Lindy Hop
If you are dancing to a live swing band in a Swing Club, a pound to a penny you are dancing Lindy Hop. Here’s Mississippi Swing playing for a great night of dance at the Bishopsgate Institute. The dancers are having a ball, the band is having a ball and swinging like crazy.
What is Lindy Hop ?
For as good definition of Lindy Hop as any, check out this informative Wikipedia link. It talks of the birth of the dance in Harlem and the elaborate growth of its steps through natural development. The Swing Out move which is at the centre of the dance, is also covered in detail.
Lindy Hop Clubs
Lindy Hop Swing Band Hire
There are no shortage of Lindy Hop Clubs in the U.K. Many organisations have been set up that run dances and classes where people dance, get fit and have fun. Mississippi Swing are featured here playing for a Swing Patrol event in Battersea recently. There is an enormous amount of pleasure to be gained from playing for dancers. Therefore, when the band can play the tempos correctly and concentrate on playing for no more than three and a half minutes or so, they are doing their job correctly! Most importantly, by the look of the full floor in front of the swing band, they are doing a great job!
Lindy Hop is only one form of Swing Dance.
Lindy Hop Swing Band
There are other forms of Swing Dance where a swing band is danced to. Besides Lindy Hop there are a number of other dance styles. Balboa is a West Coast dance style originating from South California in the early twenties. Jive, Jitterbug, the Carolina Shag are all covered in this descriptive article. What is interesting from a musicians viewpoint (the writer) is the repertoire favoured by different dancers. When we play for such events some dancers favour music from the 1920’s and early thirties. This music predates the Swing Era but with a good band, can be swung. Others go for the more traditional music of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and other masters of Swing Music. More important than the style of music is how it is played. Because dancers need the right tempo, this becomes the priority over everthing.
Lindy Hop Swing Band
We are Mississippi Swing. If you enjoyed our music and would like to book us for your next Swing Night, call Jeff Williams on 07747 80147. Rates are realistic and reasonable. The band travels far and wide. Distance no object. This is a band tailor made for dancers. Nothing is more important than tempo, repertoire and song length. Here is our Google Business page. Check out the five star reviews and a particulaly good review from leading Dance Organisation, Swing Patrol.