It focuses on connection, musicality, and rhythmical variations between the two dancers and is a dance that encourages creativity, improvisation, and joy through conversation between the dancers and the music.
The Lindy Hop originated in the 1920s among African Americans in Harlem, New York City. It is deeply rooted in African-American culture and closely connected with the development of jazz music. Lindy Hop takes inspiration from other dance types like solo jazz dance, charleston, and tap.
For people of colour, the dance was not only a leisure and entertainment, but a way of free self-expression in a racist society. The Savoy ballroom in Harlem (the only racially integrated dance hall at that time) was a popular spot for the dance during the 1930s and 1940s with live music from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald. To name just a few famous Lindy Hoppers of that generation: George ‘Shorty’ Snowden, Frankie Manning, Al Minns, Pepsi Bethel, Leon James, and Norma Miller.
The dance became famous due to the performances of the Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers troupe and their appearance in the Hollywood production (check ‘Hellzappopin’ or ‘A Day on the Races’). It is important to note that the black dancers are presented as servants there, segregated from the main characters, and the scenes were montaged in a way to make it possible to cut them for screening in the South of the US.
The dance was appropriated by white youth and became an ‘American national dance’ and a huge craze. After the Big Bands Era had ended, the dance also gave way to other types of social dances. However, it has been experiencing a big revival since the early 1990s, with events and festivals worldwide every weekend.