Trivia/reflection:
Cab Calloway coined the term "jitterbug" in the short film,
Jitterbug Party.
It turns out that "Lindy Hop" and "Jitterbug" are two names for the same dance. Black folks called it the former; white folks called it the latter. I learned it from my parents' housekeeper, Miss Greene.
A "too cool to sweat" version of it is called "Stepping." Other names for it, depending on the "bounce" one puts in one's step, or doesn't, are "Hand Dancing" (a DC name), "West Coast Swing" and "East Coast Swing" and "Carolina Shag." It's all swing.
I'm not a dance technician so I can't enumerate the minor distinctions between them. At the end of the day, however, if you can do one, you can do the rest of them. It seems to me it's all a matter of how exuberant or not one is doing it, and the setting dictates that.
Learning it was among the most useful social skills I ever acquired. It's held me in good stead from middle-school, high school and college dances to hustling in the disco era, two-stepping to country in the south and Texas, having a good time at weddings, partying with my Latino friends and socializing in Latin countries, and hanging with boozhee friends. As far as I can tell, swing dancing spans and serves as commonality across cultures, income and country. And why shouldn't it? One can find a way to get along with anyone with whom one can dance.
When I was a kid, Miss Greene, if the right song came on when she was dusting or polishing the silver, she'd start "shaking her groove thing" while she worked. The first time I saw her, I asked her what she was doing. She said she said, "I'm dust-dancing. Get yourself a cloth and you can do it too." On another occasion, she was in the kitchen polishing silver to the rhythm.
Of course, that night, I told my brother about it, and, of course, he was sorry he'd missed out on the fun. Some time later, however, he was around when Miss Greene was polishing silver and dancing around the kitchen. That was his turn, so he grabbed a cloth and joined in. Momma and I were downstairs and heard the commotion, so we went upstairs to see what it was all about. We all ended up dancing and polishing silver.
Miss Greene suggested to Momma that they teach us the Lindy Hop. Momma was all for it. She put "In the Mood" on, and they taught my brother and me the Lindy Hop/Jitterbug. It made my brother and me a "hit" with the girls 'cause the other boys didn't know it. What a blessing that turned out to be!
Anyway, I can't think of a more fun dance to do. Entwined with so many great memories from so many periods in my life, it lifts my mood every time. Hell, just doing it puts a big ol' smile on my face. And, of course, hearing "In the Mood," the song I think of as "officially" starting me dancing has the same effect.
ILHC 2013 Lindy Hop Finals in DC
Lindy Hop to "In the Mood"
