A jamboree of swingin' roots music drives
this dance party. Join a melting pot of young and old:
Loungers, Kittens, Boppers and Hoppers from Sacramento to Santa Cruz. Jumpin' since 1999,
join us for the hippest Tuesday in town! Voted 2007 Best Swing Dance in the Bay by SF
Weekly.
The Lindy Hop:Said to be born in the late
1920's, the Lindy Hop is the Grandfather of swing dances. One of the many stories of the
Lindy Hop's naming - after looking at a newspaper headline which read "Lindenburgh
Hops the Atlantic", "Shorty George" Snowden said he was dancing the Lindy
Hop! This dance spawned from the change in live jazz music... as the music started to
swing, the Lindy Hoppers started to "swingout." Its roots come from the
Charleston of the 1900's and African American dancing. The Savoy Ballroom in Harlem was
known for holding a hotbead of Lindy Hoppers, such as Frankie Manning and Whiteys Lindy
Hoppers. A street dance that was learned by watching one another, the Lindy Hop exploded
in the 1930's. As with all dancing, everyone had their own personal style and
interpretation of the dance. Dean Collins, Jewel McGowan and bunch of dancers in Southern
California before, during & after WWII made their style famous through the many
Hollywood movies that had the Southern California style of swing dancing it in.
The Balboa: Born in the 1930's in Southern California, on Balboa
Peninsula at the Pavillion and soon after, the Rendevous Ballroom. The Balboa is known for
it fast footwork, style and "chest to chest" close dancing position. It was said
you were not allowed to break-away (from "chest to chest") and the Balboa
dancers were the ones who dressed up and didn't want to sweat. So you had your Balboa
dancers on one side of the ballroom and the crazed Lindy/Swing dancers on the other. Soon
the Balboa-Swing came along, which used the same basics as Balboa but added the spins,
drops, turns... of swing dancing. The term, Balboa-Swing, didn't actually come around till
much later. But, this increased energy level was made famous by "Ray Rand
Swingers" of Southern California. The Bal- and Bal-Swing is well suited for fast
tempos, though it was said a good Balboa dancer could Balboa at any tempo.
Bal-Swing in Majaraja, 1944
Lindy Hopping in the 50s to Bill Haley and the Comets
Jitterbugs cutting a rug in the 1940's
Our Lindy Hop teachers, July 2008 review of week 1 Intermediate 7-8 class
