Swing or Nothing!

Norma Miller, nicknamed the “Queen of Swing,” is one of the few remaining original Lindy Hoppers who danced in the Savoy Ballroom and NYC in the 1930s and 40s. Vivacious and spunky as ever, she currently tours the world, spreading the joy and history of Lindy Hop to new generations of swing dancers and interested audiences. Bay Area swing dancers will have a special opportunity to meet this legendary dancer and hear her stories at the end of February 2012 at the Swingin’ at the Savoy Workshop, conveniently coinciding with Black History month. This month’s Lindy 101 article provides a brief biography of Ms. Miller’s extraordinary life and experience in show business.

Born in 1919, Norma Miller’s first exposure to dancing was at her mother’s rent parties and weekend dance lessons in the Harlem district of New York. At the young age of 12, she was discovered dancing on the sidewalks outside the Savoy Ballroom by Twistmouth George. Too young to actually enter the ballroom, she had been soaking up dance steps from dancers who were coming and going, and she became expert in the Black Bottom, the Shimmy, Picking Cherries & the Shim Sham. Three years later, Herbert White invited her to join his one his elite dance group Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers as its youngest member.

Whitey had several teams of dancers, and Norma was a part of the group fortunate to travel and perform in the movies in Los Angeles. She appeared in two of the most famous recorded works by Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, the Marx Brother’s films, A Day at the Races (1937) and Hellzapoppin’ (1941). A contemporary and lifelong friend of Frankie Manning, she danced with him in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X as well as in Debbie Allen’s TV Film Stompin at the Savoy.

After Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers disbanded in the early 1940s, Norma Miller continued to make her mark on stage and screen. During the rest of the 1940s she ran Norma Miller’s Dance Company which performed at Club Alabam in L.A. During the 1950s, she performed with Billy Ricker & Michael Silver as the del Rio Trio. In the late 1950s she formed and performed with the group Norma Miller & Her Jazz Men, whose ranks included Frankie Manning’s son Chazz Young.

Norma eventually made the leap into other forms of entertainment. She performed at Red Foxx’s comedy club in the 1960s, and joined him on his 70s television show Sanford and Son. She also performed on film and television with the likes of Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby and Ella Fitzgerald.

After the passing of Al Minns in 1985 and Frankie Manning in 2009, Miller is the last member of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers remaining alive to teach, lecture and share her link to the history of swing dancing. Contrasting Frankie’s often soft spoken nature, Ms. Miller is an extremely outspoken individual and most often the life of the party. You can get a taste of her humor and spirit in this video  clip of a talk she gave in 2010 at the Cat’s Corner Swing Dance Party in San Francisco:

She has written and co-authored several books, including Swing Baby Swing which chronicles the evolution of swing dancing into the 21st century, as well as “Swingin’ at the Savoy: A Memoir of a Jazz Dancer.” Her life is featured in the documentary “Queen of Swing.”

Swinging At The Savoy The Memoir of a Jazz Dancer

Norma Miller. Temple University Press 2001, Paperback, 304 pages, $14.50

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One tell tale sign of a beginner versus an intermediate dancer is the way they each do their triple steps. Pushing off the floor,  really stretching out the timing of the first step, and then also doing cool slides with it is something that doesn’t necessarily come easy. So this month, I want to focus on exercises and styling that you can use to improve your triple steps. I found these amazing videos featuring the reknowned Dax Hock as he provides a very useful triple step exercise that all of us can practice at home- it’s quite a work out!!! If I were a Lindy doctor, I’d say to practice this exercise at home, once a day for two weeks. You’ll soon get the triple steps into your body memory and people will be amazed at your improvement.

1. Triple Steps with Dax Hock

2.   Here’s the same exercise broken down into slower portions and counted out by Joe Demers:

3. Going for the gold!!! An added challenge.

After doing the triple step exercises, challenge yourself with some “slippery footwork.” Watch this video of Peter Strom and see what he does with his triple steps! He really emphasizes the slide in his steps so that “he’s just triple-stepping while moving backwards, but each step is accompanied by sliding the other foot away into the air.  So for a left-right-left triple, the visual effect is that the right foot is sweeping out each time he steps on his left foot, almost looking like a double-kick in each direction.” (http://blackbeltlindy.john-refactored.com/). Particularly pay attention to 0:16 and after in the video. This is something you can add to your dance for that extra flourish! Good luck!

