World Lindy Hop Day 2024 is on Sunday, May 26, 2024: Difference between Ballroom dance, Lindy Hop, and Swing dance? ?

Sunday, May 26, 2024 is World Lindy Hop Day 2024. World Lindy Hop Day World Lindy Hop Day welcomes

Ballroom Dances are formalized social partner dances. This includes dances like Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, etc.

East Coast Swing is a formal Ballroom Dance, but it's not the original form of swing dancing. Lindy Hop is the original and is NOT considered a formal Ballroom Dance.

Regarding the "6 count step", the steps you do right and left are actually 2 counts. So you were doing, "Slow, Slow, Rock, Step" or "(1,2), (3,4), 5, 6" in time with the music. This is Single Step East Coast Swing, and it's the easiest form of swing dancing, but you should really find an instructor that will teach you Triple-Step East Coast Swing. The triple step is a little harder, but it's syncopated, which is meant to coincide with a swing rhythm.

Here's how to dance it:

You'll want to learn some basic moves like Inside Turn, Outside Turn, Cuddle or Sweetheart, etc.

After you've mastered the basics of East Coast Swing, then you'll be able to move on to Lindy Hop which is a lot more difficult. It's an 8 count dance that can have different variations. The dance developed out of Partner Charleston in the 1920s in Harlem, and is the granddaddy of all forms of swing dancing.

Here's how to dance it:

n addition you should learn other swing type dances like Charleston, Balboa and Collegiate Shag.

If you are looking to get into lindy hop, you need to find your local swing dance scene! Try searching you City/State on this website:

There are a few free instructional videos on YouTube and Google Video you can search for, but I find the best online resource is:

They have some free lessons, but most you have to pay for . . . don't worry, it's only a $1 per video, so that's pretty cheap! (Try searching "idance" on youtube and googlevideo to see free lessons they've posted.)

You can also find out what's going on in the world of swing dancing, by visiting the National Swing Forum at:

If you want a little inspiration about swing dancing, check out this video (It's from a professional Lindy Hop competition):

Where and how did swing dancing originate?

If you want to know about swing dancing, you need to learn about the Lindy Hop (the original swing dance).

The Charleston was all the rage during the mid/late 1920s and is known as a solo dance; however, it was also danced as a partner dance. Lindy Hop developed out of Partnered Charleston in the late 1920's in Harlem. The name comes from Charles Lindbergh who "hopped" across the Atlantic in his famous flight in 1927. What made Lindy Hop different from Charleston is that it consisted of a circular moment and a break-away. The combination of these two movements is what makes up the heart and soul of swing dancing.

As swing/jazz music became more and more popular, the most amazing place to go in Harlem in the 1930s was The Savoy Ballroom, also known as "The Home of Happy Feet", where the best swing dancers would rub elbows with celebrities that would come and watch them dance. The best dancer of this time was "Shorty" George Snowden who is rumored to have come up with the name Lindy Hop. He danced with a girl significantly taller than himself, named Big Bea, and their signature move was their finale to their dance act where she would pick him up on her back and he would kick his feet and she walked off stage.

An up and coming dancer named Frankie Manning was inspired by this move, and came up with the idea of doing something similar, where he would pick up his partner on his back, but lean forward and let the girl roll over his back and land in front of him. He called this move an "Air Step" (today most people call them aerials). They practiced this move in private, and eventually got the opportunity to compete against Shorty and Bea in a dance contest at the Savoy. Frankie and his partner pulled off this new "air step" wowing the crowd and winning the contest. After that the flood gates opened up and many dancers started coming up with new "air steps" to use in contests and performances.

Around this same time all of this was going on, a bouncer at the Savoy named George White ended up putting a swing dance troupe together featuring the best dancers from the Savoy. He called the troupe by many different names but are now generally referred to as "Whitey's Lindy Hoppers". They performed at many public locations like the World Fair, the Cotton Club, and eventually appeared in movies.

Also around this time, a dancer by the name of Dean Collins (who was white), learned the Lindy Hop at the Savoy, and at the age of 17, moved to Hollywood to try and make a name for himself. He brought Lindy Hop to the west coast and was featured in more movies than any swing dancer of the era. He was also influential in bringing the dance more broadly to whites. His smooth style of Lindy Hop eventually evolved into what is know as West Coast Swing.

