Lindy Hop is a dance that emerged in 1928 when Black dancers, "Shorty" George Snowden and Mattie Purnell, lost their grip and briefly broke away only to return to each other again. Lindy Hop is first and foremost a Black dance having been created during the Harlem Renaiisance and took flight at the legendary Savoy Ballroom as an expression of Black kinetic values such as call-and-response, improvisation and making African-American rhythms visible on the dance floor.

What is East Coast Swing, Jitterbug and Swing?

When swing dance schools or related festivals and events refer to east coast swing, jitterbug or swing, they're often referring to Lindy Hop, albeit a specific rhythm pattern featuring Slows and Quicks. These names indicate these organizations are engaging in cultural appropriation rather honoring the Black heritage or creators by using the names they gave their dances. Much like jazz, swing dances contain a multitude of rhythms and call on dancers to express themselves individually even while in partnership. East Coast Swing or Jitterbug was created to reduce the rhythms, limit individual expression and create a hierarchy where the leader, typically male, is the role dominant over the follower, typically female. Black social dances, rather, encourage mutual assertiveness. Lindy Hop and other Black social dances were dances of liberation, joy and freedom and made people fear upheaval of the status quo.

Where can I find social swing dancing in Denver?

Swingin' Denver offers a multitude of options through the year with our partnerships and collaborations across metro Denver and beyond often featuring live music. Here in Denver, you can also find options at The Pearl, Denver Turnverein, Avalon Ballroom in Boulder and other spots around town. When you find a favorite band, we encourage you to follow them so you can discover other venues where you can dance!

How can I stay informed about classes and events?

We encourage you to check out our website calendar and follow us on Facebook.

What should I wear to a dance class?

Lindy Hop is a casual dance and can be as athletic as you'd like it with a variety of rhythms, kicks, hops and bouncing. We suggest comfortable clothes that you can move around in, and non-marking flat shoes that will stay on your feet (open backed shoes or flip flops don’t work well.) Followers don’t generally wear heels in Lindy. If you have leather soled shoes, maybe bring a backup option in case you think the floor is a bit too slick.

Do you offer private lessons?

Some of our instructors do offer private lessons. Please email info@swingindenver.com. We offer private lessons for those seeking choreography, wedding dance help, improvement and other reasons.

What are the dance roles called?

The two dance roles are called leader and follower. Either gender can dance either role and switch during a dance if consent is there. Since we teach Black social dances, it's important to emphasize these roles are mutually assertive and both partners can be dancing different rhythms at the same. Much like how these dances encourage you to create bent lines and revel in asymmetry so is that asymmetry found between partners as we're constantly listening to the other partner and responding in time.

Lindy Hop is Smooth — Swingin' Denver

Do our readers pay attention to the west coast swing world? We do as a result of our Lindy Hop journey occurring nearly simultaneously with our West Coast Swing journey so we’re cognizant of the attempts to embed this notion of renaming WCS to “Modern Swing.” Folks are always trying to create differentiators with their marketing terms to set themselves apart but there can be this feeling of Othering at times especially when you realize that Black contributions and kinesthetic values are potentially being whitewashed. Here are some of our thoughts as conveyed in response today’s discourse:

Here's a good article about the Savoy vs Hollywood style debates - https://swungover.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/savoy-style-vs-hollywood-style-a-fight-to-the-death-hopefully/.

One point to make is that Hollywood style was pure marketing that also referred to itself as "smooth" in order to contrast it with Savoy. This echoes how Skippy Blair utilized language to create differentiation between swing dance styles. Now look at this old school Lindy Hopper, George Lloyd - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqMiAIkCyIE The man was smooth and glided along the floor. This is just one of a myriad of examples, but Lindy Hop as born out of the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem was smooth. This echoes one of vernacular dances' values - the aesthetic of cool. Even Frankie Manning taught and spoken out about Lindy Hop being smooth.

One of the key differences too is that Black Lindy Hoppers mostly danced fast, athletic, showcasing airsteps in a lot of movies. White lindy hoppers got to do a lot of social dancing and frame their dancing in such a way for the camera, i.e. slotted.

It's fine to acknowledge regional differences but we need to be wary when we're echoing talking points that Other Blackness.

And labeling or attempting to rename WCS as "Modern Swing" seemingly ignores all the swing dances happening now in various regions of the country. We're all modern people living in a modern age bringing our modernness to bear on the dances we dance. It's kind of silly.