You Just Can't Top The Lindy Hop

promising, with few street lights danced with more energy than and no evidence that what looked many of us so-called youngsters. like warehouses might be resi­ One of the nicest things about dences. However, behind the the weekend was how helpful fel­ ugly facade of the building we low Hoppers were to those of us stopped at was an amazing space not staying in the hotel, letting us complete with its own garden. leave bags in their rooms, freshen We spent the next fournights in a up before the evening dances, and huge studio with a wide, full passing on tips about where to length mirror which we put to shop, eat, or club. good use. It was a full weekend of dances, Friday evening we went to the parties, classes, workshops, panel Roosevelt Hotel to register. discussions and electrifying per­ Having read our leaflets on New formancesby the teachers, and York City Yellow Cabs, we left fourLadybugs and a sister danced our safe haven and hailed one on until we could dance no more. the street corner. Our driver But there was one last thing to sailed past before squealing to a enjoy - the dance at Wells stop ten yards on. An encourag­ Restaurant in Harlem. There ing start. were only seventy-five places, so Perhaps the highlight of the many people found alternatives classes for me was Erin Stevens (see box, page 9) and Steve Mitchell's. Steve had Four Ladybugs and a sister choreographed a line dance mix­ made our way up to Harlem in a ing Lindy and Hip Hop to a Hip taxi. It was only as we Hop tune. There was so much approached that invisible frontier energy and fun in that class, peo­ of I 06th Street driving down ple came to stare in through the Madison that we realised we were doors and windows - true of Erin entering what the cab driver con­ and Steve's classes throughout the sidered dangerous territory. He weekend. told us we wouldn't be able to get Watching Frankie dance during a yellow taxi to come backfrom the weekend, it was hard to 136th Street in Harlem, wound up Steve Mitchell comes to the fore. With Erin Stevens at Can't Top the Lindy believe he had just had a hip his windows, turned off the radio, Hop in New York, May 1994. Photo courtesy of Roland Stalder. replacement operation - he and applied the (continued p. 8)

Tayo Ajibade of London sent us For most of our group it was our her review of Frankie Mannings first time in the US. The strange­ INSIDE 80th birthday weekend in New ly familiar streets were dark and York, from which we excerpted the threatening, as they'd looked on WHY Do YOU LINDY? following. late-night cop shows we'd seen. A survey (page 3) They were full of night time street Dateline - Memorial Day week­ noise - the hum of moving traffic, THE SWEDES•TALKED TO AL MlNNS end, New York. On Thursday, 26 the squeal of reluctantly applied And got some o! bis observatfon$ O\l the early days (page 4) May, four Ladybugs and a sister brakes, the occasional strident car SPOTUGHI' arrived at JFK airport. and hit the ON Zoors & SPANGLES horn. We bumped over spine A little bit of recent history (page 6) streets. shattering potholes. We were in New York, city of a At firstglance, the street we LINDY BITS million TV movies come to life. were to stayin did not look Lots of tidbits on happenings around the world and more...

©1994 Dancing Star Productions �xcept where heldb y author (noted). All rights reseived. No part of this newsletter may be °r'epro- -· duced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, with?ut pe�sion in writing fr51m the publisher. =--...... l Editorial Hoppin' Summer '94

Letter From the Editor Dear Reader: how to do it. Working on this issue of the newsletter with Great news - the Lincoln Center Library has one of my oldest dance buddies in leafy taken out a subscription to Hoppin', and Hoppin' Amherst, Massachusetts, USA, one of his intends to keep it as part of their permanent friends was looking over our shoulders as I archives, ensuring that there will be that much tried to master QuarkXPress. more documentation of Lindy in the history This friend, Alvin-furn, finally started asking books. And Lindy will now be included in the Publisher and Edjtor questions about what we were working on. upcoming Encyclopedia of New York History. Deborah Huisken His comments reminded me why I'm doing On another note, our sincere apologies to this (against impossible deadlines, with no Elena Ianucci, whose name was inadvertently International Correspondent money, and having to beg, borrow, and finagle omitted from the caption under the photo of stories, photos, ads, etc.) the Big Apple Lindy Hoppers on page 6 in the Rob van Haaren "Look at that face", he said, looking at some Spring issue. She's the one with the big grin of this issue's photos which we were in the leaning on Michael Clancey's shoulder, far Writers process of scanning in. "That woman is into it, right. As a penance, we have printed her blurb Tayo Ajibade, Becky Crane, Freddie Haugan, and look at this one, his heart is looking out at about Dance Manhattan's newest business Deborah Huisken, Judy Martin, Porl Smith, you through his eyes. Look at the life in these endeavour below, thinly disguised as a Letter Eva-Maria Schmid. people - this is amazing". to the Editor. Numerous people who have expressed to me A very special thanks to Will for letting me Additional Contributions their awe that Frankie is still dancing like a spend hours on his machine converting this teenager at 80 years old. My non-dance issue to QuarkXPress, including literally Carol Clark, Tim Flack, Rob van Haaren, friends and roommates tell stories of him in breaking his door down to work on it. Once Nonna Miller, Roland Stalder, Valerie Wilson. my presence - "show them that Life Magazine we get all the kinks out, the conversion will be Joyce Page at Cleare Communications, Mark you have, can you believe this guy?" And a big improvement - something to look for­ at CatfordCopy Centre. Norma Miller, in her late 70's, has embarked ward to! on yet another phase of her career, as a dramat­ Editorial Assistance ic actress! Life is for living, and dancers know [me, myself, and I, hoping you don't notice!]

MAC and Quark Consultant Will McNaughten

Distributors Managers: Lennart Westerlund, Sweden; Nancy Sandburg, USA. Master: Craig Hutchinson, Sing Lim, Porl Smith, Rob van Haaren. Commercial: Dance Books Ltd., Books Etc. Subscription: Patricia Brennan, Caroline Cole, Melinda Comeau, Freddie Haugan, Fred Hunt, Marcus Koch, Beckie Menckhoff, Erin Stevens, Chester Whitmore, Tim the DJ.

Submissions: Submissions to Hoppin',c/o Dancing Star Letters To the Editor Productions, at our NEW ADDRESS! P.O. Box 6008, London W2 5ZY UK. phone +44 Dear Hoppin' publication of the [US] Association of Carolina 71 221 8331. Deadline for Autumn issue: You might find this interesting. Dance Shag Clubs. ACSC represents over 100 local November l, 1994. Manhattan has joined forces with Travel clubs and over 50,000 dancers. Coordinator Elaine Platt. A series of journeys, We don't do Lindy Hop ... down here it is Advertising: designed to attractthose who want to travel called the Shag (in the Carolinas), the Beach with dancing in mind, has been scheduled for Bop (Florida, Alabama, Tennessee), the Push Angela Andrew, Simon Bell, Deborah the 1994-95 season. or Whip in the Midwest, and the Swing out Huisken, Judy Martin, Nancy Sandburg. These tripsinclude Lindy in London 18-25 west. Editorial calendar, rates, and deadlines avail­ September 1994, and Boogie in Stockholm 2-9 "CarefreeTimes" is now produced twice a able on request from Hoppin'. May 1995. For more info on the Dance/Travel year, soon to be six times a year. program, readers can call (212) 532-5274. Michael Payne Elena Ianucci Florida, USA ©1994 Dancing Star Productions except whereindi­ New York, USA Michael - Thanks for writing - we'd love to cated as held by author. All rightsreserved. Responsibility for veracity of information within the see Lindy Hop generate the kind of enthusiasm articles is the author'salone - Hoppin' and Dancing Dear Hoppin' the numbers you quote represent. Yes, we'd StarProductions accepts no liability. I am the Editor of the "Carefree Times", a love to exchange relevant articles, etc. Ed.

