•The Harlem Renissance

• What is Swing Dancing?

• Styles of Swing

•Swing Kids

• Artists of Swing

• Comeback of Swing

• Where You Can Learn!

The Harlem Renaissance

• Because of the major reconstruction that took place after World War I, many African Americans found themselves without homes. Many moved to Chicago, and Missouri, but because Harlem offered cheap rent numerous numbers of African Americans ended up in New York.

The Harlem Renaissance Continued

• Needing an outlet, the Harlem culture turned to entertainment.

• The most popular form of entertainment was dancing.

• The Savoy Ballroom became the first un- segregated dance floor, where the only judgment that took place, was whether you could dance or not.

What is swing dancing?

Swing dancing is a dance made popular from the “Roaring 20’s”. As fashion changed and people adapted to a more expressive lifestyle, formal dancing took a backseat to the radical new style. Tying together the traditional partner dancing with risqué flips, spins, and twists, swing dancing turned the whole American dance culture on its head, and set new heights for generations of dancing to follow.

Styles of Swing

Swing dancing is mostly comprised of two popular styles: East Coast and West Coast. While based on the same dance, East-Coast focuses primarily on fancy-footwork and partner technique. West-Coast, on the other hand, displays a more elaborate and expressive tricks and stunts.

East and West Coast Swing

• Stemming from the popularity of the Harlem dancing, two distinct forms of swing developed in America.

• The East Coast Swing

• The West Coast Swing

East Coast Swing

• East Coast Swing was mainly influenced by the Foxtrot, but had some influences from the Charleston and the Lindy hop.

• East Coast Swing is sometimes referred to as the first type of swing, because of the simplicity of its steps.

• The basic steps of East Coast Swing consist mainly of rock, step, step.

West Coast Swing

• West Coast Swing is derived from the Lindy Hop.

• It is considered the most difficult partner dance.

• It is the most improvisational partner dance.

Swing Kids

• Because of the phenomenon of Swing dancing in America, German kids began adapting to the culture.

• However, in Germany Swing Music was forbidden.

• Many have compared the Swing revolution in Germany, to the Rock and Roll revolution in America.

Swing Kids Continued

– Because Swing music was forbidden, the participants in the revolution (The Swing Kids) Became more and more contraversial.

– What started as a music club morphed into a non-violent protest club of the government.

Swing Kids Continued

• Never had Swing clubs faced so much resistance as the ones did in Germany.

• In an attempt to stop their behavior the government arrested 300 Swing Kids.

• When that didn’t completely annihilate the behavior they sent the leaders of the Swing movements to concentration camps.

Artists of Swing

The Swing Era brought about some of the greatest composers/musicians to the Jazz and Swing world. Some of the greats were:

∙ Louis Armstrong

∙ Benny Goodman

∙ Duke Ellington ∙ Glen Miller

∙ Miles Davis

∙ Count Basie

The Comeback of Swing

After fading almost into oblivion after the introduction of Rock-n-Roll, swing music and dance made a surprise comeback in the early ’90’s, due mostly in part to movies and upcoming jazz artists. These factors helped jumpstart a chain reaction of what is now known as “Neo-Swing”, or new swing.