SAA Resource Library

Personal Statement:

I compiled these resources to increase access and education for Swing Ann Arbor dancers, teachers, and community members, as well as jazz dancers and enthusiasts around the world. As a leader in Swing Ann Arbor, I hope access and engagement with these resources can serve my personal goal for the organization-

 1) A holistic community is created- relationships go deeper than surface level or hierarchical dance-specific relationships.

 2) Ongoing education and dialogue - the expansive community is aware that this is a journey, not a box to check.

 3) The expansive community is aware of the historical and cultural importance of Lindy Hop in the Black community.

 4) The expansive community is aware of historical oppression in the Black community, within and outside of jazz.

 5) Advocacy and reparative work outside of the dance room - i.e. political action, fundraising for Black political and dance orgs.

As I have been on my journey in these goals, the resources listed on this webpage were greatly beneficial. I hope others in my scene can pull their own conclusions and understandings from these resources, and submit their recommendations as we grow this library. It should be noted that these resources are a starting point, something that should inspire you to continue your own educational journey outside of this webpage. It should also be known that I am not necessarily endorsing any information, themes, individual, or source on this page. Archival resources often include uncomfortable but necessary relics of the past. If you would like to discuss any of the sources listed here, I would love to chat at lilyroof@umich.edu 

I would like to thank all of those who have done this work before me, are doing it alongside me, and will do it after me. I’m grateful for and recognize the importance of my privilege, especially in being able to access these materials, having time to do so, and feeling safe in my pursuit of this work.
-lily

Origin Story

Web pages:

  1. iLindy: History of the Savoy Ballroom
  2. Frankie Manning Foundation: Archives of Early Lindy Hop

Videos:

  1. Jazz documentary series by Ken Burns

Books:

  1. Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop by Frankie Manning
  2. Swingin’ at the Savoy: The Memoir of a Jazz Dancer by Norma Miller
  3. Waltzing in the Dark: African American vaudeville and race politics in the swing era by Brenda Dixon Gottschild
  4. Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance by Marshall Winslow Stearns, Jean Stearns
  5. Jump for Joy: Jazz, Basketball, and Black Culture in 1930s America by Gena Caponi-Tabery

Must-Watch Vintage Video Clips

  1. Hellzapoppin
  2. Day at the races
  3. Harvest Moon Ball 
  4. Congaroos
  5. Whitey’s Big Apple 

Family Tree of Dances

Blues

  1. Video clip: Damon and Kelsy Stone Instructor Demo
  2. Movie: Sinners
    • More info on “Today’s Voices” page!
  3. Webpage: Blues Dancing and its African American Roots

Balboa

  1. Webpage: Swing History 101: SoCal Swings
    • Detailed history of the complicated influences in SoCal dance and the resulting emergence of Balboa, Shag, and more.

Shag

  1. Webpage: stlouisshag.com

Chicago Steppin

  1. Video clip:SHAKEDOWN/Chicago Stepping

DC Hand Dancing

Hiphop

Recommendations needed!

House

Recommendations needed!

Steppin

Recommendations needed!

Neo Swing Era

Web pages:

  1. iLindy: How Lindy Hop Started: A Quick Overview
    • Article discusses Lindy Hop origin story but also discusses the “swing revival” in detail

Academic Articles:

  1. Swingin’ Out White: How the Lindy Hop Became White by Kendra Unruh
  2. Dancing in the Past, Living in the Present: Nostalgia and Race in Southern California Neo-Swing Dance Culture by Eric Martin Usner

Black Art and Stories

Web pages:

  1. Collective Voices for Change: Resources
    • More educational resources, compiled by modern scene CVFC
  2. Instagram: queensofthenightclub
    • Instagram account providing videos, information, and resources on burlesque history, compiled by modern dancer and historian Hannah Lane

Books:

  1. Fearless and Free: A Memoir by Josephine Baker
  2. Of Minnie the Moocher & Me by Bryant Rollins and Cab Calloway
  3. A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
  4. The New Negro: A History in Documents, 1887–1937 by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Martha H. Patterson
  5. Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals by Saidiya Hartman
  6. The Riddle of the Zoot: Malcolm Little and Black Cultural Politics During World War II by Robin D. G. Kelley
  7. Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class by Eric Lott

Today’s Voices

Web pages:

  1. iLindy: Let’s Talk About Lindy Hop and Blackness by Grey Armstrong
  2. Black Lindy Hoppers Fund: Questions
    • These questions were compiled for all dancers, teachers, and scene leaders to consider their own engagement with jazz culture.
  3. “A Blueprint For Cultural Inclusion” A Guideline for Instructors Teaching Black American Cultural Music and Dance Forms by Odysseus Bailer 

Podcast:

  1. Integrated Rhythms by Chisomo Selemani and Bobby White
    • This podcast discusses the contemporary jazz dance scene, featuring hosts and guests who are modern-day artists, teachers, and organizers.

Movie:

  1. Sinners by Ryan Coogler
    • This movie’s themes, directly depicted through blues and juke joint culture, parallel themes in jazz and Lindy Hop culture.