What is Lindy Hop?
Lindy Hop is a dance art form inspired by the Jazz, Tap, Charleston, Black Bottom and other dance traditions of the early 1900’s, inspired by the Big Band swing movement of the day. It is a partner dance that is known for its charm, elegance, raw rhythms, dynamic movement and party-like atmosphere.
Lindy Hop is a fun, improvisational, athletic, social (partner) dance that stems from the most prevalent rhythm in American music: Swing rhythm, be it in traditional Jazz or Blues, early to modern alternative Rock, or even Hip Hop and Rap music. The origins date back to the dawn of Swing music in the ballrooms and backrooms of Harlem in the 1920s and 30s. Due in large part to the Neo Swing revival of the 1990s, Lindy Hop has re-emerged and continued its development into a newly-evolved, modern social dance. In contrast to the slow, stiff ballroom dances of the European tradition like the Foxtrot or Waltz, Lindy Hop developed and is best understood as more of an American Street Dance with its own unique, athletic style of movement and form, very much like Salsa and Meringue are Latin Street Dances that eschewed the stiffness of traditional Latin Ballroom dances like Mambo and Cha-Cha. There are many different “styles” of Lindy Hop (Savoy, Dean Collins, L.A., Hollywood, Smooth, Ithaca, C
