Swing dancing evolved with Swing music in New York City in the late 1920's and was first associated with the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Lindy Hop is the original form of swing dancing and flourished until the early 1940's.
Today, the lindy hop has evolved into many forms: West coast, east-coast, jive, and boogie woogie are but a few of these modern encarnations... and they all started because of the Lindy Hop! As well, Lindy Hop by itself has taken several style forms over the last 70 years! Swing-Out Edmonton's instructors are influenced by all styles, though the basic mechanics of Lindy Hop are always preserved.
Throughout our workshops, we focus on the technique and the soul or feel of the Lindy Hop. Although Lindy Hop is a challenging dance, we still take some time to complement this dance with lessons on Balboa, Jive, and Charleston as well!
The great dance band leaders of the era were Chick Webb, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, and many, many more! Great dancers came out of this era such as "The Whities" and Frankie Manning (who is still teaching lindy hop in his 90s!).
There are many video clips on the internet showing Lindy Hop. http://www.eiraneiran.com/lindylinks.htm.Of noteable sites, Click on Kevin and Carla, Hop Swing and Jump, or Allswing.org for nice clips.
In 1938 The Cotton Club Revue featured Cab Calloway and the Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. Cab sang and the Hoppers danced to the Song "A Lesson In Jive" and it is said the Boogie-Woogie dance formed from this. Not all Boogie Woogie is fast however, some Boogie-Woogie beats have an excellent feel for slower swing music with a BOOGIE WOOGIE beat. West Coast Swing, Hollywood style and Jitterbug were all Boogie Woogie dances when the music became fast. Movements would sometimes consist of Jumps, Stomps, Flying Feet, Hops etc. The movements are not sloppy but tight and clean considering the speed at times.
At first, Boogie Woogie was more of a Piano musical style (C,G,A,G) than a dance. However, there were main parts of the music style as far back as 1900. It has become a versatile swing dance of many styles with 6-count and 8-count patterns. Today the Europeans regard Boogie Woogie as being the Le Roc / Ceroc / Jive family of swing dances. (It is not Lindy Hop!.) It works on the East Coast Swing / Jive basic of 1-2-3a4-5a6.(any style).
The boogie woogie music is technically eight to the Bar where the (Piano) Keys ARE HIT TWICE, such as (Cx2,Gx2,Ax2,Gx2). You will notice that boogie woogie is often danceable to Rockability, Rock 'n Roll, Blues, Boogie Woogie, and Big Band. As well, people who learn Boogie can easily dance with people who know Hollywood, East-Coast, and Jive too. Although Boogie Woogie specifically isn't as popular in North America as Lindy Hop, it is an extremely versatile dance!
Throughout our workshops, we focus on the technique and the soul or feel of Boogie Woogie. Although Boogie is a challenging dance, we still take some time to complement this dance with lessons on Charleston, Blues, and improvisation as well!
(reference http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3booge1.htm)
If you want to see Boogie Woogie, see this clip.