Page2 Article Hoppin' Summer '94

Why Do YOU Lindy? Our rovingreporter (me! Ed.) graduate to Lindy. I do Lindy, LeeAnn, USA: I dance Bill, USA: Cuz it's great social asked around the circles she trav­ and I've never felt the desire to do because it makes me feel good fun, exercise, and a personal satis­ els in, "Why do you dance, and anything else. It's got it all; what- physically, emotionally, and psy- faction doing these moves with more specifically, why do you ever "it" is, Lindy's got it all. chologically. It's a real upbeat, somebody else, with coordina­ Lindy?" These are some of the Lara, UK: Why? Cuz I like to positive, social thing, there's a tion. Lindy is my favorite dance replies... flash my knickers around. And I fabulous community involved, I cuz it's the original dance, it's got like to Lindy cuz you can flash can go anywhere and meet a lot of bounce, it's wild. It's the Sarah, UK: Because I have to. them even more! dancers and immediately have a dance that all the aerials came out Why? Because if I hear music, I Ron, UK: I've been dancing great deal in common. I started of, and I like the way it looks - have to move to it. I love swing, since I was about 4, 'cuz it makes about 8 years ago and I've jut the low-down, wild, stretched out it's very compulsive, it's chal­ me feel good. I Lindy 'cuz it never been able to stop. It's one look. I like it when people do it lenging. I love to learnquite doesn't hurt as bad as the other of those things - you catch the slow, too. I like it cuz it leads tricky steps. ones. Can you imagine doing bug and you can't let go of it or it into all those soft shoe moves and Andrew, UK: For the fun of it. break dancing at my age? (forty- doesn't let go of you. An event old Charleston moves. I like the Everything else you do or have something ... ) like Can't Top The Lindy Hop way people break apart, some­ for another reason - car for trans­ Shaddi, UK: I dance 'cuz I just reinforces it - allthese people thing that you don't really do in port , exercise to keep fit, house like to move to music. I used to coming from all over the world to East Coast or West Coast Swing - to sleep in, but dancing you do for do other dances, like the two-foot see Frankie and to celebrate his it's just the highest energy dance. the sake of it, and for the the jerk, and people used to tease me. birthday. It's just the warmest, Valerie, UK: I dance because social. Why do I Lindy in partic­ With Lindy, people leave you most uplifting feeling I can think it's fun, good exercise, and ular? Good question. I went to alone, no one says anything. I of. I went to a party, and felt like because I feel passion in my soul an outdoor demonstration on the started with Siroc, and kept going. I could have been anywhere in the for it. South Bank [in London], because Then once I started to lose world. There were people swing Becky, USA: Dancing gave I wanted to be able to do some weight, I kept going. dancing all over the place and it me the greatest freedom to kind of dance. As a teenager in Tayo, UK: I like the atmos- was exciting. express myself, once I understood the70's, you were expected to be phere and the music. When Patricia, USA: I just do it cus the framework. And Lindy gave able to dance, so I wanted to learn you're having a good time, you it feels so good! Cuz I love shar- me something to aspire to. It has a dance that had steps in it, a part­ get really high on everyone being ing that energy, connecting with style. ner dance, one which looked good there. I don't need alcohol, I people, moving to the music, So, let'shear from some of the fun to do, and this was it. I've don't need fags to smoke. I'm in going to another level, the eupho- rest of the world. Why do YOU never tried Siroc, but they seem to the company of people I enjoy. ria. Lindy? Write and let us know. Advertisement

SAVOY- Colourfost Screen Printing on Lindy Hoppers at Harlem's 100 % Cotton T�Shirts. Machine famous Savoy Ballroom. also washable. M<1y betumble dried. known as 'The Home of Happy Sizes M, L, XL. Feet'. Duke Ellington at the piano. Dancing at the Savoy was BUYING YOUR SHIRTS so intense that the wooden floor Direct: had to be replaced every three When you or your friends visit years. Printed on white shirts. London. phone in advance to make arrangements. LUCKY LINDY - The shy. mail Oier and stunt· By Mail Order: show pilot, Charles 'Lindy' l. Phone or write to place an Lindbergh was surprised by the order. (Scandinavians: don't worldwide atlention his solo worry about language prob­ 'Hop' over the atlantic created. lems because jeg kan snakke It is thought that the Lindy I-lop norsk!) was named after this event. 2. Transfer payment to bank Black T-shirts, red or blue sky. account as directed. 3. Shirts will be sent on receipt WHITEY'S LINDY HOPPERS of payment. Whitey's Lindy Hoppers with Frankie Manning in the famous T-Shirts: £14. Lindy Hop sequence from the Long Sleeved Shirts:£19.1 1941 film Ne/1:apoppin. Large colour print on white T-shirts. Post & Packing: UK: £1.50 for Main colour peach or dark blue. first item, 75p for each addition­ al item. Europe: £2 for first Also Available: item,£ I for each additional LINDY HOP item. USA: £3 first item,'£2.20 THE NICHOLAS BROTHERS for each additional item.

