What is Swing Dance?

Origins

Swing dancing or 'lindyhop' dates back to the great jazz era of the 30s and 40s in the USA. It developed among the African American community – most famously in Harlem – and was danced to the big bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and others.

Rebirth

By the 60s and 70s it had all but died out, but in the 80s dance enthusiasts rediscovered the dance and even tracked down many of the original dancers who were still alive, learnt from them and launched a new era of swing. It has grown ever since and there are now swing dances being held all over the world, with established swing dance scenes in several UK cities.

Dance camps and exchanges have been central to this development – to find out how and more importantly why you should go, see dance camps & exchanges.

What does it look like?

No point wasting words here... Go to the videos page to get an idea and then come down to our club nights to see for yourself!

There are a number of other related dances that are also gaining popularity, such as Balboa, Shag, Blues - you'll also find examples of these on the videos page.

For more on the history of both the original and modern era of swing, have a look at some of these excellent sites: (details here soon)