Black Sheep
05-09-2003, 05:14 PM
For the Record,
From the 1920's up until WW II, New York City was the Mecca of the Lindy Hop (by any other name). But by 1950, Swing became history in that city being replaced by the Latin dances. The quality of Swing dancing degenerated to the extant that the 1956 winners of the Harvest Moon Ball were so bad that Terry Monaghan, the leading historian on Swing dancing once asked me with concern, "How did that couple in that film, 'Rock Around the Clock' ever win the Harvest Moon Ball Championship in 1956?" The couple was so ridiculous, it was a wonder the man could even walk without crutches.
As a former New Yorker who relocated in Hollywood after The Great War, I personally experienced the slow demise of Swing in the Big Apple and the rise of the popularity of Lindy in L.A.. I could say it was the great migration of war veterans from NYC to L.A., and the proliferation of B films about Swing in Hollywood suddenly being produced, but whatever the reasons, L.A. quickly replaced NYC as the Mecca of Swing, and with the exception of Japan where Jitterbug remained popular, L.A. became the LAST BASTION of the Lindy Hop in that Golden Age when Swing was King in Hollywood during the 1950's!
Each time I revisited my family in Brooklyn, I always went to the most popular dance sessions, and I never saw anything but Cha Cha and Mambo and the Peabody at the Roseland being danced. The 1956 winners of the annual Harvest Moon Ball held in Madison Square Garden were a clear testimony of the passing popularity of Lindy in that city. Hollywood became the LAST BASTION of our native American dance, kept alive with Swing contests held every night and on weekend matinees every day of the week with capacity crowds at every night club or ballroom. And the Tailspin was one of the Hot Spots with the best dancers in the world at that time. BUT let me be clear that in my opinion, the NYC Lindy/Swing dancers prior to WW II were awesome, and a person only has to view films like, "Hell's A Poppin" and films of the old Harvest Moon Ball Contests to corroborate my opinion that they were the greatest Lindy/Swing dancers, bar anything that took place in Hollywood during the 1950's or at any other time or place. So when I say the best Lindy Hoppers/Swing dancers in the world were in L.A. , I am referring exclusively to that period, the 1950's. And the Hollywood film, "Don't Knock the Rock", gives testimony to this statement. Incidentally, you can identify The Black Sheep as the dancer who does the back summersault in one of the dance sequences.
NEXT: Swing Contest at the TAILSPIN!
Black Sheep (d.lanza@netzero.net)
From the 1920's up until WW II, New York City was the Mecca of the Lindy Hop (by any other name). But by 1950, Swing became history in that city being replaced by the Latin dances. The quality of Swing dancing degenerated to the extant that the 1956 winners of the Harvest Moon Ball were so bad that Terry Monaghan, the leading historian on Swing dancing once asked me with concern, "How did that couple in that film, 'Rock Around the Clock' ever win the Harvest Moon Ball Championship in 1956?" The couple was so ridiculous, it was a wonder the man could even walk without crutches.
As a former New Yorker who relocated in Hollywood after The Great War, I personally experienced the slow demise of Swing in the Big Apple and the rise of the popularity of Lindy in L.A.. I could say it was the great migration of war veterans from NYC to L.A., and the proliferation of B films about Swing in Hollywood suddenly being produced, but whatever the reasons, L.A. quickly replaced NYC as the Mecca of Swing, and with the exception of Japan where Jitterbug remained popular, L.A. became the LAST BASTION of the Lindy Hop in that Golden Age when Swing was King in Hollywood during the 1950's!
Each time I revisited my family in Brooklyn, I always went to the most popular dance sessions, and I never saw anything but Cha Cha and Mambo and the Peabody at the Roseland being danced. The 1956 winners of the annual Harvest Moon Ball held in Madison Square Garden were a clear testimony of the passing popularity of Lindy in that city. Hollywood became the LAST BASTION of our native American dance, kept alive with Swing contests held every night and on weekend matinees every day of the week with capacity crowds at every night club or ballroom. And the Tailspin was one of the Hot Spots with the best dancers in the world at that time. BUT let me be clear that in my opinion, the NYC Lindy/Swing dancers prior to WW II were awesome, and a person only has to view films like, "Hell's A Poppin" and films of the old Harvest Moon Ball Contests to corroborate my opinion that they were the greatest Lindy/Swing dancers, bar anything that took place in Hollywood during the 1950's or at any other time or place. So when I say the best Lindy Hoppers/Swing dancers in the world were in L.A. , I am referring exclusively to that period, the 1950's. And the Hollywood film, "Don't Knock the Rock", gives testimony to this statement. Incidentally, you can identify The Black Sheep as the dancer who does the back summersault in one of the dance sequences.
NEXT: Swing Contest at the TAILSPIN!
Black Sheep (d.lanza@netzero.net)