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The original Banana Girl?

Josephine Baker had a style all to her own.  Her unique aesthetic and bold choreography are still studied today as paradigms of 20s and 30s vernacular jazz movements.  Not only is she an important figure in the Swing world, but her political significance trumps many of her contemporaries. She was the first African American female to star in motion pictures and to perform at a racially integrated American Concert Hall. She aided the French resistance in WWII which won her the prestigious military award of the Croix de Guerre and she is especially noted for her contributions to the American Civil Rights movement in the 1970s.

Political clout aside, her moves were a tour de force all by themselves. Here is some essential knowledge that every swing dancer should know about Josephine Baker:

1. Signature Moves- Frenzied Charleston, leggy Knee Rocks, Camel Walk variations, etc.

Originally hailing from Missouri, this “Creole Goddess” (as the French called her) exploded onto Parisian stages in 1927. Not soon after this, she started her movie career and shot right up to became the highest paid female performer in Europe and assumed the appellation of the Most Photographed Woman in the World.  This clip is from La Revue Des Revues. See if you can pick out the signature moves mentioned above!

2. Baker’s Banana Dance is probably one of the most famous dances during that era.

Whether it’s the bananas or the way she moves with them, this dance has gone down in history and is something every dancer should know about. (Little Fact:  This performance is also noted in academia as one of the main embodiment of a euro-centric fascination for the “Exotic Other.” Hmmm…)

3. Singer and Parisian Night Club Owner”J’ai deux amours” was her biggest hit.

She also went on to own of the top jazz clubs in Paris called Chez Josephine where many of the elite nightlife went to dance and sing.

4. Exotic Clothing Style

Baker was known for her “barely there” clothing, her pet cheetah on a leash (which would consistently run into the orchestra pit, and skirts made out of feathers or bananas (of course!).

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“Shorty” George Snowden  ranks among the most famous of the original Lindy Hop dancers at the Savoy Ballroom and had a huge impact on the dance as it developed. Here are some of the noteworthy facts that every Lindy Hopper should know about Shorty George:

1) Shorty George was one of the top dancers at the Savoy Ballroom in the late 1920s through early 1930s.

He was the reigning dance champion at Savoy, until up-and-comer Frankie Manning and Frieda Washington unseated him in a dance contest in 1935 in which they introduced the first airstep to Lindy Hop.

2) He was short, barely reaching 5 feet tall, but used his small stature to great comedic effect while dancing.

His signature dance step the Shorty George, appropriately named after him, involved Shorty walking forward while tucking one knee behind the other and pointing his fingers downward, which accentuated his proximity to the floor. Indeed, the Shorty George makes an appearance in all four of the major group jazz dances of the era: the Shim Sham, Jitterbug Stroll, Big Apple and Tranky Doo.

Shorty George also put his height to use while dancing with his partner, Big Bea, who towered over him. For certain underarm turns, Shorty would literally jump so that his arms would clear Big Bea’s head! One of the duo’s classic ways to end a song was with Big Bea picking Shorty George up on her back and carrying him off!

3) He formed and led the first professional Lindy Hop dance troupe, the Shorty Snowden Dancers.

The group danced at the Paradise Club in downtown New York City throughout most of the 1930s, performing along with Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra. According to Frankie Manning, there were three teams of dancers: Madeline and Freddie Lewis, Little Bea and Leroy “Stretch” Jones, and Big Bea and Shorty Snowden. Unlike later ensemble Lindy Hop performances captured on film, such as those by Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, the Shorty Snowden dancers performed as individual couples, as if dancing in a contest or challenge dance. You can see this clearly in the clip of the Shorty Snowden dancers in the film After Seben.

4) He is credited with coining the name Lindy Hop for the new swing dance that was emerging in New York City in the late 1920s and early 30s.