Paf!e 3 Interview Hoppin' Summer '94

The Swedes Talked to Al Minns In May 1984, Lennart Westerlund, Anders floor with. two bands that are beginning to integrate. Lind, and Henning Sorensen from Sweden They did strictly floor dancing, no aerials. At that time, they would copy the records sought out original Lindy Hopper Al Minns in And it takes a great deal of concentration. I they sold to blacks with a white band and sell New York. They interviewed him, starting by never saw a couple do the Shag and smile 'cos to whites. They called them race records. So asking how he would define a really good they are always concentrating on what they're when a black person made a real hoppin' Lindy Hop tune. gonna do. If you' re dancing at a fast tempo record that was selling like crazy, they'd finda (and Shag was always at a fast tempo) with white counterpart to do that same record. Nat The best band forLindy Hop dancing, would your foreheadpressed against another person's King Cole broke out of that with a song about be Count Basie. forehead,you can't relax. Somebody's gonna a buzzard and a monkey that broke records. Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, Duke get a bumped skull. And it wasn't effectiveif The white kids were coming to the Savoy like Ellington, they all had good bands, but Count it wasn't fast. One reason why the Shag didn't crazy, they heard this record, they started com­ Basie he called Iris music walking music. If last I believe, is because the older people ing uptown to buy the music. They knew you couldn't walk at a nice pace to his music, couldn't do it, whereas with the Lindy Hop all about Count Basie, but they had to come he didn't like it. He played a couple of very ages did it. uptown to get his records, they couldn't get fast numbers, like Jumping at the Woodside, The Shag was a social dance, but for young their records downtown. So boom, "let's have which were generally used at the end of a people, college students. It was strictlya col­ one label, never mind the race records, just sell dance set. He didn't play numbers like that legiate dance. The upper middle class and the them all over the community, black, white, during the course of the set. rich, it never came down to the masses at all. Chinese, green, blue, black just let it go" and You see when they play a real fastnumber You must realise in the 30's there was a that's what broke it down. and you exhaust yourself, at the end the band great racial cleavage, blacks and whites did not Then after Nat Cole, Life magazine had a sat down and got rested and you sat down and mingle ordinarily. Harlem extends from,I'd picture of Billy Epstein leading the Zanzibar got rested too. That way they start again at [a say, 110th streetto 155th street and most peo­ nightclub. For the firsttime a black crooner slower] rhythm until the end of the set, then ple bornin Harlem up until World War II very was on Broadway, and Lifemagazine had a he'd hit you with another one. seldom left. And very few white people unless blow up of white girls kissing him on the He didn't play while we were resting; when they had business came to Harlem except to go cheek. Ah, the obscenity, denounce the deca­ he played that fast number that was the end of to the Savoy or to Small's Paradise or to the dence that we were going through. But even­ the half hour. Then they'd take fifteenminutes Apollo. Anywhere there was entertainment tually the integration really started, little by lit­ and go and have themselves a drink, food or you'd find the races mixing, but as to going tle. Some places it'11 never change, we all something and talk to the people that they talk downtown to a theatre,or to Macey's to shop, know that, in this countryanyway, but little by to, then they came back and played in the we had our own stores uptown and we didn't little the people started leaving Harlem and band. They played from 9 o'clock until I, half dress the same as the whites did. If the whites going downtown, visiting each others homes an hour playing, fifteenminutes off. They had wore tight pants, we wore bell bottoms, and if and things like that. a half hour offbecause at the Savoy they did­ they wore bell bottoms, we wore tight. We had When I was a kid in the early 30's and up n't use records, it was two orchestras. They a complete civil cleavage. until World War II on Saturday night, I remem­ had the main band play half an hour then the As far as the music went they called Paul ber what they call house rent parties. If they second band play half hour. Whiteman "The King Of Swing". Now here's didn'thave enough money for the rent, they The best dance tunes were usually three Duke Ellington out there playing, but Paul threw a party and the lady of the house would minutes, because in those days they had the 78 Whiteman is playing at the Astoria, he's on the cook food and they'd sell tiringsdrinks of acetate records. Those records were geared to radio, he's in the movies. He's a very jovial liquor and have a piano and a guitar and every­ 3 minutes, so arrangements had to fit. They man, I've got nothing against him, but it was body left their doors wide open. You didn't had two differentsizes, so a tune like Breaking just a racial situation, that he became "The have to know anybody to go in, just put your Down (Ella FitzGerald and Clrick Webb King of Swing". 50 cents in at the door. You've heard that Fats Orchestra) which was about four or five min­ What started breaking it down was in 1934 Waller song, The Joint is Jumping? That's utes long would have been on one of the large the Andrews Sisters, who were rebels in their where it was. Cab Calloway's tune, Harlem acetate records. Benny Goodman's Sing Sing own way, started to come to Harlem and Hospitality,was about these things too. Sing was on a large acetate, it wasn't on a reg­ learnedthe slang. You've seen Elvis & But after World War II no chance. When I ular 12". But even if there wasn't any record­ Costello say "this is the way they do it up in walk the streets of Harlem now, they have a ing when they were playing at the Savoy they Harlem" and slap each others hand? Well, this way of knowing that you don't belong there. played usually 3 minutes. See, the music is all had never been shown to the white community They keep watching you. I don't mind going written. The only thing that's improvised is before. "Gimme some skin my friend". by myself in daylight. I' 11 catch the local, go what the soloist does. Every time a man gets Then Gene Cooper used to hang out uptown to 135st, and walk over 7th avenue; that's a up to blow the horn,he triesto do sometlring with the black musicians. Bing Crosby, when­ major avenue, the police station's right there different. That's why it's called Jazz, cos its ever he was in town, was uptown, that's where on the block. But at night when I leave there, improvisation. he learnt how to skat and all that kind of stuff, I'll get in a cab and I'll spend the night over Al went on to talk about the Shag. It's a very that's where he learntall his slang. Then in here, because I will not catch the subway by athletic dance, very rigid control. You couldn't about 1938, or 1939 there was a musician, a myself that time of night. relax and do it. The girls wore wide skirts and band leader, named Lucky Luther, and he inte­ The Swedes then asked about dancing to these little saddle shoes, ( white with a com­ grated his band. He got two wlrite musicians drum solos, trumpet solos, and other improvi­ plete sole and leather like a saddle across) and in it and at firstthe hands were thrown up into sations by the musicians. We didn't do any­ bobby socks. And the boys usually wore hush the air - I'm talking about the blacks now. "Oh thing special in Lindy Hop - the routines were puppy shoes, made of suede-like cloth but with what's he doin'?" Then along comes Benny set. Sociallyyou improvise along with the a rough finishand a heavy rubber sole. You Goodman and sees how everything is working musician if you are able to do so, professional­ needed that kind of shoe, because most of with Lucky Luther so he gets Lionel Hampton, ly yourroutine is set. You have your chorus, these dance floors are highly polished so you and Teddy Wilson in Iris band, so herewe got you knowit's gonna be an eight bar introduc- had to have a shoe that you could grip on the

