![]() These troupes toured the United States and Europe performing versions of the Lindy Hop. As its popularity increased, professional troupes were formed. The Savoy Ballroom in Harlem was the home of the Lindy Hop. Because Charles Lindbergh had just made his famous solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, Shorty George is said to have replied, "the Lindy Hop." Whether it was Shorty George who coined the name is disputed by some writers, but, in any case, the name stuck. The name "Lindy Hop" is often attributed to "Shorty" George Snowden during an interaction with a newspaper writer who asked him what kind of dance they were doing. It has an emphasis on improvisation and the ability to include other steps in 8-count and 6-count rhythms. It is characterized by an 8-count basic, the "swingout", that transitions from open position through closed position and back. It is a dance of African American origin characterized by a high degree of physical vigor. Original forms dating from the 1920s and early 1930s ![]() A strong tradition of social and competitive boogie woogie and Rock 'n' Roll in Europe add these dances to their local swing dance cultures. ![]() The term "swing dancing" is often extended to include other dances that do not have certain characteristics of traditional swing dances: West Coast Swing, Carolina Shag, East Coast Swing, Hand Dancing, Jive, Rock and Roll, Modern Jive, and other dances developed during the 1940s and later. The term was famously associated with swing era band leader Cab Calloway because, as he put it, " look like a bunch of jitterbugs out there on the floor due to their fast, often bouncy movements." A "jitterbug" might prefer to dance Lindy Hop, Shag, or any of the other swing dances. It was also common to use the word to identify a kind of dancer (i.e., a swing dancer). Jitterbug is any form of swing dance, though it is often used as a synonym for the six-count derivative of Lindy Hop called "East Coast Swing". Historically, the term swing referred to the style of jazz music, which inspired the evolution of the dance. "Swing dance" was not commonly used to identify a group of dances until the latter half of the 20th century. While the majority of swing dances began in African-American communities as vernacular African-American dances, some influenced swing-era dances, like Balboa, developed outside of these communities. Today, the best-known of these dances is the Lindy Hop, which originated in Harlem in the early 1930s. Hundreds of styles of swing dancing were developed those that have survived beyond that era include Lindy Hop, Balboa, Collegiate Shag, and Charleston. Swing dance is a group of social dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s–1940s, with the origins of each dance predating the popular " swing era". Evita and Michael at 2011 Catalina Swing Dance Festival
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