According to legend, during a 1928 dance marathon in New York City, a reporter saw Shorty George break away from his partner and improvise a step in the current of the style of the Harlem dancers and asked Shorty to name the step. With newspaper headlines of Charles Lindbergh’s historic transatlantic flight (or “Hop”) at the top of people’s minds, Shorty paused a second and then responded that he was “doin’ the Hop…the Lindy Hop!”

Although some dance historians question the legend, Frankie Manning vouched for the story’s authenticity, and the following newspaper clipping seems to support the claim:

Regardless, it makes a great story!

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The Texas Tommy is hands-down (or, perhaps more accurately, hands-behind-the-back) an essential piece of Lindy Hop dance vocabulary. Among its many variations in Lindy Hop, one of its most common forms on the social dance floor is an 8-count pattern that looks like this:

Breaking it down, it’s really little more than a swingout with follower’s outside turn that has been spruced up with a slightly challenging and impressive looking hand change behind the back. Most Lindy Hoppers are familiar with some variation of this fun and flashy move – if only because a poorly executed Texas Tommy tends to awkwardly wrench a follower’s arm behind them, perhaps making a lasting impression.

What  many swing dancers do not know is that before it was co-opted into Lindy Hop, the Texas Tommy was actually a whole dance craze unto itself which included a variety of distinguishing steps and movements in addition to the signature behind-the-back hand change. Also…the Texas Tommy originated right here in San Francisco!

The dance took root in the Barbary Coast section of San Francisco, which following the 1906 earthquake had shed some of its red-light district character and had become more of a popular tourist attraction. By 1910, the Texas Tommy Swing was a hit dance at Purcell’s, a black cabaret. The Fairmont Hotel, which was a major place for dancing at the time, had a house band that often played the titular song Texas Tommy Swing, and help to popularize and legitimize the dance from its street dance origins. Although it’s unknown who to credit with creating the dance, Johnny Peters and Ethel Williams were two top Texas Tommy dancers who took the dance from the Barbary Coast to New York where they incorporated it into their Broadway show Darktown Follies in 1913.

Vintage dance historian Richard Powers helped categorize some of the fundamental movements in the Texas Tommy Swing (although we’re using our own step names here):

Texas Tommy Basic: described by Ethel Williams as “a kick and a hop three times on each foot followed by a slide”, it was possible to dance this in an open position and to improvise a variety of turns and pretzel like figures

Sideways Travelling Step: stepping down with one foot, while flicking the other sideways and travelling across the floor in the direction of the flicking foot

Downward Step/Breaks: basically the same movement as the Sideways Travelling Step, with two repetitions of the movement on each foot then switching to the other side, and done mostly on the spot

Pivots & Breakaway: commonly seen danced in an almost bear-hug position, these might be done in the line of dance and lead into the breakaway and signature hand-change-behind-the-back

Here is one of the best known vintage clips of the Texas Tommy:

See if you can notice:

1. Pivots and Breakaways: [0:57-1:05], [1:12-1:19], [1:25-1:32]
2. Texas Tommy Basic: [1:05-1:12], [1:19-1:25]

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The Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, New York City was a popular dance venue in the 1920s through 1950s and played a pivotal role in the development of swing dancing and music. Simply put, it’s where Lindy Hop became famous. Located between 140th and 141st Streets on Lenox Avenue, the two story building housed an enormous ballroom on its 2nd floor that spanned an entire city block.

Billed as the “World’s Finest Ballroom”, it sported luxuriously carpeted lounges and mirrored walls, and employed bouncers in tuxedos as well as dance hostesses who would teach you the latest dance steps for a dime. The downstairs checkrooms could efficiently service as many as 5000 patrons on a night (the ballroom welcomed about 700,000 guests annually). The ballroom had nicknames around town. Downtown crowds named it “the Home of Happy Feet”, while uptown crowds called it “the Track” for it’s elongated shape.

