Lindy Hop dancers created new steps as the music inspired them, much as jazz musicians improvise. As the Lindy Hop grew in popularity, it evolved into many forms, such as West Coast Swing, Rock'n'Roll, Boogie Woogie, the Jitterbug, Jive, Bop, Shag, Balboa, and the Imperial. Dance partners separated in a breakaway move as they improvised, adding their own tempos, signature moves, and individualized acrobatics to the six- and eight-count step sequences. It was influenced by the Charleston, jazz and tap steps, ballet, and complex movements from the Viennese Waltz. The Lindy Hop, an authentic Afro-Euro-American Swing dance that drew on African and European dance traditions, emerged as one of many popular dances during this time. Saturday night dance contests at the Savoy featured such Lindy Hop dance greats as Herbert "Whitey" White, Leroy "Stretch" Jones, Frank "Musclehead" Manning, and "Shorty" George Snowden. The crescendo of the best big-band jazz in the world drove dancers to their feet as the sounds of Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Fess Williams, King Oliver, and Chick Webb filled the air. It was a place where round tables were packed with people, root-de-toot root beer, and ginger ale sold for a nickel. If you walked in the Savoy, the only thing we wanted to know is can you dance?" It was a place of elegant beauty, with a burnished maple dance floor, colored spotlights, and crystal cut chandeliers. It was a place where race was irrelevant, ".whether you were black, green, yellow, or what. The Savoy Ballroom defined the essence of dance in Harlem. People often held "rent parties" filled with music and dance, where guests were charged an entry fee that was used to pay the monthly rent. For some, dance was a reprieve from the harsh economic realities and the drudgery of earning a living doing monotonous tasks. ![]() ![]() Social dance played an important role in Harlem life. Racial discrimination was a fact of life. Landlords charged high rents to people who earned low wages, and overcrowding was rampant. Instead, they found that housing and jobs were scarce. During the 1920s, Harlem was filled with African Americans who migrated from the rural south to the industrial north in search of a better life.
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