Pag�4 Interview Hoppin' Summer '94

The Swedes (cont.) tion, there's gonna be three teams and each You raise the tempo gradually over time and started cheering and all of a sudden the team will have a chorus to do and then you until you get to what you suspect or know is Savoy was the place to go to see this new have maybe two choruses to do in ensemble gonna be the tempo. All competitions in Lindy dance. Now we had been doing the Lindy Hop and then that's it. Hop are fast, and the judges were generally since '27 - this was '34. When you had a competition you had a set people who knew nothing about dance. I think As Whitey's Lindy Hoppers became more routine which you rehearsed for days. Like the the judges should be people who are familiar famous, after the Harvest Moon and then the Savoy Lindy Hoppers, right fromHigh School, with jazz dancing. Like, if you had an art con­ filmThe Day At the Races, every band that as soon as school closed my first step would be test, you wouldn't have judges who didn't went on the road with a show, they weren't the Savoy. I would do my homework in the know anything about art. I'd be presumptuous complete without a set of Lindy hoppers. Savoy. The girls would be there doing their to judge a ballroom contest, they have such Then The Apollo and the Palm Opera House, homework and we'd stay there until time to go international rules, about how high your foot both of which were on !25th Street, had Lindy home for supper. We'd go home for supper, supposed to go, how your hands supposed to hoppers. You never knew when a club was clean up, be back thereat the Savoy at 9 go, how your hips should be held. I don't going to have a dance where they would want o'clock and do some more rehearsing. By this know these things, just like they don't know Lindy Hoppers. A team usually consisted of 3 time the band would be there, so we'd be how my foot should go when I'm Lindy couples, sometimes four like in Hellzapoppin'. dancing socially but we'd still be rehearsing. Hopping or where my hands should be. It depended on the budget We did this seven days a week, and on Lindy Hop is an individual dance with a There were Opportunity Contests on a Saturdays, you got there at 11 o'clock and you basic form. After that, what you do with it, it's Saturday at the Savoy Ballroom. The public stayed there until six rehearsing. what you personally feellike. The way I throw would do the judging. They would sit on the The song decides the tempo. When you are my left leg out and my right leg out, I didn't floor or they would stand behind the rails, but a good jazz dancer you can tell when the music learn to do that until after I learnedthat basic. they would leave enough room forthe dancers. is gonna have a high, when the trumpets or the Don't improvise until you've learnedthe saxophonist is playing his solo, you can feel basics. when he's really gonna let loose. and that's You've heard of the Savoy circle where the Advertisement when you let loose, when he holds back, you Lindy Hoppers danced? Now the Savoy was a hold back. You ride with the music. block long, two bandstands in the middle, SWING DANCER There is always the possibility that dancing against the wall but in the middle and on the VERSION 1.12 that fast you'll lose contact with each other. 142nd streetside, next to the bandstand there A Swing Dancer's Manual [One of the moves that I do regularly] came up were some benches against the wall. The by Craig R. Hutchinson through an accident. We were dancing at the Lindy Hoppers usually congregated in that Savoy, I swung her round and reached and comer and when the music was good, they With 200 pages, including: • Training, music, technique, • Definitions choreog�phy, and history almost missed her hand and I went back and would start dancing. Now oddly enough that • AbbrtMations dance oode • Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Hustle, she just grabbed me so as not to look stupid. place could be crowded but it was like there • 1,530 moves & turns W� Coast Swing, C..rolina Shog, BigApple, & Shim Sham started dancing doing this move and the house was an invisible fence around about 6' by 6', • 17,280dance positions • 17 docilOOn rhythm breaks • Bibliographies:books, videos, went wild. I've been doing it ever since. and nobody that wasn't a Lindy Hopper would • 45'1duodecillion figures articles, periodicals,& mo�es But anytimeyou go in a competition your get in that comer. • OYM50 tum exercises • Support system Includes: • Swing dane& clubdirectory supplements, video tapes, routine is set, it starts here and it ends there. There was also another peculiar thing, they newsfettar, ;,nd updates • Annual Cilillendar of events You go into training for it just like you do for had a caste system. You knew that you were • Owt 100 R&B titles • Pre-punchedfor a three-ring, 6.Sxl 1 nch, kiose-lNfbinder boxing or for any kind o athletics. the lousiest dancer, so you started off, then a • 0Yef 2COsupplemental pages i I don't know how these kids do it today, person who felt that he was a little better than SWING DANCER VIDEO SERIES because they don't listen to music, they just you and so each one knew his place in that line start and that's it. Swing competitions today until they got to the guy who was the winner A series designedto get youstarted dancing are mostly aerials, there's not much dancing. of all the prizes and they'd be the last ones to West Coast Swing. Based on the popular It's a couple of Lindy swings, then they do an dance. As you gradually moved up.-theladder reference manual, Swing Dancer, the series takes aerial, then another swing, then another aerial. you stepped back through the line to dance you from a historical perspective through When I was dancing, I might have done 3 aeri­ before you got in the circle. You can call it a beginning basics to more advanced moves and als in 3 minutes, the rest you did floor dancing. Cat's Comer, that's what it was. We called it rhythm breaks. Now the kids do verylittle floor dancing. the Lindy Hopper's circle. Swing Dancer Manual without binder $20 What we started out, first we had to sit down We didn't call ourselves Jitterbugs, we hated Swing Dancer Manual with binder $25 and figure out what are we going to do, then, the word Jitterbug, because there was a song Introduction to West.Coast Swing $35 this thing we have in show business, we walk that Cab Calloway wrote - "If you wanna be a West Coast Swing Figures Level 1 $35 through it, we walk through it, we walk jitterbug the first thing you do is get a jug". WCS Rhythm Breaks Level 1 Part1 $35 through it, we walk through it. Then we put on When the Daily News decided to have the WCS Rhythm Breaks Level 1 Part2 $35 a slow to medium tempo record and except for Harvest Moon Ball, the very first year they Follower's Swing Tum Package $35 Shipping & Handling USA Overseas the aerials (we'll fake the aerials), we'll dance omitted Lindy Hop because they didn't know a First Item · $3.50 $1 o through it. The aerials are something you damn thing about it, they didn't know the Each Additional Item $1 $2 practice separately, completely separately. dance existed. So Mr Buchanan and Whitey TOTAL---- When you get your routine to a point where went down to the Daily News and protested. you can really do it, you perfect your aerials. The Daily News said we don't know a thing Then you practise the step-that you're gonna about it, we never heard of this dance. So they POTOMAC SWING DANCE CLUB 3409 Silver Maple Place do before you go into the aerials so that sort of were invited up to the Savoy and the next day Falls Church, VA 22042-3545 USA leads you into the aerial, you practice that, Lindy Hop was on Movietone News, which 703-698-9811 then put the whole mish mash together and go was weekly news, like television. When the at it and see what happens. audiences saw this new dance they stood up

Page5 Spotlight Hoppin' Summer '94

Spotlight on Zoot and Spangles taken by air steps, the speed, or the neatest of the steps. It was the energy and genuine enjoyment of the dance that I wanted to create with Zoots. It was important we didn't have Lindy Hopper in the title, so people didn't assume that was all we did. It was authentic jazz cjancein a wider spectrum. "Quite a lot of dancers left JLH when I did. Ellen Miller and Jeanefer-JeanCharles came to dance with Zoots, and later on Brett Jones came along. It's been a policy of mine to maintain the same dancers and create an atmosphere where we were happy enough working together for them to want to stay. And for the main part, that's been the case. Most of my dancers have been with me quite a while. That way we can cultivate and improve as a group."

The company soon became a focusfor Jazz dance enthusiasts and had secured bookings before Ryan had even choreographed enough routines to put on a show. Their first show was an outdoor show in Covent Garden piazza. That first year turnedout to be a very busy one - a month after their Covent Garden debut they appeared on British television's TVAM. This was followed by a Channel 4 programme called Signals which was a celebration of the best of black dance. Such recognition came at a significant time, when the company had only been together for a few months. Not only did it boost morale, the exposure meant that the telephone kept ringing. This was followed by numerous appearances, including ITV's Telethon, the Children's Royal Variety performance, pop videos for Matt Bianco and Robert Palmer amongst others, and a whole series of the BBC's ever-popular Come Dancing When offour screens, Zoots were touring. Touring has always been part of the company's work. "We had to tour in order to survive. We Zoots & Spangles offered a workshops-and-performance pack­ age. We'd go into schools and choreograph a BeckyCrane interviewed Ryan Francois to seemed a natural progression in order to carry number with the kids, which became part of get the following background on London s on doing the dance I do. I wanted to choreo­ the show. Zoots toured country-wide,per­ Z.Ootsand Spangles. graph, put together shows, and I had a lot of ideas and wanted to approach Lindy in a dif­ forming mainly in arts centres and small the­ Zoots and Spangles are one of the UK's pre­ ferentway. atres." mier professional authentic Jazz dance compa­ Style was the main thing. I did not feel nies. Their successfulshows include Zazou, black and didn't feel that the Jiving Lindy Zoots and Spangles has also toured exten­ Harlem on Parade, and Rockin' in Rhythm. Hoppers were portraying Lindy Hop as a black sively in Europe. A chance meeting led to an They have had numerous TV appearances, and dance. extensive tour with the Humphrey Lyttleton they continue to delight audiences and inspire ''I'd met Frankie of course, and I'd been Band, which included dates at the Montreaux a love of both Lindy and Jazz dance wherever introduced to people like Steve Mitchell who Festival. The tour Souls in Motion was a huge they go. So where did it all begin? had been doing the Lindy Hop fora little success. longer than I had, but he was taking it from an ''There were 17 dancers on that tour, six of Zoots and Spangles was formed in May aspect of cultural origins. He was the first which were Zoots and the other 11 of which 1987 by Ryan Francois, Julie Oram, and black guy that I met who was doing it. were contemporarydancers. We were showing Tobias Tak. "The party atmospherewas what I first saw contrastsof styles, contemporary Jazz vs. Ryan says ''There was no outlet for Lindy when I saw the Lindy Hop on film. A Day at authentic Jazz, and it was very popular." Hop aside of doing it in a dance company. the Races - that's what drew me to it. I wasn't Because I'd left the Jiving Lindy Hoppers, it Showing a variety and contrast of different