Significant Dancers of the Day:

"Shorty" George Snowden, credited with giving Lindy Hop it's name and possibly creating it.

Franky Manning, credited with creating the first "air step" (aerial) in swing dancing, and one of the most influential persons for the reappearance of swing dancing in the 80s and 90s.

Dean Collins, credited with bringing Lindy Hop to the west coast, and adapting his style of dance to be in a slot to make it easier to film, which eventually lead to the creation of "West Coast Swing" the official state dance of California.

Significant movies featuring swing dancing as it evolved over time:

After Seben (1929) - First movie featuring Partnered Charleston and early Lindy Hop (Shorty George is the third lead to dance).

Ask Uncle Sol (1937) - Movie featuring Shorty George and Big Bea, where they do a move that inspired Frankie Manning's first air step:

Day at the Races (1937) - First movie featuring Whitey's Lindy Hoppers

Buck Privates (1941) - Abbot and Costello Movie, featuring Dean Collins

Hellzapoppin' (1941) - Considered the greatest swing routine ever captured on film. Performed by Whitey's Lindy Hoppers and Choreographed by Frankie Manning (Frankie is the fourth lead to dance).

Chool Song (1942) - Funny soundie featuring Dean Collins.

Groovie Movie (1944) - A short about swing/jitterbug/lindy hop.

Don't Knock the Rock (1956) - Rock n' Roll era movie featuring Lindy Hoppers, including a lot of dancers that learned from Dean Collins (and shows how Lindy Hop was beginning to evolve into West Coast Swing).

Suggested Books:

Frankie Manning's Autobiography, "Ambasador of the Lindy Hop", available on Amazon.

Norma Miller's Autobiography, "Stompin at the Savoy", available on Amazon.

Anyways, I hope that helps!

This website has a lot of useful info

Swing Dancing Lessons and Such?

Well first off, if you want to learn real swing dancing from the 30's and 40's, then AVOID BALLROOM STUDIOS. Ballroom actually looks down on the dance of the swing era . . . Lindy Hop!

Lindy Hop is the father of all swing dancing. It was developed out of partner charleston in the late 1920's in Harlem, and eventually became the dance craze that lasted through the 1950s, and was revitalized in the 1990s . . . and is still going on today!

Now Lindy Hop is kind of hard, so your not going to learn how to dance it right away. To start you off, you'll learn East Coast Swing. East Coast Swing is a ballroom dance that was created out of Foxtrot in the 1940s by ballroom associations to compete/simplify what jitterbugs were dancing at the time (i.e. Lindy Hop), and made it easier for begginer's to learn to dance!

East Coast Swing is a formal Ballroom Dance, so it's easier to find an instructor, but I recommend you learn from a Lindy Hop instructor.

The basic is a "6 count step", the steps you do right and left are actually 2 counts. So you were doing, "Slow, Slow, Rock, Step" or "(1,2), (3,4), 5, 6" in time with the music. This is Single Step East Coast Swing, and it's the easiest form of swing dancing, but you should really find an instructor that will teach you Triple-Step East Coast Swing. The triple step is a little harder, but it's syncopated, which is meant to coincide with a swing rhythm.

Here's how to dance it:

You'll want to learn some basic moves like Inside Turn, Outside Turn, Cuddle or Sweetheart, etc.

After you've mastered the basics of East Coast Swing, then you'll be able to move on to Lindy Hop which is a lot more difficult. It's an 8 count dance that can have different variations. The main focus of the dance is the circular breakaway, which is referred to as a "swing out" (hence the swing in swing dancing).

Here's how to dance it:

In addition you should learn other swing type dances like Charleston, Balboa and Collegiate Shag.

Now, to get into lindy hop, you need to find your local swing dance scene! Try searching you City/State on this website:

You can also Google "Lindy Hop" and your City/State.

There are a few free instructional videos on YouTube and Google Video you can search for, but I find the best online resource is:

They have some free lessons, but most you have to pay for . . . don't worry, it's only a $1 per video, so that's pretty cheap! (Try searching "idance" on youtube and googlevideo to see free lessons they've posted.)

You can also find out what's going on in the world of swing dancing, by visiting the National Swing Forum at:

If you want a little inspiration about swing dancing, check out this video (It's from a professional Lindy Hop competition):

Anyways, I hope that helps!