Why "Other" African-American Dance Contributions?

Kizomba, Salsa, Zouk, Jitterbug read the dance list. Here was a school that respected the names of Black dances created outside of America but chose Jitterbug to represent Lindy Hop, a Black dance created in America. We asked why and are still awaiting a response.

Frankie Manning, a second-generation Black Lindy Hopper, once said in an interview: "Nowadays if you say Lindy Hop there are very few people who know the word. You know you say Lindy Hop and they just look at you you know. What is that? And then you say uh jitterbug and their face light up because they have heard Jitterbug for so long till they think that's what it is."

There’s a local jazz festival celebrating Jazz Age dances and listing Charleston, Lindy Hop and Jitter Bug in what is being billed as a “celebration of America’s unique performing art.” Once again, a Black creation is subsumed for a white audience with the Jitter Bug inclusion and no mention of Black creators related to these dance and music forms.

Related to this, using words like "vintage" can fix Lindy Hop into a particular time and place while ignoring it's cultural transmission (separating creators from their creation) through generations perhaps minimizing its present impact. My notes from Marie N'Diaye from hers and Felix’s workshop - “European cultures tend to preserve. That was their environment. If they didn't preserve food, they'd die, whereas food was often abundantly available in the African continent.” If environment begets culture then we ought to look at the language we use to enhance inclusivity.

Oftentimes, organizers are resistant to changing their language because they’re afraid of distancing their majority-white customer base. When an organizer asked us for co-promotion assistance, we asked them to take several anti-racist steps such as calling what they were teaching by their Black social dance names, talking about the roots of these dances both on their website and social media. Months later, we still haven’t heard back.

But what if we fully embraced and acknowledged Black ownership? As Dr. Thomas DeFrantz discussed in a CVFC talk - “Dance is technology transforming dehumanization into joy but Black people can’t hold the patent.” We keep taking their fertile creations and:

• renaming their creations

• transforming their creations through European-American lens (lead/follow concepts, angularity or lack thereof)

• sharing a history where these creations are vintage, ending in a certain era, and thereby ignoring the living community that fostered them

It’s sad to hear “That's just the way he is; he isn't going to change.” when people talk about organizers that will continue teaching East Coast Swing alongside their Lindy Hop. Instead of preserving white ownership appropriating Black culture, we should dismantle it through our words, actions and dollars.

Using Technology to Amplify Vernacular Dances Origins

Noted Black historian and dancer, Moncell Durden, asked in a presentation entitled "Rooting Uprooted" at The International Conference and Festival of Blacks in Dance - “what is being taught through the media?” and later saying “Once you find out where they {Black social dances] originated from you find out the meaning and why it's called what it's called but technology misses that.”

This made us immediately reflect on how we broadcast what we do online and what others do. For example, iLindy has this statement accompanying each of their social media posts on Instagram and Facebook: ”Swing Dancing is an African-American creative art, built on African-American dance values. These roots and values deserve to be reflected in our communities, to respect the spirit of the dance, and make it an inclusive space for people of color.” How they explicitly center swing dancing as an African-American dance form is fantastic to see!

Fifth Element Dance in Aurora writes “Jazz dance originated from Black communities in the late 1800s & 1900s. It combines performance with social & cultural dances that were emerging at the time of its development.” under the Jazz class description.

Katrina Rogers, owner of Move With Ease and a Blues dance instructor, writes “Embark on an immersive exploration of Blues Dance, a captivating and soulful form of black vernacular dance that transcends time and resonates with the heartbeat of cultural expression. Rooted in African American history, Blues Dance embodies the rich tapestry of emotions, stories, and experiences woven into the fabric of the blues music genre.” for her Beginner Blues series in the Facebook and Meetup events.

Others bundle Jitterbug and East Coast Swing as Vintage Swing Era Jazz Dances, offer that East Coast Swing “were originally developed side by side with vintage Jazz music”, or write that Lindy Hop is interchangeable with Jitterbug. Why do we need to couch Black dance in terms associated with whiteness? As Moncell also says and I paraphrase - “Your identity is attached to it and that's a disruption” which, if it holds true to me and my dance history, is likely true for other current organizers where they themselves and their own mentors are and were not steeped in swing dances’ origins or they purposefully avoid explicitly sharing the Black origins online.

We’re at the point when organizers occupying space within the Black social dance community ought to be using the names Black creators gave their social dances, stop using names that purposefully erased Blackness (jitterbug and east coast swing) and seek opportunities to share that these are Black social dances online and offline. And since we’re still in a time where whiteness is the default, it’s important to expressly state Lindy Hop is a Black (vernacular/social) dance. Stating it’s a dance born in Harlem, NY isn’t enough when the overall Black population is down to 44% in that neighborhood and people lack education around the Great Migration and Harlem Renaiisance.

Let’s use the technology available to us to amplify the origins of the vernacular dances we love so much rather than featuring them without origins.

The Dance is Called Lindy Hop

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Here's an excerpt from a conversation about urban dance that we can see reflected in current naming struggles within the Lindy Hop community. "Urban is problematic because it is not a racial term. It eliminates race. You're taking away the people from the dance."

You can likely draw a line from this statement to swing schools and instructors utilizing terms such as "jitterbug" or "east coast swing" to label classes teaching Lindy Hop with slow and quick rhythms. Whether their intentions are good or not, the more we get away from the origins, the more we erase Black ownership. And, while names change as things evolve, what people call "east coast swing" or "jitterbug" was a devolving or simplification of Lindy Hop.

Swingin' Denver has long since scrapped our own Jitterbug classes, but up until 2019, we had called the beginner swing dance classes we taught at outdoor events "beginner swing dance," jitterbug" or "east coast swing." We did not call it Lindy Hop.

Only after a lot of reading and listening during the pandemic did we make the switch which has been even more emphatic this year. My thoughts and feelings had finally firmly coalesced that we would confidently state we are teaching Lindy Hop with its vernacular dance hallmarks while teaching a particular rhythm (slows and quicks) danced to excellent swing music.

I'm happy to be in this spot since we are now more consistent with what we offer, believe and support. We could not celebrate Lindy Hop, a Black social dance, in one hand and erase the Black origins in the other.

We still have more growing and learning to do, but I wanted to share these thoughts with our audience. I hope other swing dance school will reach these conclusions soon.