Page6 Spotlight Hoppin' Summer '94

Spotlight (cont.) styles has been a key element to the success of with the company to develop his own projects. Zoots' work. So what of the future of Zoots? "I have developed down one route - doing "I've never felt that I've been just a Lindy "I intend to encourage the workshop aspect Zootsand Spangles. But my capabilities are Hopper. For the main part, in a Zoots show in this country more, to teach, to work with more than that, so I have sought to concentrate you may see 3 or 4 Lindy numbers, but you'll dance colleges, youth groups and so on. It will on things that I can do outside of the compa­ see Charleston and Tap as well as other differ­ become an increasingly important aspect of the ny." ent styles of Jazz. I've always experimented company's work in Britain. Without educa­ with the company. Lindy is a great form of tion, you can't create an audienceor sustain an In the past few years Ryan has performed in dance but it can't exist on its own. I've taken art form." Spike Lee's movie Malcolm X. He also chore­ the authentic side of Jazz dancing and merged ographed Disney's Swing Kids and Fred it with what's going on now and started to find Ryan is keen to encourage more work forthe Astaire's tribute show Shall We Dance, which different ways of doing the Lindy Hop under company in Europe because he feels there is opened in Oslo, and ran in Germany, Austria, that umbrella of Jazz dance, so we can be as much more scope there. Switzerland, and France. many things as we choose to be. "Europe has more to offer in terms of the­ "I was working with dancers who are trained "I wanted to show that dance could have atresand audiences. We were averaging 600- in other art forms - Modem Jazz, Ballet, and variety and can relate to now. When I first saw 700 sealers that were always packed on the Contemporary. It's been a challenge and Hip Hop, I thought it was Lindy. The only dif­ Souls in Motion tour. The British dance circuit taught me new ways of approaching and ference was the music - the steps were very can feel like a hamster wheel, going round and putting together a show. similar. In Rockin' in Rhythm, I wanted to round the same arts centres and small theatres. "I'm not from a dance school, and I'm not show how similar Hip Hop is to Lindy, and For me, that's meant I've had to change my formallytrained in any way, so it's a good how relevant Lindy is today. The dance hasn't perception of how to run a dance company, learning experience. Zoots as a dance troupe changed a great deal. We've just changed our and the way I am working now is not to try cannot reach a wider audience outside of the music, but the energy behind the dance, the and sustain the company for a full year but arts centre circuit at present, but it's easier for feeland aura is much the same. I think the work on a project-by-project basis. If there is a choreographer to move forward, to gain future of Lindy is to start to explore it through a project for the company to do, then we'll do access to the 'official'dance world. I hope to the sounds of today and the attitudes of young it. It's a set amount of time, pay, and commit­ put me in a position which will allow me to people. Now kids are into Hip Hop, and we ment, and the dancers can do it if they want to. present my ideas on a platform where they will have to accept that and relate things in the It's the only way to run a company honestly. be seen. My wider experience will develop dance to that. It should be a growing, develop­ It's a shame, but it's symptomatic of the way my choreography, and can only benefit the ing street dance, because it always has adapted this countrysupports the arts." company." to what was around it." Ryan has also taken time out from working So while we are more likely to see Zoots performing in Europe - there are plans for a tour in Germany soon - they are still doing occasional performances in Britain. Upcoming are performing at a festival in Gunnersbury Park, and doing a show at the Crystal Palace Bowl with the Herb Miller Band.

The Kent Youth Group with members of Zoots and Spangles. Photo courtesy of Carol Clarke

! organizer Carol Clark is hopeful that this might London. Gaining exposure to Lindy by attend­ iTHE KENT YOUTH be a route to get more boys involved in dance. ing the London clubs was high on their agenda. Carol says she bas found it difficult to get boys Carol has 7 part-time dance coordinators GROUP enthusiastic about dance, although she finds working with her. Dance is recognized by the that if they come to her annual one-week resi­ Kent County Council as an asset to the com­ The Kent Youth group first startedin Lindy dential course they tend to stay. munity, as a team-building exercise, a means ot Hop in 1991, after having taken a4-day course Carol runs the lntemational Youth Dance fitness, a way to make new friends, and a with Ryan Francois Celebration, held this year in July - 36 young means for creative expression. The course managed to attractboys, and oeoole"from around Europeattended in

Page 7 Cover Story Hoppin' Summer '94

You Just Can't Top (cont.>

Frankie and New York friends doing the Shim Sham on his birthday. (l,r) Buster Brown, Chazz Young, Young Frankie, Karen Goldstein, Gabby Winkier, Bob Crease. Photo courtesy of Tim FJack. (continued from page 1) the car and on the even tinier strip of was sitting in front, and feeling a tip - he accepted it without a doors. At traffic lightshe kept the floor near the bar in the other very nervous with something dan­ question. Adventure over. car in gear, creeping. He said room, and even on the sidewalk in gerous and metallic beneath my "You're not from round here are frontof the restaurant. Local peo­ feet and a shifty, desperate-look­ you, you don't live in Harlem?" ple came by to watch and cheer us ing character driving beside me. He told us when we were ready on - even the police showed up to Finally, it looked like we were to leave the restaurant we should watch, and marvel at the exuber- being driven to a waste area under have the manager call us a cab, ant, non-violent atmosphere all a railway bridge, down a dirt and that we should not step onto those dancing feet and sweaty road. Then suddenly, we heard a the street until it arrived. bodies were generating, and on great roar of trafficand, as we With that and our drive into this the sidewalk in Harlem no less! rounded thebend, saw he'd taken other landscape of rubbish-piled The ride home proved to be us back via the freeway. We col­ streets, heavily shuttered shops, another interesting adventure. lectively stopped holding our broken street lights and youths on The second black and maroon liv­ breaths. street comers, my anticipation of eried sedan car we called agreed We were back in familiar terri­ an enjoyable evening declined reluctantly to take all five of us tory in about half an hour. As we rapidly. together, but once we got in and approached our destination, the However, the street outside the saw the places he was driving us, nervousness we had noticed in the Wells Restaurant itself was clean, we started to have second driver of the yellow taxi became the facade and interior well-cared thoughts. We did not head back apparent in the driver of the for and attractive. The music and in the direction we had come, but gypsy cab, and we realised he was the buffet food was excellent, the instead seemed to get deeper and just as nervous coming out of his fried chicken to die for. With deeper into the mean streets, clos­ usual territory. over 150 people in what was er and closer to the forbidding, There was no meter in the car, essentially a small restaurant, the monolithic housing projects and so we expected a ridiculous fare. place was very crowded. deserted railway tracks. Instead he asked us what fare we Still, we danced on the tiny Every street looked like a dead­ normally paid. We worked out dance floor in frontof the band end, they curved so sharply. I what it cost us to get uptown with

