Lindy

by Harold & Meredith Sears

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4 beats/measure; 30-36 meas/min

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Lindy came out of the swing, jive, and jitterbug of the nineteen -teens and -twenties. In 1926, the Savoy Ballroom opened in Harlem. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made his famous flight or "hop" across the Atlantic and so provided the perfect name for this lively style of dance. The story is that it was named the Lindy Hop by a Harlem dancer named "Shorty George" Snowden.

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In 1935, Frankie Manning created the first big "aerial" step, called Over-the-Back. In aerials or airsteps, the woman is acrobatically guided through the air in time to the music, and the Lindy acquired all sorts of lifts, flips, throws, and slides. I remember seeing some of these aerials in Steven Speilberg's 1979 movie, 1941, and there was some of the real thing in Public Television's History of Jazz. However, Round Dancing isn't quite that athletic .

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Our Lindy is smooth and easy. Stay down. Bow to your partner during the rock step and kid with her. This rhythm is fun and crazy.

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For further information on "CHOREOGRAPHED BALLROOM" please visit:

http://www.haroldsears.com/dance/ 

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