Swing Dance Classes

Birthplace: Harlem, New York City

Creation date: 1926

Creator: Dancers at Savoy Ballroom

Dance type: American Rhythm

The history of swing dancing dates back to the 1920's in New York City's Harlem. The Savoy Ballroom opened its doors in 1926 and was an instant success. The featured music was swinging jazz, some of the best dancers of the day were improvising to this lively music introducing new styles and patterns of couples dancing. One new style was named the Lindy Hop, referring to Charles Lindberg's famous flight from New York to Paris.

During this decade, a swing troupe called "Whitey's Lindy Hoppers" was formed and they were featured in several motion pictures. This fanned the flames of Lindy Hopp popularity even higher. The first contest was filmed and presented in the newsreels by Paramount pictures.

This new dance spread popularity, and variations emerged on dance floors across the nation. Each region of the country was dancing its own variation. Arthur Murray Studios instructed their studios to find out what style was being danced in their city, and then to teach that particular style in their classes. Most of these variations were named after the region where they originated, such as Carolina Shag, The D.C. Hand Dance, and the Houston push.

The Lindy hop and the other regional dances were eventually all referred to as The name swing is still an umbrella term for a wide variety of dances. Some of the dances that fall under the swing title are Jive, Shag, Lindy, Balboa, East Coast Swing, and West Coast Swing. Swing clubs are popular on many campuses and cities across the United States.

This work is credited to BYU-Idaho dance book 2006.

These are some swing dance songs. If you want to use up all of your energy that you have dancing, then this playlist will do it. All the songs are fast and lots of fun. They are geared twards a modern swing dance crowd, I will be posting a big bang swing list in the future. I will also also make a list for those in a swing dance club enviroment.

Call Kevin Hunter 208-870-6737 EMail: captindanceman@yahoo.com