Origins
Imagine the scene: a new club opens up in downtown Harlem, New York City.
The club is so huge it takes up an entire block. There are two stages at the venue,
one at the north end, the other at the south end. That's how big the dance floor is -
huge enough to hold 5,000 dancers.
The best bands come and play to a packed audience all night long. If the bands fail
to please the crowd, they don't get a second gig.
The audience are a bunch of kids who dance wildly and energetically to all the latest
tunes. They improvise their own dances and inspire one another to create ever more
wild moves.
There is panic in some quarters - fear that the youth of today is being corrupted -
that the moral fabric of society is being eroded, and that the kids are out of
control. The year is 1926, the age of the Roaring Twenties and all that jazz.
The Savoy Ballroom, Harlem, had opened and soon became a magnet for the young, mainly
black, Americans.
Frankie Manning recalls how the outrageous Charleston was being banned, as in other
dance clubs. To get around this setback, the dancers developed a partner dance, a
running Charleston. This evolved into a breathtaking dance which was to be christened
the Lindy Hop
(after press headlines about Charles Lindbergh hopping across the Atlantic). New
steps evolved each night and the dance style refined, although never losing its
immediacy and excitement.
Almost a decade later, the swing era and the Lindy Hop literally soared to new
heights. Dance competitions had remained popular since the 1920's. In 1935 there was
a legendary contest - almost a showdown, between Frankie Manning partnered by
Freda Washington and the hugely popular Shorty George Snowden partnered by Big Bea.
The astonished crowd of 2,000 witnessed the first Lindy air step ever done. Freda
Washington soared over Frankie's back and landed safely continuing their routine. The
atmosphere was electric and the crowd applauded like never before. Needless to say
Manning and his partner won the competition. The Lindy Hop had literally been
catapulted into a new era.
Herbert 'Whitey' White, an African American with a distinctive white streak in his
hair, organised a group of dancers into a professional performance troupe. Known as
Herbert 'Whitey' White Whitey's Lindy Hoppers and choreographed by Frankie Manning, they
toured the U.S. and the globe for the next five years, popularising Lindy Hop
worldwide until the outbreak of war. Whitey's Lindy Hoppers disbanded after World War
II but the Lindy Hop dance continued in the form of Manning's Congaroo Dancers. They
enjoyed continuing success appearing with their swing contemporaries like Ella
Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Sammy Davis Jr, and Dean Martin.
By 1954 the mass popularity of the swing era was coming to a close. A new youth
culture was emerging and would provoke a similar outcry to that of 1926. Lindy Hop
had survived from 1926 to 1954, continually re-inventing itself. A phenomenon that
spanned almost 30 years, capturing generations of young people from the roaring
twenties to the big band swing era, was destined not to die.
Since the mid 1980's the Lindy Hop has been re-emerging across the globe once more.
Amazingly Frankie Manning has had a second incarnation, celebrating his 90th birthday
in 2004, and continuing to teach and inspire a new generation to Lindy Hop.
[Afternote - Frankie Manning died 27th April, 2009]
If you feel that it ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it, the Lindy Hop
could be the dance for you.
We can't promise you the Savoy Ballroom, but every Thursday, at the Far Cotton Working
Mens' Club, Main Road, Far Cotton, Northampton, NN4 8EN we learn original Lindy Hop steps.
Come and learn this invigorating partner dance in a friendly atmosphere. Our class
attracts people from all backgrounds and our beginners' class is designed for those
with no Lindy Hop experience.
Each week our charismatic teacher, Geof Connolly, inspires us to tackle new moves in
a fun way. Come alone or with a partner. A dance partner is not essential as we all
rotate. By the end of the lesson you will have danced with everyone in the
class.
Remember, it don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing!
Anna Richardson
January, 2005