Page8 Cover Story Hoppin' Summer '94

You Just Can't Top (cont.>

Frankie (with Mickie Davidson), working his way through dancing with 80 women in honour of his 80th birthday. (photo courtesy of Roland Stalder)

ftlms, and features in a key scene in Malcolm n't come in on Monday nights and his PA WaS· X. One step through the door after a brief n't hooked up. Several willing barflieshelped seaccb up and down Lenox Avenue and it was to move the enonnous billiatdtable out of the obvious why The GuardianWriter was so way for us and we took QVer !hat end of the enthusiastic. Deco heaven! lQUDge tQo. /'llily Maniathe attended Cant Top the The long bar and.billiard lounge doesn't What a party! Outside on the streetthe LindyHop Cd«mitionsin Ntrw Y<>rk. but seem to have changed since the original fit. local kiusfor­ We were greet,edby a qieerfulman called tie.,blouse. tie, and masculine ttou�. Joe, who immediatelyordered� on the We drank a. lotof beer; we datlced �a house all around: N�beginnmg. Thefew stonn. andwere later joined by seyeraJ. pafronsat the 'barwere mostlyWQtnen, bright� Swedes and a couple.xLounge "Who.sayswhite folks ain't got no mythrnr

01994 JudyMartin.

Page9 Special Features Hoppin' Summer '94

The London Clothes Scene Porl Smith makes some obser­ exchange bodily fluids on the this is the most economical way Men's outfitters around Jermyn vations on dressing to dance, and dance floor. In any event aerobics of dressing up to Lindy Hop. Street and Piccadilly can provide gives readers some tips on where were never intended to involve This writer, being over six foot useful accessories but Sam to shop in London. close holds! tall with pedal extremities(to Brown's in Covent Garden spe­ The option of wearing your quote Fats Waller) had to be per­ cialize in period clothing and Growing numbers of dancers favourite Lindy Hop T-shirt has sistent, but eventually a fine pair replica items. Within hoppin' dis­ are turningto Lindy Hop but what its attractions, bearing in mind of slightly used tan co-respondent tance one can findFlip and is the attraction? Is it the prospect that once it can be wrung out, it shoes (two-tone, wing tip) did American Classics who both of finding truelove, a sensational has long gone time to change. walk my way import used clothes from the dance partner, or is it, as one Who said clothes maketh the USA. But if you want Rock 'n onlooker recently observed, the man? After all, where is the plea­ Some vintage clothing is made Roll, then a bus ride to Victoria nostalgia of men wearing braces sure in watching some finely exe­ of unsuitable material to dance in. Station is essential. Stop offfirst (suspenders to Americans) and cuted swing performed by a guy Fabrics were scarce in the forties at two interesting second-hand showing off? From my point of in cut-offdenims and a sweat (there was a war on, you know), stores in Upper Tachbrook Street view, Lindy Hop is a refined shirt? and seams were cut as economi­ before arriving minutes later at assortment of syncopated Swing cally as possible. Dancing an Ted's Comer sartorial Rock 'n beats danced out in an individual­ Nostalgia has a big role to play energetic Lindy Hop produces Roll heaven in Wilton Row ly theatrical style, attending close­ in the revival of the social scene. stresses on the old fabrics which ly to one's partner while parading The British love an excuse to look sometimes can't hold up. You A sight-seeing trip to to anyone who may be watching. backwards, and what could be a might not end up showing off Greenwich, home of the zero This is a dance with attitude, after better way of satiating the need to expanses of rare flesh, but you meridian, can be combined with a all. redistill the spirit of the Swing could find yourself spending an visit to The Emporium in Creek I think we should all help sup­ Era than to learnto Lindy Hop hour or so on repairs or sewing Road and the markets, ending up port Lindy Hop into perpetuity by and dress the part? buttons back on. at The Command Post and The recognising its origins and Observing the fashions at any Modernwashing powder can Ship's Locker for all your mili­ strengths, not the least of which dance event around London one also wreak their own form of tary requirements. are the characteristic clothes worn notices a seemingly bountiful havoc - along with the high tem­ Ex-forces gear, very popular in by the dancers. The very nature supply of period clothes. At these peratures created on the dance London, is also stock -piled at of this energetic dance means that venues, contacts forinformation floor - and colours run or fade Lawrence Corner on Hampstead women perspire and the pores of about such clothes can be made away. Road. This would be your first most men open their floodgates. and ideas exchanged, generally in We have a particular problem in between dances. At the end of the Advertisement London, because the external day, a direct enquiry to the owner temperature rarely rises above ° ° of the coat similar to your dream I 9 C (roughly -80 F). and air­ jacket can inspire a fruitful reply. conditioning is an expensive lux­ A case in point involved one of You Wanna Get Dancin'? ury. We all therefore are affected Hoppin' own staffmembers, You Wanna Get ..... by the humid atmosphere in our who recently admired the jacket dance venues of an out-of-town trombonist, There are several schools of then discovered its provenance - thought on the specifics, but most his local branch of Top Man. concur on a general principle - Some London high street fashion one has to wear clothes that are chains have discovered that there cool. However, the interpreta­ is an interest in thirties and forties tions vary wildly. styling, and have produced their own versions of period dress and The only ... Some arrive straight from work, double-breasted suits. River Social Dance Magazine for convenient if one works in an Island is a shop that even plays London & S.E. England covering ... office environment, but not if you swing and jump jive music to its are a coal miner (another tradi­ customers all day long Lindyhop •Jive•Rock'n'Ro/1• Salsa tional occupation struggling to London is fortunate to have Ballroom• Latin• Tango• Sequence survive in Britain). several second hand shops along After a busy day at the office, most borough high streets, most what better way to relieve all of which support or are run by those stresses? (Following a established charities such as wash and brush up of course). Oxfam or Cancer Research. A Aerobic workout gear is another wonderful selection of both men's approach which involves a and women's clothing and a vast change into clothes with a variety range of inexpensive jewelry is of sporty styles. Unfortunately the trade mark of these outlets. what may be a cool vest and glis­ Of course, pot luck decides tening ripples of flesh to its owner whether the suit foryou is hang­ tends to be farfrom "Cool" to a ing on the rail. Apart frominher­ partner who may not want to iting ones parents' demob suits,

Page JO Miscellaneous Hoppin' Summer '94

London Clothes (cont.; stop on the way to Camden Market, where it is possi­ ble to lose yourself in its assortment of vintage delights, including recordings made from7 r.p.m Swing records.

A little further east in the roads around Upper Street, you will find Annie's Cobwebs, and Cloud Cuckoo Land, retailing predominantly '20s and '30s women's clothes. Perhaps your tour will be to Kensington Market for some high-waisted trousersin all sizes, and along Pembridge Road, taking in Dolly Diamond and numerous second hand shops, to Porlobello Market with stalls and shops with rails of tempting garments.

As a luxury or a last resort there are both established and up-and-coming tailors and dressmakers who, with no expense spared, will create the garment you have always wished for, so you may arrive in style any­ where in the world. ©1994 Porl Smith

Nonna Miller shines in the sun as Clara in "Captivo''. filmedin Florida in 1994. This marks her first dramaticrole. {photograph courtesy of Norma Miller) You Learn Something Advertisement New... Argentine Tango, Anyone?

