So, I was acquainted with a the phrase ‘white and upright’ recently, it’s a great phrase.  How many times have we been told in class to bend our knees a bit more? I often feel that there’s a tendency to forget lindy hop’s african dance roots for and a preference for dancing it like your gran. Which is why I love the story of the Cakewalk. It’s often claimed that the Cakewalk was the first American dance to cross over from black to white society in America. But what’s best is that it’s thought to be a mockery of the ‘white and upright’ formal dancing preferred by white slave owners back in the day. Satirical dancing? Now you’re talking.

The dance was usually performed as a competition and the winners were said to receive a massive cake, hence the name Cakewalk. During the 1890s, the Cakewalk was one of America’s most popular dance styles. However its popularity died out between 1915 and the early 1920s, when it was replaced by other the Charleston and Black Bottom.

Dancing + Cake = Winning combination, time for a revival methinks.