By Genny Kunkel

At Lindy Focus 2023, I had the privilege of attending a series of panel talks covering topics related to history and inclusivity in the Lindy Hop community. The below notes are some of my main takeaways from the panel called “Bridging the Scenes” which discussed cultural context of Lindy Hop and how it is related to other dance styles. This conversation, and awareness it brings, is necessary because while many of the elements of Lindy have been preserved from the past, the cultural context of the dance has not been lost in a big way. Lindy, as well as many other black dances, is a living artform and is more than learning moves or copying elements from old movies (though you should still try to learn and understand this history too!). It is an ever evolving dance that has roots in the past but a solid place in the future.

I, admittedly, am a pandemic dancer. While I try to do as much research as time will allow, it does not replace personal experience. So, it was incredibly beneficial to have an account of how lindy and blues scenes have evolved since the 80’s. I think that many beginner dancers may develop a healthy understanding of Lindy origins in the early 1900’s, but the finer details after the “swing revival” (swing rejuvenation?) are a little hazy. The following is a paraphrased summary provided by Damon Stone:

In the 80’s 3 big groups (Southern California, London, and Sweden) started developing a big interest in swing dancing. People went to Harlem to learn from old timers and started asking them out to their home scenes in order to learn from them. While at this time Lindy started gaining more international acclaim, it had still been alive through groups like Mama Lu Parks’ in Harlem even if the rest of the (white) world had moved on.

Once Lindy had taken off again and big events started cropping up, many events started having dedicated nights or rooms that played slower music to give people a rest from all of their fast hopping. It just so happens that blues music is highly related to jazz music and can be pretty slow! This promoted the formation of blues nights at Lindy events and the eventual formation of a blues scene (2005ish) who wanted to practice more traditional blues dancing rather than exhausted wiggling in a dark room.

But, even with the growth of a blues scene, some lindy and blues dances alike still had events/nights/rooms claiming to be blues but the music didnt match the dancing. Many times these would become the “sexy time” where people could dance to slow music in dark with each other. While there is nothing wrong with this, its not necessarily blues or lindy! These dances can be for all ages and styles of lighting! The original forms of blues dancing that were still happening in smaller groups all over the country, could demonstrate this. Thus, a fusion scene started growing out of the set of people who wanted the to dance how they want to what they want. Also, blues and lindy scenes started to become more strict about the confines of their dances to prevent cultural misrepresentation.

Next, Chisomo Selemani spoke a bit about the rise of Balboa:

Balboa came later than Lindy and formed as swing music propagated across the USA. While Balboa gets the categorization of being developed and practiced only by white people, it was actually practiced and developed by immigrants. However, most people who were documented doing Bal on film where white or white passing. As swing dancing started gaining more recognition again in the 80’s people like Sylvia Sykes and her partner Jonathan Bixby started to seek out old timers in California at places like Bobby Mcgee’s to help them learn/polpularize Bal.

These stories help to provide historical information that needs to be preserved as we evolve in the dance and a serve to highlight cultural values that are critical to swing-adjacent artforms. Sharing and relationship building was the method by which people learned these dances before other groups re-popularized in the 80’s. This mindset change also adds the the segregation of the dance. According to the panel, this element of sharing and relationships has gotten lost in the current culture of Lindy Hop. Its not always about knowing the right steps but about getting a the feeling right. When we can form diverse groups of experienced and non-experienced people to encourage sharing, we can contribute to the collective history that we hold in the individuality of our bodies. This is an element that has persisted in more modern black dances that have evolved from early jazz dances and one (of many) reasons why we should try to learn about these too!

The question that I present to us all now is how can we help to preserve these founding cultural ideas and also account for the many different types of people who want to learn lindy hop? Some ideas that were discussed in the panel include hiring black instructors! Also to diversify teaching/learning styles and prioritize community values. We can get more youth involved in the dance to keep it alive and incorporate all ages! When Lindy events do have themed nights, they can also include classes and informational sessions on those dances so that we don't disrespect artforms out of ignorance.

Lastly, In the spirit of abolishing some previously held stereotypes, last notes to note include:

• Its also important to understand that every body moves differently and that's beautiful!
• The same dance shouldn't look the same on everyone and the same dance can take on a different emotional energy depending on who is dancing it it!
• Balboa can be hip-y. Hip-y doesn't have to mean sexual (in fact weird eyebrow wiggling could be way more sexual than someone's hips!).
• Lindy can be fast or slow just as blues can be fast or slow.
• Lets discard the fear of close embrace unless its for physical comfort reasons. Close dancing is also a part of lindy hop and does not have to be sexual.
• Blues and lindy dont only have to be for adults. Both of these dances were literally practiced by families. They are only as uncomfortable as you decide to make them!