Get involved in the American swing thing

Friday, Aug. 15, 2008

As the music changed through the decades, the dance moves of the youth did also. The music caused the birth of dances like the Charleston, black-bottom, lindy, shag, swing, jitterbug and the change still continues.

The lindy, shag, swing and jitterbug are still performed today and national competitions are held all over the country. All of these dances were developed because of American music. The music of the 1950s caused another change in the dance, gone were the jumping, hopping and aerial steps in the lindy and jitterbug of the 1940s.

The 1950s and 1960s style of swing dancing has returned to Calvert and Southern Anne Arundel counties. This type of swing dancing, also known as fast dance, hand dance and the bop, swept across the nation from coast to coast ushering in youth television dance shows (‘‘American Bandstand,” ‘‘Soul Train,” ‘‘The Buddy Dean Show” of Baltimore, ‘‘The Milt Grant Show” and ‘‘The Teen-a-Rama Show” in Washington, D.C.)

A smooth, fast-style of dance evolved from the 1940s jitterbug period as the beat of the music moved into the original rock ‘n’ roll sounds of the 1950s and 1960s.

As the music of the 1950s began to influence the dance moves of the youth of that era all over the country, the new style of dance emerged. The beat of the music may have dictated the style of dance across the country, but there is no uniform name or title for the dance.

In Chicago, this style of dance is known as ‘‘Stepping;” in Missouri it’s called the ‘‘Imperial Swing;” in New Orleans it is known as ‘‘Jamaica;” and in the northeast it’s called the ‘‘Bop.”

The dance turns can be executed a little differently, but the footwork remains the same. Once you have internalized the basic hand dance footwork, you can hold your own in just about any dance event or venue.

Hand dancing consists of very fast smooth footwork with close-in turns, to the beat of the music. During all aspects of the dance, the footwork remains the same — smooth while maintaining a continuous contact with the floor by sliding and gliding. When performed correctly by experienced dancers, the moves give the appearance of ice skating. The dance partners are always linked to each other by one or both hands throughout the dance. It is easy to see how the term hand dancing was coined.

This style of dance has been kept alive through dance clubs all over the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area. These individual organizations known as hand dance clubs have hundreds to thousands of members. The artistry of this American dance has never completely vanished.

The American Legion Post 206 of Chesapeake Beach will be hosting this style of dance, more commonly referred to as hand dance events.

These events will occur once or twice a month on Saturday evenings in the upper ballroom. A certified dance instructor will start providing basic and intermediate dance lessons one hour prior the scheduled event. For information on dates and times of dance events or registration of dance lessons, please call 410-257-9878. This opportunity is open to everyone.

Membership not required.

Bill Larman, Chesapeake Beach