The History of Swing Dance

The History of Swing Dance

Some feel dancing is reciprocation of being alive, while some dance for enjoyment. But it is something that shows great energy on the part of the dancer. Dancing is nothing but moving the human body or any part of the body along with the music.

Among many dance forms which varies greatly in music selection to tempo of the music, the Swing Dancing is unique in its own way. It gets its name from dance developed during the swing era i.e. 1920-1940, with the popularity of the Big Band and its jazz music. Though, there are many forms and classes of swing dance which are known by different names, the name swing dance commonly refers to any of them. One of the most popular forms is known as Lindy Hop, originating in Harlem in 1930s.

The Lindy Hop dancers were initially known as Jitterbugs, getting their name from the twitchy movement that the dancers make. There are other forms such as Balboa, Collegiate Shag, etc., and more styles are getting developed every year. The dance became immensely popular with fast and intricate movements and dance moves. Charles Lindbergh was a revelation in this case and thus the name Lindy Hop came into being to honor his style of dancing.

Over the years, many other dance for began to develop like Boogie woogie, Rock n Roll and disco dancing which were only the derivatives of the original swing dancing. They grew in popularity and more people were attracted to the newer dance style.

The original swing dancing almost was reduced to a handful of dancers and by the 1960s, the culture almost vanished. Moreover the musical tracks were made more in favor of the other alternative styles of dancing. It remained out of any major stage until 1980s when it was introduced again by the French with a new name of French Jibe or Modern Jibe.

Eventually they started to get good appreciation and recognition all over the world. Slowly it emerged as one of the leading dance forms and became quite popular all over the world. It slowly made its way back to the UK in the early 1990s, and is danced to contemporary jazz music and modern music. There is a considerable variation and development taking place even in the recent times and can be found distinct to each other in different parts of the world.


swing dancing