History of Swing Dancing The history of swing dates back to the 1920's, where the black community, while dancing to contemporary Jazz music, discoered the !harleston and the "indy #op$ %n &arch 2, 192, the (aoy )allroom opened its doors in *ew +ork$ The (aoy was an immediate success with its blocklong dance floor and a raised double bandstand$ *ightly dancing attracted most of the best dancers in the *ew +ork area$ (timulated by the presence of great dancers and the best black bands, music at the (aoy was largely (winging Jazz$ %ne eening in 192-, following following "indbergh' "indbergh'ss flight to .aris, .aris, a local dance enthusiast enthusiast named "Shorty George" Snowden was watching some of the dancing couples$ / newspaper reporter asked him what dance they were doing, and it ust so happened that there was a newspaper with an article about "indbergh's flight sitting on the bench net to them$ The title of the article read, "indy #ops The /tlantic, and 3eorge ust sort of read that and said, "indy #op and the name stuck$ 4n the mid 1950's, a bouncy si beat ariant was named the Jitterbug by the band leader Cab Calloway when ". he introduced a tune in 1956 entitled " Jitterbug ". 7ith the discoery of the Lindy Hop and the Jitterbug, the communities began dancing to the contemporary Jazz and (wing music as it was eoling at the time, with Benny Goodman leading the action$ 8ancers soon incorporated tap and a!! steps into their dancing$ 4n the mid 1950's, Herbert hite, head bouncer in the *ew +ork !ity (aoy )allroom, formed a "indy #op hitey#s Lindy Hoppers$ %ne of the danc dancee troup troupee call called ed hitey#s the most most import importan antt memb member erss of hitey#s Lindy Hoppers was was $ran%ie &anning$ The The "Hoppers" were showcased in the following following films "' Day at the (aces" :195-;, "Hell!apoppin" :1961;, "Sugar Hill &as)uerade" :1962;, and "*iller Diller" :196<;$ 4n 195<, 195<, the the Har+est &oon Ball included "indy #op and Jitterbug competition for the first time$ 4t was captured captured on film and presented presented for eeryone to see in the ,aramount, ,athe, and -ni+ersal moie newsreels between 195< and 19=1$ 4n early 195<, Dean Collins arried in #ollywood$ #e learned to dance the "indy #op, Jitterbug, "indy and (wing in *ew +ork !ity and spent a lot of time in Harlem and the Sa+oy Ballroom$ )etween 1961 and 190, !ollins danced in, or helped choreograph oer // mo+ies which proided at least a 50 second clip of some of the best !alifornia white dancers performing Lindy Hop0 Jitterbug0 Lindy and Swing. 4n the late 1950's and through the 1960's, the terms "indy #op, Jitterbug, "indy, and (wing were used interchangeably by the news media to describe the same style of dancing taking place on the streets, in the night clubs, in contests, and in the moies$ )y the end of 195, the "indy was sweeping the >nited (tates$ /s might be epected, the first reaction of most dancing teachers to the "indy was a chilly negatie$ 4n 195 ,hilip 1utl, president of the /merican (ociety of Teachers Teachers of 8ancing, epressed epressed the opinion opinion that swing would not last beyond the winter$ winter$ 4n 195< Donald Grant, president of the 8ance Teachers' )usiness /ssociation, said that swing music "is a degenerated form of a!!0 whose deotees are the unfortunate ictims of economic instability$ instability$ 4n 1962 members of the *ew +ork +ork (ociety of Teachers of 8ancing were told that the itterbug :a direct descendent of the "indy #op;, could no longer be ignored$ 4ts "ca+ortings" could be refined to suit a crowded dance floor$ The dance schools such as The *ew +ork (ociety of Teachers and 'rthur &urray, did not formally begin documenting or teaching the "indy #op, Jitterbug, "indy, and (wing until the early 1960's$ The ballroom dance
