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Lindy Hop is the original swing-jive dance and to many, the most exciting dance ever created. It has probably affected, if not changed, more people's lives than any other dance. The social importance of the dance cannot be overstated. In the totally segregated climate of the 1920s, it's hard to imagine a scene where blacks and whites not only shared the same dance hall, but actually danced together to bands of mixed colour.
The Lindy Hop emerged in 1927 alongside swing music in Harlem, New York City and took off in other cities where African Americans lived. The name 'Lindy Hop' is said to have been taken from a newspaper headline reporting Charles Lindbergh's historic first solo flight across the Atlantic - 'LINDY HOPS THE ATLANTIC'.
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The Lindy Hop is not just a single dance form but is a fusion of formal European dance forms and more rhythmic black dances. It grew directly out of the Charleston and evolved as the jazz music of the twenties changed into the swing music of the Big Band era in the thirties and forties. Following World War II the music and dance went in separate directions, but even in today's dances the legacy of the Charleston, Lindy and other swing dances lives on.
The Lindy Hop is enjoying a renewed interest worldwide, appearing recently in such diverse situations as The GAP advert, a Will Smith video, Ali McBeal, 3rd Rock From the Sun and the film Chicken Run.
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