What is lindy hop? Origins, music and what makes the dance

Lindy hop is a swing dance for two from Harlem, New York. It emerged in the late 1920s to the jazz music of the time and is all about rhythm, improvisation and fun. Below are the questions people ask most often.

What is lindy hop?

An African American partner dance from Harlem, created around 1928 and big in the 1930s. Lindy hop blends elements of African American dance with the eight-count structure of European partner dances. The defining figure is the swingout. In 1943 Life magazine devoted a cover story to it, under the headline that "a true national folk dance" had been born in the United States.

Where does lindy hop come from?

From Harlem, in the late 1920s. The name refers to the aviator Charles Lindbergh, who flew solo across the Atlantic without stopping in 1927. According to the best-known story, the dancer George "Shorty" Snowden came up with the name during a dance marathon in New York. The Library of Congress places it at a marathon in Manhattan shortly after Lindbergh's flight; the Frankie Manning Foundation names a charity marathon in 1928. Some writers doubt the story is true, so there are several versions of exactly when it happened.

The dance built on the breakaway, the charleston, the Texas Tommy and the hop. Its centre became the Savoy Ballroom on Lenox Avenue in Harlem, which opened on 12 March 1926. The Savoy was one of the first dance venues in the United States where Black and white visitors danced together. The dancer Frankie Manning remembered that when you came in, all they wanted to know was whether you could dance. In the north-east corner of the floor, Cats' Corner, the best dancers danced.

In the 1930s Frankie Manning made the dance more acrobatic with air steps. From 1934 he was a dancer and choreographer with Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, a group set up by Herbert "Whitey" White, a bouncer at the Savoy. Lindy hop could be seen in films such as A Day at the Races (1937) and Hellzapoppin' (1941).

From the war years onwards interest declined. A 1944 federal tax on nightclubs with a dance floor hit the clubs, and after the war rock 'n' roll and bebop pushed swing aside as dance music. The Savoy closed in October 1958. The revival came in the mid-1980s, in New York, London, Stockholm and California among other places. Frankie Manning was tracked down and taught all over the world again. In the 1990s a second wave followed, with new swing bands.

What music do you dance lindy hop to?

To swing jazz, the big-band music of the 1930s and 1940s. The Savoy house band that was most popular in the 1930s was led by the drummer Chick Webb, with the young Ella Fitzgerald as singer. The Savoy held battles of the bands: in 1937 Webb took on Benny Goodman's orchestra, in 1938 Count Basie's.

At social nights today it is still mainly traditional swing music that gets played. Since the 2010s electro swing has also drawn new people to the dance.

What makes lindy hop lindy hop?

The swingout, the swing in the music and the freedom. Improvisation and a personal style were central from the start. At the Savoy everyone had their own style.

There are two main schools. The Savoy style is energetic, round and turning, and belongs to 1930s dancers such as Manning. The Hollywood or smooth style, associated with the dancer Dean Collins in Los Angeles, has a lower, more grounded posture and is danced in a slot. West coast swing also later grew out of lindy hop in California.

What I call the contract between dance partners shows clearly in lindy hop: you stick to the basic shape of music and dance, and within that shape there is room for whatever you want to do with the music. Step too far outside it, and it doesn't work. Leading and following are roles, not genders. In the swing scene, too, more and more people dance both roles (see Lead, follow or switch).

What is the difference between lindy hop and charleston?

Charleston is an older dance that became one of the building blocks of lindy hop. In lindy hop you see charleston steps worked into the partner dance.

Is lindy hop hard to learn?

The basics are manageable; mostly it asks you to get the rhythm into your body. The air steps from old film footage belong to performances and competitions, not to the first classes. As a beginner you mostly notice that you move a lot and that you switch partners. Bring comfortable shoes and clothes you can move in.

Where do you dance lindy hop in the Netherlands?

In classes at dance schools and swing clubs, at socials (also called swing nights) and at weekends and camps with workshops. A night with live music is a good way to see how the dance and the music fit together.

Find a school through the lindy hop schools on Discover. If it is your first time, read Your first dance class or Dancing as an adult beginner.

Sources

• Library of Congress Information Bulletin, 1930s Dance Revival (26 June 1995): https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9513/afc.html
• Frankie Manning Foundation, Shorty George Snowden: https://www.frankiemanningfoundation.org/shorty-george-snowden
• New York State Senate, resolution J1764 (2025) on the Savoy Ballroom: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/J1764
• Eliza Berman, The Lindy Hop: An American Dance Since the 1920s, TIME (16 March 2015, on the Life cover story of 23 August 1943): https://time.com/3739226/lindy-hop/
• Wikipedia, Lindy Hop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Hop
• Wikipedia, Savoy Ballroom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy_Ballroom