Upon walking through the entrance to the building at the middle of Lenox Avenue, guests would ascend the central staircase  to the dance floor. There were two bandstands along the eastern wall, and with two bands playing back-to-back, the music was continuous all night long with one band picking up where the previous one left off without missing a beat. Remember there were no deejays or loudspeakers in this era!

Unlike other dance venues of the time, the Savoy Ballroom was one of the earliest to be racially integrated…with blacks and whites dancing together regularly. Legendary dancer Frankie Manning often told a story about a famous white movie star (I believe it was Charlton Heston) appearing at the Savoy one night. As the rumor/murmur propagated across the crowd, the only thing anyone really wanted to know was “Can he dance?!?”

One minor form of “segregation” did exist though…the best dancers in the house would congregate in the northeastern corner near the bandstand where these swing virtuosos would put their skills on display. Although this spot of the floor did not have a name at the time, it was later called the “Cat’s Corner” after the talented “cats” who danced there. Frankie once recounted that he had to work his way up to dancing at the Savoy, due to the level of dancing there; he started out dancing at some of the easier ballrooms such as the Alhambra and Roseland.

In terms of music, the Savoy hosted several house bands including those of Fess Williams, Chick Webb, Erskine Hawkins and Al Cooper. Two famous music events were the “Battle of the Bands” or “cutting contests”, one in 1937 between the bands of Chick Webb and Benny Goodman, and another in 1938 between Chick Webb and Count Basie’s Orchestra. Chick Webb’s band won both contests, although some who attended disputed the 1938 result.

In addition to being a popular home for social dancers, the Savoy Ballroom was also the home of several Lindy Hop dance teams, including those formed by bouncer and stage-manager Herbert “Whitey” White, an ex-boxer. Young up-and-coming dancers like Frankie Manning, Al Minns, Pepsi Bethel, Leon James and Norma Miller were allowed free daytime access to the ballroom floor, oftentimes while the bands were rehearsing. In more ways than one, the music and dance grew up together. Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers went on to perform across America as well as in several Hollywood films.

The Savoy Ballroom opened its doors on March 12, 1926, and closed them on July 10, 1958 making way for a new housing complex. Some historians theorize that the development of hi-fi recording and playback technology such as records, radios, televisions and jukeboxes reduced the need for large public dance spaces.

On May 26, 2002, a plaque commemorating the historic ballroom was unveiled by remaining Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers Frankie Manning and Norma Miller at the spot where the entrance once stood.

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Balboa can refer to a family of swing dances that developed in Southern California around the 1920s and 30s, as well as to a specific dance of that era that was the original Balboa (sometimes called Pure-Bal).

Like its dance contemporary the Lindy Hop, Balboa also had roots in the Charleston. However, whereas Lindy Hop originated in the Harlem Ballrooms of New York and spread nationally, Balboa was primarily a Southern California phenomenon. In contrast to Lindy Hop’s signature breakaway or swingout movement, Balboa is primarily danced in a close embrace, and led with a full body connection. It was designed to take up a small space on a crowded dance floor, and its basic step chains two-step movements, while shuffling feet on the floor.

Modern swing dancers distinguish between original Balboa or Pure-Bal and Bal-Swing. In Pure-Bal, partners dance exclusively in closed position, torsos touching throughout the dance, and embellishing almost entirely with footwork and rhythms. Bal-Swing allows for more space between partners, leaving room for turns and more dynamic movement in the dance. Balboa was danced as early as 1915, was most popular in the 1930s and 40s, and was named for the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, California, where it originated.

Why Every Lindy Hopper Should Know At Least A Bit of Balboa

Because of the small size and elegant efficiency of Balboa’s basic step, the dance is both well-suited to dancing on a crowded floor and to dancing to high tempos. Indeed, Balboa dancers commonly dance to music that is upwards of 300 beats per minute – well beyond the range at which most Lindy Hoppers comfortably dance. Modern Balboa dancers often seek out gypsy and traditional dixieland jazz bands to which to dance, precisely because these music forms often push the higher tempos.

