What is Lindy Hop?
Lindy Hop is an african american partner dance, related to hand dancing of around 1910, that was developed in the 1920’s in the heart of Harlem. It incorporates influences from other dances such as the Charleston, Texas Tommy, Break Away etc.A basic Lindy Hop dance would typically include classic moves such as a swing out, lindy turn, lindy circle and charleston moves. The Lindy Hop inspired many other dances such as Jive, Rock n Roll, East Coast Swing, Disco Dancing, Hip Hop etc. JiveSwing teachers learnt from some of the early 1930’s Lindy Hop dancers such as Frankie Manning and Norma miller et al.
What is swing?
Swing is the name of a genre of Jazz music that was developed during the late 1920’s to late 1940’s. The style of the swing music has since varied to accommodate a growing and diverse audience.
What is Swing Dance?
Swing dance is the umbrella term used to cover a variety of dances, that are performed primarily to swing music, such as Lindy Hop the grand daddy of them all, plus Balboa, Shag etc.
Where can I learn to Lindy Hop /Swing Dance
For many years, JiveSwing has run classes most nights of the week primarily in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, North London and surrounding areas. Click on classes to find the nearest class to you.
In addition you can now find swing dance classes in most cities around the world.
What music can you swing dance to?
Most people tend to dance Lindy Hop to swing music from the late 1930s to early 1950’s. However since the late 1990s a number of Neo Swing bands emerged, which play a modern version of swing and jazz music, electro swing, plus their own arrangements. We have a wide range of bands playing music for swing dancers at JiveSwing events.
What shoes do I wear to JiveSwing?
Any comfortable shoes with non-gripping soles, such as leather or suede. A number of dancers at JiveSwing purchase trainers and apply suede to the bottom, which allows them to spin efficiently.
Is the Lindy Hop easy to learn?
JiveSwing teachers are very patient and will teach the class at a pace to accommodate everyone attending the class, whilst breaking every move down into small manageable chunks, to create a fun learning environment.
Can we take a drop in class?
From over 20 years of research, we find that absolute beginners with two left feet, take at least 4 weeks to really achieve and generally learn much faster, with 4 consecutive weeks, than dropping in sporadically. As a result, JiveSwing only offers 4 week monthly courses.
What clothes do I wear to a swing dance class?
Most people at JiveSwing classes and around the world tend to wear comfortable shoes and loose clothing to dance classes, but may then dress up for social dances and special events.
What are famous Lindy Hop moves?
Basic 8 Count, The Swing Out, The Lindy Turn, The Lindy Circle, Charleston, Tandem Charleston, The Texas Tommy are some of the famous Lindy Hop Moves.
Who are the early Lindy Hop dancers?
There are so many dancers that contributed to the development of Lindy Hop since the 1920’s, including Shorty George, Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, Al Minns, Leon James are amongst the most famous dancers from the Savoy Ballrroom, followed by the later dancers such as Sonny Allen, Sugar Sullivan and Barbara Billups. There are also famous dancers from Savoy Manor, such as Mama Lu Parks and her dancers.
Where can I learn about the history of Swing dance?
Check out the JiveSwing history page on this website or join Swingopedia, a free Facebook Group, filled with lots of information, resources, chats and references.
View our upcoming classes!
Local Classes
Join our swing dance classes!
- No special clothing required
- Great way to make new friends
- Fun way to keep fit
- Free refreshments
- No previous experience
- necessary
- No age restrictions
- No partners required
We think we’re the UK’s friendliest swing dance club! No new dancer will ever find themselves stuck watching from the side lines. If you decide you like us, you’ll also enjoy our monthly social dances and all the other social get-togethers & meals that happen on a regular basis.
Upcoming Classes
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Class information
At JiveSwing there are classes taking place every weeknight across Hertfordshire, Essex, and Middlesex (north London), in Lindy Hop, the original swing dance. We also teach other swing dance styles such as Authentic Jazz, East Coast Swing, 20s Charleston, Balboa, Blues, Shag etc.
Jiveswing teachers are currently some of the UK and Europe’s most highly trained and hired international Lindy Hop teachers, keeping in touch with some of the original 1930s/40s dancers as personal mentors and for inspiration.
Whichever class you attend, you’ll get high quality, where our main focus is making things simple and breaking it all down into manageable bits. Classes are taught in a style that makes it fun, friendly and easy to learn. We run in 4-week progressive courses so come and give it a try!