Most of us start learning Lindy Hop because we love the music or the happy movement and free looking form. It usually takes a little time before we start to understand that we are actually dancing history. Someone might mention Frankie Manning or Hellzapoppin and we stare blankly until someone steers us toward Youtube and that eye opening video. I think Hellzapoppin is the best gateway drug to Lindy addiction. If we are Lindycurious we'll spend a good deal of our none dancing free time looking at old videos trying to pick apart what makes great Lindy Hop great, listening to scads of vintage music and maybe even exploring vintage fashions and hair styles. What we are doing is learning history.
The period of time when Lindy Hop was being invented was a rich one in our country and the world. It's worth digging in deep to understand what was happening in politics, social culture, music and art during that time. For many of the people who first danced Lindy it was a dance of freedom. It was freedom of expression and creativity. It was freedom from racial repression and low paying dead end jobs. It was freedom from the daily grind, the constant struggle to make ends meet, and the crowded living conditions. Understanding that brings a bigger dimension to what we now do on the dance floor. Perhaps some of us still dance Lindy for those very same reasons.
We are lucky that there are still a few people who were there from the beginning who can still tell us personally what their experience was like. If you get the chance to meet them and hear their stories, do it! There is nothing sweeter than hearing those stories first hand. They can open a different world to you and illuminate some of the when's,where's and why's. Grab the treasure while you still can.
Some of the history is lost or can be somewhat pieced together from tantalizing clues. My favorite Swing Dance historian is the dancer Bobby White. He writes a terrific blog called Swungover, chock full of juicy history and antidotes among other things. You can find it here:http://swungover.wordpress.com/
When you understand the beginning of something it's easier to understand it's evolution. Lindy Hop continues to evolve as a dance but for it to continue to be Lindy Hop it's important that it's roots are always showing.
