Swing

[communicator]

I am supposed to be writing but I have been wasting time this morning looking at lindy-hop and jitterbug videos on YouTube. I love Swing music, and I like the dancing that goes with it. I think the women are assertive and uninhibited

Comments

[fjm]

Gorgeous.

Just to note, dating patterns of the 1940s were less monogamous than a decade later. A boy's job at a dance was to introduce his girl to other boys to dance with, and "cutting in" was considered fine if done gracefully. Boys and girls tended to date in packs. Going Steady emerged during the war and predominated by the 1950s: it horrified the earlier generation who thought it *more* likely to lead to teen pregnancy. (all this from a book called Front Porch, Back Seat).

[communicator]

I experienced this in the 1970s - my first boyfriend's parents (who were oldish) really advocated the 'everyone should go out with everyone' idea, they more or less said it explicitly. This was just as you say, that each date was less likely to lead to serious stuff. Not sure it ever worked :-)

[emmzzi]

I am fairly sure no one is supposed to be doing anything at 8:50 :)

[communicator]

I got myself out of bed at 6am to write. 'Epic fail' as the young people say.

[communicator]

Yes, the Helzapoppin clip has quite a lot of exuberant aggression in it. I think it's interestingly different from the mainstream.

[communicator]

Yes, it's a good modern example. On the whole I find modern dancing less fluid: they go into dramatic poses, with a slight pause each time. But that's just my taste.

[nancylebov]

Thanks for the links. I'll note that the white woman also displayed her knickers, and arguably it was more emphasized. Or is your point that she did it while being lifted rather than while dancing under her own power?

For me, the most striking thing is the pure joy of both sets of dancers. I don't get the impression you generally see the same thing in dance videos these days.

[communicator]

I totally agree about the joy. They seem to be dancing primarily for themselves, not just for the viewer.

You are right you can see her knickers in that one, so it kind of disproves my point. I felt from viewing a range of clips that the white women had quite a lot less leg on show. I also thought the clips from the 1950s were more conservative than the 1940s. Perhaps all the rebels went from lindyhop to rock and roll.