The term Swing refers to just about any partner dance which developed during era of swing music.  At Full Swing, we dance the Lindy Hop, which combines elements of Texas Tommy, Turkey Trot, Apache Dance, Shimmy, Strut, Cakewalk, Frisco, Foxtrot, Tap and more.

The dance was named in 1927 following Charles Lindbergh’s successful flight across the Atlantic. A reporter asked one of the dancers at a competition what was going on, and got the reply “Man, it’s the Lindy Hop... We’re flying just like Lindy did!”

The Lindy Hop was originally thought risqué! It evolved in the raging night spots of Harlem. Just imagine hot jazz and swinging jungle music, crazy burlesque routines on stage and wild hordes of dancers out front, tearing up the floor!

Sometimes the Black kids would mock the white kids' awkward style of dance, saying that they looked like they had been drinking the illegal liquor known as "jitter-sauce".  subsequently the Lindy Hop is also called the "Jitterbug"

The dance structure and derivations itself are a hybrid of European and African dances brought together in the States.   The dance emerged from the combination of  pelvic gyrations and movements of the African dances and the

close physical touching and leading of the European partner dances. 

Today the Lindy is made up of 8 beat and 6 beat moves and is a combination of solo and partner dancing.  References can be seen of vaudeville style dance, the Charleston and Tap, as well as the roots of Rock and Roll, Jive and Hip Hop.

The dance is all about having fun, interacting with your partner and playing with the music.  New bands have brought modern feeling to swing and the dance keeps expanding as improvisation and innovation keep it alive for a whole new generation.