Another great reason to learn Balboa is its emphasis on intricate rhythmic embellishments and footwork precision, aspects which are sometimes sacrificed in Lindy Hop where macroscopic turns and movements dominate the aesthetic. Playing with footwork variations and developing precision in your Balboa can translate to cleaner and more interesting footwork in your Lindy Hop too.

In summary, it’s great for Lindy Hoppers to know at least bit of Balboa because it’s useful when the dance floor is crowded or when the music is too fast to Lindy Hop comfortably, and because it can open up possibilities for interesting footwork variations and developing greater footwork precision.

Where to Learn Balboa in San Francisco

Although Balboa and Bal-Swing continue to grow in popularity, they are not as widespread as Lindy Hop and East Coast Swing. Many Bay Area instructors teach special Balboa series classes and workshops from time time, but the most consistent weekly Balboa offerings I am aware of are offered by Jeff Kroll:

• Tuesdays: Tuesday Night Jump Dance Party @ Club Verdi, San Francisco
• Thursdays: 200 Grand @ Lake Merritt Dance Center, Oakland

Randy Maestretti & Kara Brit as well as Carla Heiney are champion-level Balboa instructors based in the South Bay who offer private lessons and often teach at local and national workshops.

The San Francisco Balboa Swing Dance Festival is an annual event workshop and competition in December which features internationally renowned instructors.

On August 20, 2011, you can also learn some Balboa at the first ever California Swingin’ Workshop @ Cheryl Burke Dance Studio, Mountain View, CA.

Balboa Workshops and Camps Beyond the Bay Area

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Hellzapoppin’ is the name of a 1941 film adaptation of an Oleson and Johnson Broadway musical of the same name. Among Lindy Hoppers, however, the term Hellzapoppin’ has a special meaning, referring to one of the final scenes of the film in which Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers perform a fast, furious and amazingly acrobatic ensemble dance routine. The dancing in this clip is often considered a pinnacle achievement in Lindy Hop dancing, and is one the greatest vintage swing dance clips captured on film.

One of my favorite elements of the routine is actually the storyboard behind it, in which a group of workmen discover a set of musical instruments backstage and start up an impromptu musical jam session.  When the one of the worker/musicians starts to go wild on the bongo drums, the Lindy Hoppers – also dressed as day laborers – erupt on the scene and dance up a storm…only to flee when they are “discovered” by their employers.

The musician/workers at the start of the clip are actually Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart – who led a small combo novelty music act in the 1930s-40s – accompanied by other musicians including Rex Stewart and C.C. Johnson. The music you hear during the dancing is actually performed by the Universal Studios band. On top of that, this music was actually dubbed in after the fact. The original routine was choreographed and danced to Count Basie’s “Jumpin’ at the Woodside”; the dub was made due to copyright concerns.

Frankie Manning, who directed Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers in Hollywood, takes credit for the choreography. Of special note is his use of ensemble/in-unison dancing at the end of the routine, which was an innovation at the time, especially  when contrasted with other contemporary performances such as those by “Shorty” George Snowden’s Paradise Club dancers who primarily performed as soloing couples. The seeds of what became the Hellzapoppin’ routine can be seen in other clips of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers:

The dancers include:

When asked whether the routine was filmed in a single take (no, it wasn’t) Frankie often told a funny story about rehearsing his part of the routine with his partner Ann Johnson. Their particular shine/solo involves a bit of domestic wrangling, including a part in which Ann Johnson kicks Frankie in the behind and sends him flying. Frankie reported that he had to coax Ann into actually kicking him to make the scene look  realistic – she didn’t want to hurt him at first.  When she finally put some oomph into her kick for the actual performance, Frankie joked that he shouted at her “What are you doing! Not that hard!” Needless to say, Frankie must have been quite sore after multiple takes.

The Hellzapoppin’ dance clip has provided plenty of source material and inspiration for modern day Lindy Hoppers, and it’s not uncommon to see movements and elements of the routine popping up in modern Lindy performances, for example:

We’re certain that this tidy little bit of dancing will keep inspiring swing dancers for generations to come.

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If you started swing dancing recently, it’s very likely that you’ve heard at least one of your dance teachers gushing about some guy named Frankie.

