The History of Swing
Swing dancing is the dance of America. It was created in the United States in the early 20th century to various forms of jazz music. Both the music and the dance have clear elements of both African and European cultures and could not have been created anywhere but the US. Early forms of swing dancing were done almost entirely by blacks however the Charleston and the Lindy Hop expanded to include white dancers and lead Time magazine to call the Lindy Hop "America's Folk Dance."
The Cakewalk (Not taught by our club - Pretty much a dead dance)
This is one of the oldest of African-American dances. It was done by slaves in the plantation era. Originally the dance was designed to saterize the plantation owners. This is why you will see the very upright and elitist look of the dancers. Some of the plantation owners thought the dance was entertaining and they would have contests to see who had the best dancer. The winner would recieve a piece of cake which is how the dance got its name. This is also where the term "piece of cake" comes from.
Cakewalk Video
The Texas Tommy (Not taught by our club - Pretty much a dead dance)
Texas Tommy is where most people think lindyhop developed from. It was danced in California during the early part of the 1900s. Not much is known about the dance, but you can clearly see parts of lindyhop, balboa, and charleston in the video. This is probablly the dance that influenced almost all other swing dances.
Texas Tommy Video (No Audio)
Charleston (Taught by our club in Lindy Hop Lessons)
The Charleston is as old as 1903, but became widely popular in the 1920s. It is thought to have originated in Chareston, South Carolina thus giving the dance its name. Charleston was danced primairly to Ragtime and early Jazz music. The dance was done both as a solo dance and a partner dance. It is characterized by wild kicks and lots of energy.
Solo charleston is one of the most popular forms of charleston. In the 1920s, women doing Charleston were often refered to as "Flappers" because of the way they moved.
In the 1920s, partnered charleston begain to gain popularity. Its earliest forms had the couple facing each other while doing charleston in closed position. Later, side by side (next to eachother) and tandem (in front of one another) charleston begain appearing as charelston evolved in the 1930s.
As Lindy Hop developed, charleston stayed as a lindy variation and is still today danced by most lindy hoppers. It is very common for dancers to switch fluidly between lindy hop and charleston throughout a dance.
Historical Solo Charleston Video
Modern Solo Charleston Video
Historical Partnered Charleston Video
Modern Partnered Charleston Video
Lindy Hop (Taught by our club)
Lindy hop was born in the Savoy Ballroom in the late 1920s. It was derived from charleston dancers such as Shorty George were doing Charelston breakaways. The dance also has influence from older dancees such as the Texas Tommy.
Lindy hop became more popular at the Savoy Ballroom throughout the 1940s as dancers such as Frankie Manning and the Whitey's Lindy Hoppers Brought international fame to the dance by performing in a number of Hollywood movies.
The dance moved out West to California by the help of a dancer named Dean Collins. Dean created a style of Lindyhop today refered to as Hollywood style. While still lindyhop, this style changed the dance from circular in nature to a slotted dance with the dance being done with the follower dancing on a straight line.
First Generation Lindy Hop
Second Generation Lindy Hop Video
Modern Performance Lindy Hop Video
Modern Social Lindy Hop Video
Balboa (Occasionaly taught by our club as an elective)
Balboa was created in the 1920s and became popular in California during the 30s. The dance is a reaction to the crowded dance floor in California and therefore the dance takes up very little space. The dance has two version originating in differnt parts of California. Pure Bal is danced entirely in closed position without any spins or turns. Bal-Swing is a combination of pure Bal and swing dancing with the partners dancing in both open and closed position.
Today, pure balboa is less commong then Bal-Swing. Bal-Swing is often danced at lindy hop events and will sometimes be combined with lindyhop and charleston during the same song.
Historical Balboa Video (there is some Charelston in it)
Modern Pure Balboa Video
Modern Bal-Swing Video
Collegiate Shag (Has not been taught by our club before, but danced in many other places)
Collegiate Shag was popular in the 1920s and 30s. It is a dervitative of Shag that was popular with college students at the time. The dance is characterized by kicks and hops.
Historical Collegiate Shag Video (The end is a comedy)
Modern Collegiate Shag Video (Balboa is in routine also)
West Coast Swing (Occasionally taught by our club as an elective)
West Coast swing developed out of Hollywood style Lindyhop in California. It was originally danced to rock and roll and blues, but now it is danced to a variety of slower music. It is not uncommon to see West Coast Dancers dancing anything from classic blues to top 40 pop. Of all the types of swing dances, west coast swing is danced to the most different styles of music. West Coast Swing is characterized by sloted danced in which the follow comes forward on one.
While West Coast Swing has become its own dance, it still has a number of ties to lindy hop (similar footwork and rhythms). In some sense, the dances are just different enough to make it difficult to do both styles of dancing since you will invarible have bad habits formed from the other style of dance.
Benji & Heidi West Coast Swing Video
Ben Morris Music West Coast Swing Video
Tori Smith Music West Coast Swing Video
NOTE: This is not nor intended to be an academic site. Stories told on this page are often of myths, legends, and educated guesses passed on thoughout time by fellow swing dancers. The truth is most of this information is lost since it was not a priority to record the histories of African American dances at the turn of the century. If you are looking for historical facts, I would recomend going to the library as that will probablly be your best bet, but remember that even books on the history of swing have errors, myths, legions, and educated guesses that fill its pages. We attempt only to give a brief history of various swing dances to help our members understand the history behind the dances we do.
