Author's IntroductionLindy Hop is the great American folk dance. It was a form of dancing that was created in New York and was derived from the charleston. Supposedly, it got it’s name around the time when Charles Lindbergh had just flown across the Atlantic. At the time, a reporter asked a group of New York dancers what type of dancing they were doing and they said that they were doing the “Lindy Hop.”-- Paul Salter
LIndy Hop is characterized by a break away pattern called the swing out which was supposedly created by a New York dancer by the name of “Shorty” George Snowden. The dance evolved during the thirties and was developed by dancers at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. A group of dancers from the Savoy called Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers were the first lindy dancers to ever appear in a major movie when they appeared in the Marx Brother’s “A Day at the Races.”
There were many great dancers who contributed to the development of lindy and the creation of different styles of lindy. Some of these dancers' names include Frankie Manning, Al Minns, Norma Miller, Jean Veloz and the dancer who is the inspiration for this tutorial, Dean Collins. Dean Collins was a dancer/choreographer who brought his style of lindy from the east coast to California in the mid 30’s. He appeared in such movies as Buck Privates, Lets Make Music, and Living It Up. This tutorial is meant to be an interpretation and an introduction to Dean Collins’ style of lindy.
Lindy consists of patterns that can be divided into two count steps. This tutorial will cover mostly six and eight count patterns. The material in this tutorial is cumulative which means that there are concepts presented in the initial basic patterns which the later patterns will rely upon heavily.
Table of Contents - Lindy 1
Table of Contents - Lindy 2