Deborah Huiskenhas an interesting phone conversation... r Speakingwith Daniel Trenner of Puente al Tango recently, we were ALAMr r filled in a littlebit on the Argentine Tango, beginning to clarify what ocJty!es draws so many people to it. According to Trenner, the Argentine Tango is closest to Lindy, Send for our free because both the dance and music are improvisational. Both dances grew out of similar underclass cultures which were prevalent in their mail-order catalogue! respective countriesat the time. Trenner went on to observe that the lyrics, music, slang, etc. of the black culture in Harlem in the '30s and '40s was very similar to the working class culture which produced this Tango in Argentina at about DANCE WEAR the same time. The phenomenon of whites in the US picking up on the dance and bringing it out into mainstreamculture was paralleledin 'DANCE SHOES Argentina during roughly the same period, when Argentine Tango grew to have more acceptance. 305 Union Street Trenner, who seems to tour extensively, will likely be expanding more on these similarities in an upcoming issue. Franklin, MA 02038 He and his partner Rebecca Shulman will be running a IO-day tripto Argentina starting March 17. Although it starts from New York, U.S.A. arrangements can be made for travelers fromoutside of the US to join (508) 528-0860 the trip.

Page 11 City Review Hoppin' Summer '94

Historyfrom Oslo style), Jitterbug (as in Bill Haley films like Don't Knock the Rock), and the European Acrobatic Rock 'n Roll style of the '80s and '90s. In the last couple of years the team has also begun doing Boogie Woogie and Lindy Hop. Guest instructors such as Frank Manning, Chazz Young, Rob van Haaren, and Steven Mitchell have all given workshops in Norway.

'l'ryinoto protect smrretlimgspe­ cialultimate(y k._iffs it, because it 6ecomes so fragileit can't survive on its own. :Fortlimgs to survive, tlieyneed an eCementof robust­ ness.

Freddie Haugan of 8/}rdarDanseinstitutt in Norwayleads a class in a twitchy move. Photo courtesy of Rune H. Schulstad.

Freddie Haugan, current owner of the Anvertisement BiirdarDance Institute, sends in the following from Oslo.

The Bardar Dancing School was started in 1937 in Oslo, and was the firstin Norway to have Swing Dance courses. It was called the Swing Danseinstitutt at that time. It had to be closed in 1942 because of the second world war. Norway was occupied by Germans, and they had forbidden Swing danc­ ing. In 1945, right after the war, the school was reopened under the name Bardar by Bergljot Bardar, who had studied, primarily in London, fro� 1937-39. Mrs. Bardar also taught Ballroom dances, and was the best Jitterbug teacher in Norway. In 1957, Danish dancers became the World Jitterbug Champions, but were beaten the fol­ lowing year by the Bardar Club team. For many years Danish and Norwegian dancers have been among the best in Europe in the original Jitterbug style. During the '50s, the school began to teach Latin American dance, and since then has con­ 7��:i� tinued with a range of styles in its program. Bardar was the first to teach the new popular Manufacturers of Quality Footwear dances like Twist, Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Fame, Dirty Dancing, Lambada, and Distributors Throughout the World Hip Hop. In the mid-' 80s, current owner Freddie INTERNATIONAL DANCE SHOES Haugan started a fonnation show team called 57 Alston Drive, Bradwell Abbey, the Bardar Dancing Team. They dance many Milton Keynes, MK13 9HB, United Kingdom. Swing styles including West Coast Swing (old Telephone: (0908) 319937 Fax: (0908) 220719

Page 12 Camp Review Hoppin' Summer '94

Whitsun Camp, Germany - 1994 Selmon, Louise Thwaite, Erin variations and other dance styles. Stevens, Steven Mitchell, Ryan On Saturday evening most par­ . . The Awards at the Francois, Julie Oram, Rob van .- 1994 Whitsun ticipants and trainers attended the .. Camp (l,r)Marcus Haaren, Jann Olsen, Lee Laitz, 3rd Boogie Woogie and Swing Koch, Frankie Ewa Staremo, and Lennart Ball where they experienced an Manning with Westerlund. overwhelming event. Forty years FrankieAward, and A standing ovation was given to after "Rock Around the Clock", Ralf Hergert, presi­ Frank Manning who, despite his dent of Boogie Bill Haley's Original Comets Baren. hip operation last year and com­ played again in a way that made ,�.·: ···�···· ing 801hbirthday, danced like a sparks fly. There were some peo­ ' youngster. The "amateurs" (i.e. ple with tears in their eyes from Eva-Maria Schmid ...sent in the , ferent days. Furthermore they they don't earntheir living from being so near !heir idols. following article on this year's had a chance to choose their dancing and giving lessons) were, But the highlight of the evening Boogie Baren Whitsun dance favourite trainersin this section. from Switzerland Reto Gurt & was the award of a trophy, which camp in Germany. However, for 5 days ad nights the Melanie Bucher, world champi­ the Boogie-Baren gave to honour heads of Marcus and Barbi were ons 1994, Sarah Kreienbiihl & persons who promote and spread On Friday, 20th of May, tents spinning and the computer was Marco Loumann, Danny dance styles fromSwing to the sprang up like mushrooms on the overheated trying to analyze all Peterhans. From Germany came Rock'n'Roll of the 50s. The win­ green and white meadow covered registrations and fulfill mostof Barbi Kaufer and Marcus Koch, ner of the first "Frankie Award" by marguerites located in frontof the wishes. world champions 1993, was Frank Manning, who gave the sports center in Landsberg. The training was held in fixed Christiane Nomer and Dieter the statue its name. Boogie-Baren Whitsun Camp was 4-hour blocs for Boogie or Lindy. Stanowski. Completely exhausted physical­ coming up again. But the highlights were the bon­ The Boogie Baren created a ly and psychically, participants, After the first bitterly cold night bon lessons which could be cho­ special trainingfor beginners and trainers, assistants and organizers the sun shone the next morning sen freely. There were, for intermediates which focused right cleared out on Monday afternoon but was scarcely recognized by instance, AfroDance, Hip Hop or from the beginning on feeling for after three days full of music, the 480 participants and 46 train­ Tango Argentina and, as a supple­ body and beat instead of cram­ dancing, learning, and working. ers. ment, e.g. Step, Shag, or Music ming basic steps and learninglots And they are looking forward Attendees had a choice of either Theory. of figures. Thus the dancer can to lhe 9th Boogie-Baren Whitsun Boogie Woogie or Lindy Hop, or The trainersfrom UK, USA, more easily develop their own Camp in 1995. combine both dance styles on dif- and Sweden included Simon style later, and is open for step Translated by Gerti Windhuber r Advertisement TO HELP CELEBRATE FRANKIE'S BIRTHDAY PORL SMITH presents a limited edition of 80 T-shirts bearing the legend: HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRANKIE & MANY LINDY TURNS

These top-quality T-shirts feature a night-club map of Harlem from the thirties. All are individually numbered and are available at cost - £6 or equivalent - plus postage of £1.25. Send your cheque or money order for £7.25 to: Porl Smith, 80 Bonnington Sq_ Vauxhall, London SWB TG England

