Hellzapoppin: Lindy Hop Performance 1941

Hellzapoppin Dance Performance:

Savoy Ball Room

This dance piece is titled "Hellzapoppin", performed in 14941. The form of dance is Lindy Hop, a dance style created during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and 30s. It is derived from dances such as the Charleston and Tap, and Foxtrot. It is also believed that the dance has roots in traditional African dance, and evolved from that point.


Lindy Hop was danced in the ballrooms of many renaissance clubs ad speakeasy clubs such as the Savoy and the cotton Club. Eventually white spectators would also adopt the dance and create adaptations to their own culture such as the Jitter Bug.

"Many may say that Lindy Hop was the granddaddy of them all, but that should not imply that no one was dancing any form of Swing before Lindy swept the country." (www.lindycircle.com).  Lindy Hop dance steps Lindy Hop took media by storm, and videos of Lindy dance routines were influential throughout Hollywood. In the 1941 movie "Hellzapoppin", Lindy Hop was danced by the main characters and it included many other Lindy routines, such as the one above. Directed by H.C Potter, this movie starred Ole Olson and Chic Johnson about directors on Broadway (www.imdb.com). This is just one example of how the arts of the Harlem Renaissance became recognized and adopted by mainstream media. The movie "Hellzapoppin", as well as Lindy Hop as a whole, is an expression of both history, heritage and pride. The dance held origins of traditional African dance adapted with pop culture, and the people took it by storm. The amount of influence that Lindy Hop had in the media was an act of recognition for the contributions that black America made to the United States as a whole, and the dance is still popular today.

Citations:
http://www.lindycircle.com/history/lindy_hop/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033704/