Choreographed Sequences

Although this book concentrates on social, partnered dance, an evening of Lindy Hop often includes a few records that are dedicated to particular choreographed sequences. These sequences (sometimes known as "strolls") are performed by a large number of dancers, each dancing on their own but in synchronicity with the rest of the performers—effectively like a line dance.

As well as being a change of pace, these sequences are helpful as practice for a number of jazz steps. This is directly useful as inspiration for footwork variations, and more indirectly useful as a way of improving the movement style of the dancers. In a class situation, these sequences can also be used as a warm-up.

This section describes two of the most popular choreographed sequences, the Shim Sham Shimmy and the Jitterbugs Stroll. Both of these sequences also enjoy remarkable consistency around the globe—the same sequence is danced in a wide variety of places using the same choreography.

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Welcome

Welcome to an incomplete book about Lindy Hop.

I wrote the text here five years ago, based on my notes from when I was originally learning Lindy Hop in the mid-1990s. My original plan was to take a large number of illustrative photographs, which would make the bare text much more comprehensible.

However, that was five years ago and I've not gotten as far as taking a single photograph. So rather than waiting any longer, I thought it worth releasing the text as-is, in case it's useful to anyone else.

I'd interested to hear any feedback, but unfortunately I can't promise to do much about it.

And maybe one day I'll get as far as illustrating the book, and creating the originally-intended printed version:

This book is dedicated to the memory of Frankie Manning (1914-2009), Ambassador of Lindy Hop.

David Drysdale
November 2012

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