1930s Dance Steps
Dancing serves many different functions for different societies and different people. While dancing today can be seen as everything from art to exercise, the dancing of the 1930s was most often seen as a form of community entertainment. To understand these dances is perhaps to understand a little more about the people who first danced them more than 75 years ago.
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History of Social Dance
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Dance has always been a form of human expression. Whether a primal ritual or a carefully executed courtly meeting, dance is at the intersection of art and community. From courtly dances in Europe came ballroom dances. As countries shifted toward democracy, ballroom dances trickled down from nobility and became universal. As the 20th century dawned and cultures became increasingly mobile and intertwined, new forms of social dance began to emerge, marked by increasingly faster and freer movement.
Historic Backdrop
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At the start of the 1930s, America had come through decade after decade of change. Scientific and medical advances meant greater consciousness. But these advances often brought struggle between the scientific and the spiritual. Innovations in technology had led to the radio, the automobile, the film industry and the onset of a consumer culture. The 1920s were a time of both glamour and disillusionment as the country tried to recover from World War I. The decade ended in the stock market crash. In the 1930s, people struggled to overcome the economic climate with both experimentation and tradition, and sometimes with escapism. The popular dances played to all these traits.
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Geographic Variety
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The dances most associated with the 1930s are swing dances. Mirroring swing music, swing dance incorporated European influences with those of African and Latin cultures. The variety in dance style during this period is much more related to geographic location than musical style. The Savoy Ballroom in Harlem is credited with the invention of the Lindy Hop, from which came East Coast Swing and the Jitterbug. Going west, dancers developed the West Coast Swing (declared the official state dance of California in 1988) and to the south were styles such as the Shag (a version of which is the official state dance of South Carolina).
Characteristics of Popular Dances
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Lindy Hop: The Lindy Hop was named after Charles Lindbergh. A headline touting Lindbergh's achievement read "Lindy Hops the Atlantic," and the dance was born. It starts with a syncopated two-step together, then partners move apart, performing kicks and arm movements before rejoining. This style led to the Jitterbug and East Coast Swing.
West Coast Swing: This style evolved to be slower than its eastern cousins, and features smoother movement, such as pushes and twirls, rather than the more frenzied kicks and hops of the Lindy and the Jitterbug.
Shag: Many permutations of this existed (and exist today), but the original dance was started in the South in the 1930s and featured a slow, slow, quick, quick pattern with fast hops and kicks.
The Dances Today
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Most of these dances are still part of the social dancing scene today. From competitions to local dance clubs, the steps and the spirit of the swing area are kept alive by dancers all over the United States. And whatever the skill level of the dancers, these dances today serve much the purpose as they did in the 1930s - that of entertainment and recreation, and a communal activity uniting people through music and movement.
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