“Frankie this”, “Frankie that”, and “Frankie used to say…”. So who is this Frankie guy anyway?

Frankie “Musclehead” Manning was one of the top Lindy Hop dancers to come out of Harlem, NYC where the dance originated in the 1920s-40s. In the 1980s, a couple of groups of swing dance revivalists independently sought him out, and helped bring Frankie – who had abandoned dancing after WWII – out of retirement to share his dance knowledge and teach dance workshops around the world. Among these groups were Steven Mitchell & Erin Stevens from California, but also the Rhythm Hotshots from Sweden, of which Catrine Ljunggren, one of my own dance partners was a part. Frankie would have turned 97 this past Thursday, May 26, but for his passing in 2009. Dancers around the world mourned the loss of this great dancer and amazingly charismatic yet humble person who had inspired them for many years.

Among his many dance accomplishments, Frankie is credited for creating and performing the first Lindy Hop airstep. In a dance-off contest against then reigning champion “Shorty” George Snowden, Frankie flipped his dance partner over his back, stunning the crowd and stealing the title of top dancer at the Savoy Ballroom. Frankie is also responsible for the style of swing out where the leader dances low to the ground and kicks and stretches out horizontally – he wanted it to look like he was flying when he danced.

Frankie danced, choreographed and directed Whitey’s Lindy Hopping Maniacs, one of several groups of Herbert White’s Lindy Hop performance troupes from the Savoy, who as a whole were known as Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. At a dance workshop one year, I asked Frankie why the name “Maniacs” for his particular team. He replied plainly that “they were the wildest of the bunch.” No doubt, you can see what he was talking about in numerous Hollywood film clips in which the Maniacs performed. The most notable of these clips is from the 1941 film Hellzapoppin:

In this clip, Frankie demonstrates his amazing athleticism along with partner Ann Johnson. They are the last couple to solo before the team performs as a group. You also get to see another of Frankie’s contributions to Lindy Hop: the first ensemble Lindy Hop routines, in which the dancers danced in formation. Prior to that, Lindy Hop performances had been limited to individual couples dancing, that is without formations.

In modern times, Frankie traveled the world teaching Lindy Hop dance workshops and introducing new generations to this joyful dance. He had a reserved seat at the Herrang Dance Camp in Sweden, which is considered a sort of Mecca among modern swing dancers. He loved to dance and teach the “Shim Sham Shimmy” and would always pantomime the bridge in the song with his son, Chazz Young. He would warm up his classes by dancing the Electric Slide. His favorite song was “Shiny Stockings” by Count Basie, and he also always insisted that when dancing the “Suzy Q” step, you kept your front foot flat on the ground and back foot heel up – otherwise you were doing the wrong step.

I was fortunate to meet Frankie up close and personal several times in Herrang and while he was visiting San Francisco for the yearly Frankie Manning Workshop that he taught each February. One of my favorite memories however was one year when I was volunteering at the Savoy Ballroom 80th Anniversary Celebration in NYC. Following the event, I stayed a few more days in NYC and even got to drop-in for one of his regular weekly group dance classes. After class, Frankie invited us students to all to hop into his classic town car and he proceeded to give us a lift to Swing 46 to go social dancing! I understand that even at 90+ years of age, this was common weekly practice!

I’ve had many other wonderful encounters with Frankie, too much to write about in this post alone. Aside from his dance accomplishments, what I must really say last here is that what struck people about Frankie the most was his amazing spirit: friendly, smiling, laughing, welcoming. He inspired the best in us.

If you consider yourself a serious Lindy Hopper, you must learn who Frankie is. Look him up on Wikipedia, YouTube, and buy his book “Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop.”

P.S. I’ll update this post soon with links to more information about this legendary swing dancer.

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I just returned from a great dance weekend at the 2011 SLO Lindy Exchange in San Luis Obispo, but must admit that I was slightly sad that I didn’t see more San Francisco dancers down there this year. Perhaps it’s because our newest generation of budding Lindy Hoppers have yet to hear about the amazing dancing and late night bliss that happens at exchanges….we’ll let’s fix that right now!

