Balboa
Another popular swing dance is called Balboa that was originated in Southern California during the 1920s/30s. A lot of dance historians believe that this dance was influenced by Foxtrot, but others state that it was evolved from the Charleston. Although it is clear that Balboa dancers were influenced by the knowledge of the other Swing dances. Balboa in its original form was danced in closed position with an upright posture with partners standing chest to chest, having really …show more content…
It is a partner dance that has eight and six count steps that also consist of steps borrowed from the Charleston. This dance born from African rhythms and European dance movements and was influenced by other swing dance forms mentioned before. This dance can be both, wild, energetic, fast with acrobatic tricks included or slow, calm and sophisticated. This dance is assumed to be a cultural phenomenon that broke the walls between races when segregation still existed (Smith, 2016). This dance is considered to be born in 1928 in The Savoy Ballroom which was the most famous place in Harlem for dancers and black jazz musicians. It is not clear who invented the Lindy Hop because it was a social dance evolved by a lot of dancers over the years and there are not found the historical documents about the birth of this dance, but there is a story about it that has no proof. It is said that in 1928 after a short time that Charles Lindberg did his historical flight across the Atlantic, in Savoy Ballroom was a big dance marathon going. The very talented dancer George Snowden known as 'Shorty ' performed interesting and energetic new movements, jumps, acrobatic tricks with his partner Big Bea. Reporter who was really impressed by this new dance asked Shorty what he was doing. When Shorty saw the newspaper heading titled ‘Lindy Hops the Atlantic’ he said 'Hey, man, take a look, I 'm flying! I 'm doing the Lindy ! '. …show more content…
As Frankie Manning was the best dancer of the Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. He tells how people from all of the town used to come in clubs to be entertained by best Lindy Hop dancers. Music made the biggest influence for dancers it made them want to move and they could not stop. People spent most of their time at the Savoy Ballroom, Manning even dropped out of the high school. He explains that people were dancing like anything else did not matter, like the rest of the world did not exist and there were only dancers and the dance floor. When black and white dancers started to dance together it was a shock for the rest of the people who saw their performances. 'We didn 't knew white or black, we knew dancing '. (Manning, 2009) He also says that, dance sequences looked like dancers were flying it was so fast with high jumps and a lot of tricks. That Shorty also brought humor for the Lindy Hop style as he was short and his partner was really tall and it was funny to watch them dance. Therefore, the Lindy Hop became the most merry dance of all swing dances. In 30 's in their performances dancers dressed up like workers- maids, cleaners, cookers as they where dancers from lower class it was a toll to fight the barriers between the races it represented the stereotyping. In the 40 's and 50 's the vintage styles appeared, flappy dresses, longer skirts colorful costumes