Savoy…it’s a popular word in Lindy Hop circles. It’s a style, it’s a place, it’s a great tune by Lucky Millinder. But what is it? Well, it was a Ballroom on 596 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, New York City and one of the most popular dance venues in Harlem between the 1920s to the 1950s. It was also one of the few places where white and black Americans danced together. Of a weekend you might find yourself dancing to bandleaders such as Chick Webb, Cab Calloway, Count Basie and Duke Ellington while the dancers perfected a new style of dance that was yet to be named. Among the countless dance styles originated and developed at the Savoy were: The Flying Charleston, The Lindy Hop, The Stomp, The Big Apple, Jitterbug Jive to name but a few.
This great clip on Youtube gives you a sneaky peek inside what some people refer to as the “mother church of swing dance.” Enjoy
You can find out more about the ‘world’s most beautiful ballroom‘ here www.savoyballroom.com
Ever swung out the Muppets theme song? No? Neither have I. But after watching this clip of William and Maeva in the Lindy Shock 2010 showcase I am starting to think that I might have never lived! Watch them goof around to a sort of wierd swing/rick and roll megamix. Persoanlly, I love a good megamix. Maybe it’s my age.
So we’ve had the wonderful Xavier Shay in town recently and far be to from us to advocate shamelss product placement we just couldn’t resist telling you about this super fun I-Phone app he made. It’s called Swing Bingo. The aim is to find the right partners to help clear your board when you’re out on the social dance floor. Select Lead or Follow and away you go, all for about 1.25 of your British pounds…I am up for the challenge. How about you?
So here’s one that’s been doing the rounds lately, and with good reason! Max Pitruzzella & Annie Trudeau in the International Lindy Hop Championships 2010 ILHC Showcase. I guarantee you’ll want to watch this more than once…
We were dancing in some pretty wierd costumes at the Secret Garden Party but nothing as strange as this 1942 Soundie….Jewel McGowan and Dean Collins swinging out in wierd white wigs to a nonsense song by the Kingsmen. You got to love it.
Now I love Youtube, but if you’ve ever fancied owning some classic swing clips the Ithaca Swing Dance have three on their site for download. Grab yourself Hellzapoppin’, After Seben and Killer Diller all for free. Visit the Ithaca Swing Dance site here.
If you haven’t seen this footage, I recommend you watch it! It’s the team form Swing Patrol London compteing on the Dance Off stage at this years Secret Garden Party. Swing Dancing in a boxing ring…yes, you heard me.
Take a peek at this amazing video of Mable Lee, the sassy chanteuse and jazz dancer with the million-dollar legs! Mable is often called ‘Queen of the Soundies’ – an early version of music videos three-minute musical films, produced in New York, Chicago, and Hollywood between 1940 and 1946. If you’ve never seen a soundies have a hunt for them. There’s some great ones with Fats Waller, my personal favourites !
Anyway, after you’ve seen ‘the legs’ speed through the wooden looking white folks and straight to the jams at the end. There’s some pearlers!
I love clips like this…they remind you that dancing is just fun, done rhythmically
Mooch to your left then Mooch to the right
Hands on your hips and do the Mess Around,
Break a Leg until you’re near the ground
Now that’s the Old Black Bottom Dance
There’s few theories about where the Black Bottom came from (one of the less politically correct ones you’ll find in this video!) but Black Bottom is said to have originated in New Orleans in the early 1900s. The rhythm is based on the Charleston and in its solo form was one of the origins of modern Tap and Jazz dancing and by 1926 it had pretty much replaced the Charleston as the popular social dance.
Shorty George Snowden is widely cited as one of the top dancers at the Savoy between 1926 and the early 1930s. He formed the first professional Lindy Hop troupe, the Shorty Snowden Dancers and is widely recognised for two things; the Shorty George dance step and coning the term Lindy Hop.
His famous dance step ‘The Shorty George’ – in which his bent his knees, swinging from side to side, exaggerate his closeness to the ground- is a parody of himself and his general tininess!
George was barely five feet tall. But he didn’t let that stop him. His dance partner Big Bea was huge in contrast and paired up they were considered comic dancing phenomenon. They often ended their routines in a comic move in which she carried him off the dance floor on her back.
Take a look at this clip from 1937 which shows George and Bea dancing…
Ever swung out the Muppets theme song? No? Neither have I. But after watching this clip of William and Maeva in the Lindy Shock 2010 showcase I am starting to think that I might have never lived! Watch them goof around to a sort of wierd swing/rick and roll megamix. Persoanlly, I love a good megamix. Maybe it’s my age.
So we’ve had the wonderful Xavier Shay in town recently and far be to from us to advocate shamelss product placement we just couldn’t resist telling you about this super fun I-Phone app he made. It’s called