community was more interested in teaching the foreign dances such as the 'rgentine 2ango, Spanish ,aso Dobl3, Bra!ilian Samba, ,uerto (ican &erengue, Cuban &ambo and Cha Cha, 4nglish 5uic%step, 'ustrian alt!, with an occasional 'merican $o67trot and ,eabody. 4n the early 1960's the 'rthur &urray studios looked at what was being done on the dance floors in each city and directed their teachers to teach what was being danced in their respectie cities$ /s a result, the /rthur &urray (tudios taught different styles of undocumented (wing in each city$ 4n the early 1960's, Laur3 Haile, as a swing dancer and competitor, documented what she saw being danced by the white community$ /t that time, Dean Collins was leading the action with "enny (mith and "ou (outhern in the night clubs and competitions in (outhern !alifornia$ Laur3 Haile gae it the name of Western Swing $ (he began teaching for 'rthur &urray in 196=$ Dean Collins taught 'rthur &urray teachers in #ollywood and (an ?rancisco in the late 1960's and early 19=0's$ /fter the late 1960's, the soldiers and sailors returned from oerseas and continued to dance in and around their military bases$ Jitterbug was danced to !ountry7estern music in !ountry 7estern bars, and popularized in the 19<0's$ /s the music changed between the 1920's and 1990's, 8Ja!!0 Swing0 Bop0 (oc% #n# (oll0 (hythm 9 Blues0 Disco0 Country:, the "indy #op, Jitterbug, "indy, and (wing eoled across the >$($ with many regional styles$ The late 1960's brought forth many dances that eoled from @hythm A )lues music the #ouston .ush and 8allas whip :Teas;, the 4mperial (wing :(t$ "ouis;, the 8$!$ #and 8ancing :7ashington;, and the !arolina (hag :!arolinas and *orfolk; were ust a few$ 4n ;< Laur3 Haile first published her dance notes as a syllabus, which included 7estern (wing for the (anta &onica /rthur &urray 8ance (tudio$ 4n the =0's she presented her syllabus in workshops across the >$($ for the /rthur &urray (tudios$ The original "aurB #aile /rthur &urray 7estern (wing (yllabus has been taught by /rthur &urray studios with only minor reisions for the past 66 years$ ?rom the mid 1960's to today, the "indy #op, Jitterbug, "indy, and (wing, were stripped down and distilled by the ballroom dance studio teachers in order to adapt what they were teaching to the less nimblefooted general public who paid for dance lessons$ /s a result, the ballroom dance studios bred and deeloped a ballroom 4ast Coast Swing and ballroom est Coast Swing$ 4n the late 19=0's, teleision brought "'merican Bandstand"0 "2he Buddy Dean Show" and other programs to the teenage audiences$ The teenagers were rocking with 4l+is ,resley0 Little (ichard0 and Chuc% Berry leading the fray$ 4n 19=9, some of the !alifornia dance organizations, with (kippy )lair setting the pace, changed the name of 7estern (wing to 7est !oast (wing so it would not be confused with country and western dancing$ 4n the 1990's, dancers oer 0 years of age still moing their "indy #oppin', Jitterbuggin', (wingin', and (haggin' feet$
Swing Styles Sa+oy Swing a style of (wing popular in the *ew +ork (aoy )allroom in the 50's and 60's originally danced to (wing music$ The (aoy style of swing is a ery fast, umpy, casuallooking style of dancing$ Lindy style is a smootherlooking dance$ est Coast Swing a style of (wing emphasizing nimble feet popular in !alifornia night clubs in the 50's and 60's and oted the !alifornia (tate 8ance in 19<9$ hip a style of (wing popular in #ouston, Teas, emphasizing moes spinning the follower between dance positions with a wae rhythm break$ ,ush a style of swing popular in 8allas, Teas, emphasizing moes spinning the follower between dance positions with a rock rhythm break$ Supreme Swing a style of (wing popular in Tulsa, %klahoma$ =mperial Swing a style of (wing popular in (t$ "ouis, &issouri$ Carolina Shag: a style of (wing popular in the !arolinas emphasizing the leader's nimble feet$ DC Hand Dancing a 7ashington, 8! synthesis of "indy and (wing$ 4ast Coast Swing a count style of "indy popular in the ballroom dance school organizations$ Ballroom est Coast Swing a style of swing popular in the ballroom dance school organizations and different from the style performed in the !alifornia night clubs and (wing dance clubs$ Country7estern Swing a style of Jitterbug popularized during the 19<0's and danced to !ountry and 7estern music$ Caun Swing a "ouisiana )ayou style of "indy danced to !aun music$ ,ony Swing a !ountry 7estern style of !aun (wing$ Ji+e the 4nternational (tyle ersion of the dance is called Jie, and it is danced competitiely in the >( and all oer the world$
