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Lindy Hop
Is that the last fashion dance? In fact
this is one of the oldest Swing Dance… How come this interest for this
dance? Perhaps for the music with the greatest band like Benny Goodman
and Glenn Miller or younger like Indigo Swing or Big Bad Voodoo Daddy…
For style? Unequalled, energetic, amazing… Lindy Hop was the first
couple dance with aerials and this might explain why youth adopted it so
fast.
In fact the reason does not matter; the
only sure thing is that nobody can resist.
In a few words Lindy Hop is a swing dance
from 30s. It is a blend between African and European dances on Jazz
music danced by Black people near New Orleans. The dance then moved with
the population to Chicago and New York and on the West coast of USA. It
is only after the 2nd World War that the Lindy Hop or Jitterburg arrived
in Europe at our greatest satisfaction.
The most common way to dance Lindy hop
was called “Savoy Style”. This is the original style danced in the 30s
by Afro-American people. Then there was a white style, the Hollywood
style then with the new generation of young dancers came the “smooth
style”. A natural evolution of Lindy Hop adding and mixing the basic
moves with new dances such as Hip Hop…
You can dance on slow or fast tempos with
figures on 8 or 6.bits. This is an exuberant dance with moves close to
Charleston and small aerials. Lindy is different in its rich number of
pattern, its ability to fit to the music, the importance of
improvisation, game and communication and connexion between the dancers.
You can not talk about Lindy without
mentioning the Charleston.
Charleston is the dance which made dance
the after war European generation during of the “Année Folles” from 1918
to 1930. In fact the Charleston was born in the Charleston’s Port (South
Carolina) and brought to the north by black workers at the beginning of
20s.
Most current modern dances have their
roots in the Charleston (like Hip hop…) based on afro rhythm and on
improvisation.
Vernacular dance for Black people get
their inspiration from Jazz, Charleston or “Swing” music. You could
dance either alone, in couple or mix both. You can find in Lindy Hop a
large numbers of Charleston moves, that is why swing dancers usually
really enjoy themselves learning Charleston or Jazz roots
If you wish to learn more, we advise you
to read “This thing called swing” by Marshall Stearns
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