Page 13 Lindy Bits Hoppin' Summer '94

Lindy Bits dazzled by organiser Lennart Advertisement PRELIMINARY Westerlund's legendary wild sun glasses, and thrown off their nor­ REPORT FROM mal routine... Thanks to Rob van Haaren for SWEDEN keeping us in touch with the Lat­ est-breaking news. The annual Herrang dance camp was again a raging success, with close to 650 attendees over CWTHINGHILARYDESIGN AND WILiPRODUCTION the four weeks. Votes for the most exotic location this year's campers came from went to Lapland. Along with the now expected attendees fromHungary, Germany, London, and the US, the first attendee came from Holland, and a group of Argentine Tango fans from Paris started out in the tap classes but apparently had their interest piqued by Lindy. For all you Ladybug fans out there, they apparently went on a rampage in Herrang. One wild afternoon on the beach we're told there was a downpour of the insect variety looking for any­ Tailor & Dressmaker thing they could get a hold of to Ladies & Menswear bite. Estimates say that in a square footthere were a minimum of thirty ladybugs looking to Specialist in classic designs chomp. When we gave you the from the '40s & '50s London Ladybug's recipe for the Big Apple in the Winter issue, we (071) 498 9132 never expected this kind of result! This could only happen in Sweden, home of the mid-sum­ Personally -styled Professionally produced mer snow storm and land of the midnight sun. Maybe they were

Subscriptions Yes, I want to know more about Lindy Hop! I want: D to subscribe, starting with the ______issue* D a single issue -______(indicate which quarter) Name__. ______Address______------Postcode______Countr y______Phone______Occupation ______. ______Where did you get this subscription form?______Costs: Payment must accompany subcription Send To: Sin�le Issue Sweden: Money - postgiro 628643-9, Yeah Man; Forms - Countrv Currency Subscription Autumn Current The Rhythm Hot Shots, Ploggatan I, S-11634 Stockholm. Germany DM 35 4 8 USA: Dancing StarProductions, to DSP c/o Nancy H. Sweden SEK 140 15 30 Sandburg, 811 Knapp Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. UK £ 9 1.25 2.25 Germany/UK/World: Dancing Star Productions, Ground USA $ 19 2.50 5 Floor Flat, 135 Sutherland Avenue, London W9 2QJ. World £ 13 1.50 3 *Hoppin' is i:mblished quarterly • Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer. Back issues are available on a limited basis. Prices include postage.

Page 14 Classifieds, Lindy Listings Hoppin' Summer '94

Classifieds Advertisement WANT TO SELL THOSE BRAND NEW Sweden, an impartial group of judges will TWO-TONE SHOES YOU BOUGHT A SIZE choose the contest winners from the previous TOO SMALL? year's issues, and a prize (TBD) will be award­ ed. You don't have to be present to win. LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO RUN UP A Send your entries to Box P/1. PAIR OF ARMPIT TROUSERS?

DESPERATE TOFIND A COPY OF Talent Needed COUNT BASIE'S "LOVE JUMPED OUT"? Fledgling dance newsletter looking for tal­ ented dance/action photographers, writers, Hoppin' now featuresthis regular promo-lions and sponsorship experts, advertis­ Classifieds page where you can advertise, at ing sales people, and distributors around the reasonable rates, anything you need or want, world. If you can help, please write to Box for sale, rent, share, or barter. All replies will HELP. be to designated box-office addresses care of If you have a special skill to make available the Hoppin' offices, and will be posted to Hoppin'readers, place your ad here. unopened to advertisers, guaranteeing confi­ A top live Swing, R&B or dentiality. For Sale Rock'n'Roll band everymonth Help support Hoppin' by making use of Jive Party Disco this service - your notice will be read around Life Magazine The with the the world! If you're going abroad and need best inSwing, R&B and somewhere to stay, try an ad in Hoppin' A copy of the December 14, 1936 Life Rock'n'Roll - it could save you a fortune! Magazine featuringscenes fromthe Savoy is A spacious dance floor with The rates are £.50 (or equivalent) per 4-col­ available for £15. Contact Deb Huisken on +44 71 221 8331 or write to Box DH. candlelittables. umn line of type - illustrationsand special That'sSaturday Night Jive type-setting extra. Deadline for the Fall issue is I November Mountain Bike Party! 1994. Hand-made 22 Juch, Klein, Aluminum Dancing from8pm 'til 1am Rascal. Hot pink and black with Shimano XT Run by dancersfor dancers! components. $1500. Bike is in Europe. Call Rob van Haaren at+ l 805 687 5207 or write to box RV. Notre Dame Hall Homes for Hoppers 6 1,eicesterPlace Free spare room in central London for IAmdon WCt dancers looking for a bed for a couple of (offLeiuster Square) nights. Contact Simon Bell on +44 71 403 3982 or write to Box SB.

Looking for Partners News Flash! Place your ad for the dance partner of your dreams here - you never know where in the Photo and IllustrationContest. world they might be hiding! Submit your drawing and/or photos illustrat­ ing Lindy and Lindy-related events, people, activities. We'll use the best ones in upcoming issues of Hoppin'. Then, at the 1995 dance camp in Herriing,

Page 15 Lindy Hop Events Hoppin' Summer '94

Whats Hoppin' Around the World *Lindy Hog Workshog *Lindy Hog Workshog •How Does Lindy Stack Up? Massachusetts, USA, 26 Sept. to London, UK, 16-17 November PLANS FOR A look at similar but different October 2. Open Classes and 1994. Lindy Hop and American dance fonns such as Argentine Lindy Intensive, beginning and Top workshop at the Linda UPCOMING Tango, Shag, LeRoc, Hip Hop, intermediate Lindy Hop, Big Bayliss Theatre. Contact June ISSUES etc. Apple, and authentic Jazz move- Gamble, Bullies Ballerinas, phone • The Clothes ment. Teacher Steve Mitchell; +44 81 942 7139. •The Music • Spotlights on the Jiving dancing to Glen Miller Orchestra. • Lindy Love Stories Lindy Hoppers, the Sugarfoot Contact Patricia Brennan, phone • Lindy Etiquette Winter Boogie Stompers(London), and other +1 413 529 0437. • What Will it Take to Keep Catskills, NY, USA. 27-29 currently performing dance Lindy Alive? January'95. Contact: Boogie troupes *London Lindy Hop Dance Productions. phone + l • What Ever Happened to Festival Plus the Regular Features 212 2602033 Mama Lou Parks and her • What's Hoppin' Around'the London, UK, 14-16 October 1994 Dancers?- revisited. World - Lindy events Lindy Hop, Tap, and other American Swing Dance • The California Scene, and • Lindy Listings authentic Jazz dance forms. Co- Chamgionshigs other dance scenes around the • Classifieds sponsored by the Jiving Lindy world including Budapest, New York, NY,USA • Lindy Bits of news from Hoppers and London Swing Stockholm, Vienna, maybe even 7-9 April '95. Contact American around the world Dance Society. Teachers include Australia, etc. Swing Dance Championships, • Resoll1'CeS and References Simon Selmon & Louise Thwaite, • Women Who Lindy -includ- phone +l 212 260 2033 or l 800 ... andmore! Warren Heyes & Maxine Green, ing Mickey Dee, Norma Miller, 537 8937. Caroline Hind &Russell Sargeant, and more If you have sugges'iions for and Jonathan Bixby & Sylvia • More on Why Do YOU topics you'd like to see covered, Sykes. Contact London Swing Dance/Lindy? We'll be continu- •indicates new information since last issue or comments on the topics listed, Dance Society, phone +44 81 954 ing our surveying - send us your send them in - we'll see what we 2147. comments. can do with them.

Lindy Hop News Worldwide Hoppin'

Dancing Star Productions P.O. Box 6008 London W2 5ZY UK

Dear Hoppin' Reader: Due to technical difficulties this issue, the photographs came out much too dark. an insert in the next Our sincere apologies forthis situation. We will be r�p�nti�g the photos as issue, so you'll be able to see all the details that are m1ssmg m the current one. Thank you for your understanding. Enjoy!