A newspaper headline in 1927 read, “Lindy hops the Atlantic”. This happened during Charles Lindbergh’s flight to Paris, which gave birth to the Lindy Hop. It is a dance that is smooth and solid, ironically, not having a “hop” in it.
It’s also known as the Jitterbug. And if you don’t believe it is a smooth, solid flowing dance then just check out Guillaume and Marine here. It is a social dance and partners are connected smoothly and gently to each other. Just like these two.
Lights are out but you can make out Marine walking to the center of the dance floor amidst applause and cheers. You can even see her smile and bow! What a lady!
The lights come on and a familiar tune starts playing. It’s “In the mood” by Glenn Miller and his orchestra.
Out comes Gillaume.
Slacks, suspenders, and glasses on looking every bit the part of the music and the dance they’re about to perform. The era is the late twenties to the forties when hot jazz and big bands were all the rage for party goers. It is spontaneous in lots of ways but the point is to keep it fun with a partner. It has a lot of room for improvisation for the socialites of that time.
Look at these two. They twirl around smoothly with Marine doing a bubblier dance while Guillaume takes on a more relaxed pace and yet they’re at it together. That’s Lindy Hop for you. Cool huh?
The dance was born of African-American communities in Harlem, New York and is considered to be a part of the Swing family.
These two dazzling dancers have quite the following too!
“I can’t quit watching! I must’ve watched this video of Marine and Guillaume a hundred times over the last month or so. It always puts a smile on my face! Theses two make it look so easy and so much fun! So cute!! Thx for the smiles!!”
Commented a fan. Many others have been inspired to learn the dance as well. It’s a lot of feet shuffling with little kicks here and there while just moving your hips along to the music. If you find that difficult, have a few shots of whiskey and take it from there!
Why are these two so good?
Well Marine has been dancing since she was 4. she had her first taste of Lindy Hop in Leeds during the year 2012. It was the same year that Guillaume discovered the dance in Paris then spent months of training in Montreal. These two met on a dance floor during the Paris Lindy exchange in 2013 forming a partnership that has flourished much to the delight of the dance world.
They dance socially, perform, and even teach. It’s about spreading the love for dancing.
The spins and kicks are so smooth to watch. There’s an effortless fluidity to their moves as they hold hands at a distance, embrace and hold each other, then break away again all while keeping that rhythm going. This is really a partner dance. Sure you can probably do it alone but where’s the fun in that?
The best part is that you learn to dance as this is a thriving community. Who knows, you may have Guillaume and Marine as your instructors.
See these two Lindy Hop the night away in the video below!
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Source: YouTube, Lindy Hop, Guillaume and Marine
