Lindy Hop: An escape from slavery.

"I see dance being used as communication between body and soul, to express what is too deep to find for words." (Sachs 2011). In this essay I will be investigating how Lindy Hop a dance originated in Harlem in the 1920s was an escape from the torment, injustice and inequality that African American people where

subjected to on a daily basis. How it was able to be a testimony of the uprising of the people, how it gave them freedom to express themselves, how it took them back to their long forgotten African roots and finally how it was able to be a source of joy, fun and happiness in their lives.

African-American civil rights activists used black authors and artists to push for civil rights goals. This movement became known as the Harlem Renaissance which bridged the 1920s. Jazz Music along with black literature and African American fine art were consumed into mainstream culture. (Harlem Renaissance, 1996) The momentum of this movement set the stage for early Jazz which in turn provided rhythms and tempos

perfectly suited for the fast footwork for dance like the Lindy Hop. On March 12, 1926, the doors opened on what was to become the "mother church of swing dance," the Savoy Ballroom. The Savoy Ballroom has beheld all the greats of early Jazz and swing. Bandleaders like Count Basie, Chick Webb, Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, would swap sets from bandstands in the Savoy's popular "Battle of the Bands. (kclindyhop.org, 2005) So the Lindy Hop blossomed with dancers trying to surpass each other with fresh break away moves. Lindy Hop made a comeback in the 1980s, as it started
appearing in movies and commercials, and continues till today. Movies such as such as Hellzapoppin and Day at the Races, as well as Malcolm X and Swingkids show. (What is Lindy Hop? n.d.)This served as a testimony to the continuing up rise of the African American people. In times of struggle, injustice and inequality, the black community used dance such as the Lindy Hop as an escape and vehicle toward a better life.

After slavery was abolished in 1865, and African American slaves were freed there was little to no resources for them to start up the new lives they thought the end of slavery promised them, on top of this there was an uprising of the former oppressors whom wanted to ensure the black people did

not gain the civil rights that they were entitled to. As a result of being enslaved and then gaining freedom,
Blacks reacted in various ways, because they now had the right to make their own decisions. (Delgado, 1999) A

lot of freed slaves were often neglected, or faced tumultuous disease, including outbreaks of smallpox and cholera. (Harris, 2012) A vast number of them simply starved to death. Being set free was both the gift and the curse as almost all freed slaves had no idea how to fend for themselves, and had the idea that being emancipated, meant freedom from work altogether or anything they associated with slavery. They were freed from their masters but not from the psychological aftermath slavery left in its wake. They had not found their voice. One place they were free to express themselves however, was through dance. Lindy hop was one of the first urban street dance styles originated by black people for the people. Because of the time they lived in and the conditions that
surrounded that era, dance was something that they relied on somewhere they felt freedom, an escape from the reality that consumed them, to use it as the voice they didnt have.

After being subjugated for so long the Lindy Hop was a vessel to show case their creativity stemming back to their African roots. Throughout slavery in America, the enslaved people amused themselves, and
others, with musical and dance styles which embodied features they carried with them from Africa. Drawing from the documentary titled When The Spirit Moves, a number of the African dance attributes includes: movement of the entire body, angular bending of the arms, legs, and torso, shoulder and hip movement, scuffing, stamping, and hopping, asymmetrical fluid movement, an orientation into the earth as opposed to on top of a dance floor, a free spirit of improvisation and pantomime. When the Lindy Hop emerged in Harlem in the late 1920's it contained many of these African qualities. While Africans were coercively taken out of Africa into distant alien lands they were frequently separated from their native language cultures. One of the cultural forms which enabled people to persevere and communicate with each other was music. Music was capable to speak across the language barrier that isolated diverse enslaved Africans. All Africans could partake in music

and dancing so it supplied a means for survival. Dances had distinct messages and would relay particular ideas. (The beginning of Lindy Hop, n.d.) In summary the Lindy Hop was the escape mechanism which slaves used to revert back to their African roots.

America was still a country dominated by racism and persecution for blacks, even though slavery had been eradicated. Segregation occurred in almost all public facilities including, toilets, restaurants, parks and bars. The state not only resolutely advocated a destructive and brutal status system, it was legalized. The colloquial term for racial segregation at that time was Jim Crow. The ideals of white supremacy established the rising of deranged, demented cults and lynch mobs such as the KKK, as a way of ensuring that blacks never gained equal rights. African Americans found a new conviction to combat these injustices, through the black soldiers that went to war for their country, were treated equally and then told not to expect that treatment when they landed on home soil. (Freitas, n.d.) This sets the tone of just some of the things that the people had to endure based on the colour of their skin. They had suffered so much during slavery and still had to be subjected to more. There were very few ways to escape the turmoil they seemed to find themselves in. Dance was an escape they always came back to. The Lindy hop has been said to be an ultimately joyful dance, it provided fun and happiness in times of great depression and sadness.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. (Ali-Denari, 2010) Oppression of the African American people in the 1920s was a common almost monotonous theme throughout. The definition of escape is to break free from confinement or control. Through dances

like the Lindy Hop the afflicted people could find their escape from the torment, injustice and inequality that African American people where subjected to on a daily basis. They were able to be a testimony of the uprising of the people, it was a source of freedom to express themselves, it allowed them to go back to their long forgotten African roots and finally it was able to be a source of joy, fun and happiness in their lives.

References: 1. Ali-Denari, A. (2010) Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Retrieved from

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

2. Dehn, M. (1950) When the spirit moves. [Documentary]. USA: Dance Time Publications

3. Delgado, Y. Orozco, F. Plummer, N. Rivas, J. (1999) Free blacks in the south. Retrieved from http://cghs.dadeschools.net/slavery/free_blacks/free.blacks.south.htm

4. Freitas,C. (n.d.) The Civil Rights Movement. Retrieved from www.socialistalternative.org/literature/panther/ch3.html

5. Harlem renaissance (1996) Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/tv/classroom/harlem-renaissance

6. Harris, P. (2012) How the end of slavery led to starvation and death for millions of black Americans. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/16/slavery-starvation-civil-war

7. kclindyhop.org (2005) Retrieved from http://www.kclindyhop.org/history_a.htm#aadance

8. Renzland, P. (n.d.) What is Lindy Hop? Retrieved from http://dancing.org/lindy-what-is.html

9. Sachs, C. (2011) Dance Quotes. Retrieved from www.buzzle.com/articles/dance-quotes.html

10. The beginning of the Lindy Hop (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.savoystyle.com/history.html