Swing, Blues & Tap

The Lindy Hop is the original African-American swing dance, born of the new sound of the Big Bands popularized in Harlem in the 1930s and 1940s at the famous Savoy Ballroom. It has a relatively simple and malleable form, giving both partners room for a great deal of improvisation, rhythmic variations and self-expression. Many of us have been taught, either directly or indirectly, by Mr. Frankie Manning, Ms. Norma Miller, Ms. Sugar Sullivan, Ms. Barbara Billups, Mr. Sonny Allen, Ms. Dawn Hampton, and other legends of that era.

Also sometimes called Bal-swing, Balboa is a partnered social dance originating in California in the 1930s and 1940s and danced to Big Band music. In its purest form, it is characterized by an upright posture and an intimate and elegant style, taking up a very small space on the dance floor. The dancer’s creativity is expressed more particularly in complex leg play and footwork. L.A. Swing, Bal Swing, and Pure Bal are some of the different styles that  are grouped together today under the generic name, Balboa.

The Blues, in addition to being the most widely known form of Black music, is also the dance expression of everyday life. It affirms joy in the face of adversity, a dignified demonstration of human resilience. A myriad of stylistic variations exist, such as the Savoy Walk, the Slow Drag, the Texas Shuffle or even the Piedmont Triple; these social dances are highly improvisational and are built on the rhythmic dialogue between both partners.

Tap is a percussive and rhythmic dance done by dancers wearing shoes with metal plates on the heel and toe. Rhythm Tap is part of the African-American jazz lineage due to its syncopated rhythms. The Hoofin’ style describes dancing where the performers keep their feet close to the floor. At Cat’s Corner, we are fortunate to have learned from the great Miss Swing, Ethel Bruneau, who carried on the legacy of her own teacher, Ms. Mary Bruce. Ethel’s legacy lives on with her family (Majiza Philip, Suzanne Bruneau, Tisha Llewellyn) and her students (Travis Knights, Tanya Knights), all of whom share her unique teaching program with us.

Jazz dance is a generic name for all dances danced to jazz music. Tap, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa, etc. are therefore jazz dances that are danced with a partner or solo. Jazz dance also often refers to the swing dances done by one dancer, commonly called “solo jazz”. Some call it “Vernacular Jazz”, “Authentic Jazz”, or “Original Jazz” to distinguish the dance from “Modern Jazz” or “Contemporary Jazz”, which were created for the stage by choreographers inspired by the original African-American dance.

We define Jazz Dance as Cholly Atkins described it: “What I mean by “authentic jazz” is what they basically now call street dancing – things that Black neighborhoods came up with. We’ve been doing those moves for a thousand years!”

The Charleston is one of the most famous dances of the Jazz Era. It became a national craze thanks to the Broadway show, “Running Wild” and its most iconic song “The Charleston” by James P. Johnson (1923), which described the dance step. The dance then took on new shapes with the development of Big Band swing music. The Lindy Hop incorporates a plethora of Charleston movements, both partnered and solo, and is very popular in faster tempos! The Charleston most probably comes from Juba, which is an African dance brought to the United States by enslaved people. The step lives on in many African-American social dances, such as Locking and Chicago Footstep.