doo and the Big Apple.
BLUES couple dance
Blues dancing evolved from Blues music (which preceded swing music). Like Lindy Hop, it finds its roots in the African American culture of the early twentieth century. Originally it was not danced in public spaces, but rather in jukejoints or at private house parties. Blues dancing thrives on expressing feelings through dancing, moving to the music and improvising. It can help a dancer to appreciate dancing to slow music, with simple movements, how to stay connected to the partner and to the ground, how to lead and follow efficiently using the whole body rather than just the arms.
This dance is even more connected to the music, to an extent where the dancer becomes one with the music. This dance can also be danced solo.
Some videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQc2GrKe-Kk&t=18s
TAP solo dance
Tap dancing is a dance where a performer creates a staccato beat by tapping with his shoes while dancing. This dance was incorporated into many dance routines in Hollywood movies from the Swing era, including classics such as Singing in the Rain. There are two major types of tap dancing: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap dancing. The latter focuses on the dancing, the former more on the musicality. Tap dancing influenced a lot of Lindy Hop moves (for example, there is a tap version of the famous Lindy Hop routine, the Shim Sham). The focus on rhythm of Tap dancing and the strong interdependencies between Lindy Hop and Tap dance make Tap dancing a valuable addition to any Swing dancer’s repertoire.