What is a Lindy Exchange?

A Lindy Exchange is most often a weekend-long dance event in which travelling dancers visit a hosting city to experience the culture of the local dance scene and community. Exchanges usually feature nearly non-stop dancing that includes daytime outdoor dances, evening balls with live bands, and the infamous Late Nights – after hours dance parties that go from 12 to 4am or later! Local dancers usually host visiting dancers in their own homes. Many exchanges highlight local and regional live music and DJ talent, while those that can afford it fly nationally renowned DJs and bands to headline their events. The biggest lindy exchanges — such as those hosted in San Francisco and New York — can draw upwards of 500 dancers from around the world! In addition to dance events, exchanges often feature daytime activities like walking tours, scavenger hunts and other games to help visitors get to know their city and people in a unique way.

How did it all start?

The first lindy exchange, ’The Weekend’, occurred on December 4–6, 1998, in San Francisco, California. 19 dancers from Chicago, IL traveled to San Francisco to spend the weekend experiencing the dance styles and established venues in the City. Not long after, a like minded group of San Francisco dancers traveled to Chicago to experience dancing there. Thus the exchange was born. As Lindy Hop grew in popularity, the Lindy Exchange concept evolved from a city-to-city swapping of dancers to an open-invitation gathering of dancers in a designated city. Seattle was the first city to use the term “Lindy Exchange,” and the LindyExchange.com website which was used to promote that event soon became a hub for news about upcoming exchanges. Nowadays, there is a Lindy Exchange happening somewhere in the world on almost every given weekend, and many cities host annual Lindy Exchange events.

Why should I go to a Lindy Exchange?

• you will meet a ton of new people to dance with and make some great, often life-long friends
• you’ll experience the similarities, differences and stylistic nuances of dancers from outside your local scene and safety bubble
• it’s a great test for your leading and following skills, as you’ll soon learn which techniques work or don’t really work with other dancers
• dancers who travel to exchanges are often just as enthusiastic, passionate and geeky about dancing as you are!
• Late Nights! Dancing past midnight when your body is exhausted sounds rough, but can be absolutely divine! By that time, you’ve had so little sleep, and been dancing so long that your body and mind finally, automagically relax – just like your dance teachers are always harping on you to do – and you start dancing and discovering new movements that you can only dream about doing when you’re in a fully conscious state. Pure bliss!
• It’s a great way to get out of town, take a vacation and experience a new part of the world in a unique way!
• You’ll be helping spread the joy of Lindy Hop and cross-pollinate dance ideas around the world!

Sounds cool! When’s the next one happening? How do I find out more?

• LindyExchange.com – this is the calendar where most cities announce and post dates for their Lindy Exchange events
• SFLX: SFLindyExchange.com – our local exchange is one of the biggest in the world and usually happens mid September

There are plenty of exchanges up and down the West Coast that are pretty easy to get to from San Francisco:

• SDLX – San Diego Lindy Exchange (end of June)
• Seattle Lindy Exchange (mid August)
• SacLX – SacramentoLindyExchange.com (October)
• PDLX – PortlandLX.com (March)
• SloLX – San Luis Obispo Lindy Exchange (late April/early May)

Tips for First-Time Exchangers

• Register and pay early — as soon as you know you want to go. Event pricing usually goes up as the exchange date approaches, and there are often limited numbers of Ala Carte tickets to individual dances.
• Recruit your local dance buddies to travel with you, especially if it’s your first time. The added safety net can make breaking into a brand new scene a lot easier. Plus it’s fun to compare dance notes with your friends…they’re sure to fill you in on who all the must-ask-to-dance personalities are!
• Use sites like Kayak.com to search for low airfares to your destination city. Some people pick their exchanges based entirely on where they cheap flights take them!
• If your job allows it, take the Monday after the exchange off to recuperate. You’re sure to be a zombie after all that dancing!
• Pack plenty of fresh shirts, deodorant and a towel to wipe off. Also, multiple pairs of dance shoes for dancing on a variety of surfaces.

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