Whitey's Lindy Hoppers performing the Big Apple (1939)

[sassydancer2]

Who is the song by?

[229kara]

love this a lot

[MancaLaura]

..@gcrav: Idk about "sadness for what is".. I can relate to joy for what was.. recognize that it's continuing to inspire people to dance, & make it new for themselves. If we could simplify our lives, and focus, we could dance like this. It takes dedication, discipline, joy-- and not worrying too much about impressing people. These awesome dancers moved from the inside out, like an explosion, rather than thinking too much about how they looked. Ironically, they LOOKED GREAT when they danced.

[marcquessa]

4:15 is my favorite move of all time!

[joelarama]

Can we recreate this? I can!!X

[imaisling]

they had cameras in 1939?

[lillya4ever]

@imaisling maybe you got to start doing some reading on the history of cinema :)

[xxbabyjmarixx]

this is a so old fashion swing dance

[mnKTgirl]

I <3 the Lindy Hop.  :)

[carlperkins57]

Lindy Hop corruption?

[RizzyMissy]

Hey 2011 people, this is REAL dancing.

[kandita7]

Amen!

[BkTryHardNoobs]

I wish I was alive back then..I hate the way my generation presents itself. The dancing nowadays is so trashy and disgusting. All it is is girls in barely any clothes grinding against a guy that's equally as gross. I wish these people could show our generation how things should be done. Also, look how fit they all are. You NEED to be fit to dance like this. I'm sure obesity was never a problem back then like it is today.

[PamK36]

@BkTryHardNoobs You can be alive now and still do swing dancing. A lot of people do.

(By the way there were people who thought that style of dance was trashy back then.)

[BkTryHardNoobs]

@PamK36 I'm sure you know what I meant by that.

And I'm aware it was considered trashy by a lot of people back then. But compare that style of dance to the styles of dance we have today.

[Khultan]

Was there always a dance for the music? Can anyone, in the know, really explain, please, thank you.

[wahmbri]

This movie is HILARIOUS! I just watched the full movie at hop(.)iwatchmovies-tvshows(.)c­om

[ospunky28]

My girlfriend is Polish and i'm black and i try to tell here the Ushers, Justin Timberlakes, and even going out on a limb even Michael Jackson could not hold a torch to these people. Simply effortless and when i see dance groups like the "JABAWOOKEEEZ" I just cringe because i know the origins of the dance and if you were talking to a teenagrer today they'd tell you dancing with the stars is probabl the best dance they've ever seen!

[PatsBooks]

@ospunky28

Who cares that your girlfriend is Polish?

[silvietta41]

It 'amazing how the rhythms in this video are modern but you can taste a certain african's scenografy

[EMCEMITCH]

pure exuberant joy of american dance---it started in congo square new orleans in the early 1800's

[mickglasgow12]

Frankie is there alright..Freexe it on 2:09, he's the one w/ BIG smile!!

[JudgeJulieLit]

Source of (inspiration for) Elvis's wildly and hiply acrobatic 1950s onstage moves!

Amazing to see they date from at least 1939. I believe Elvis meant his as an homage. His performing them b4 tv audiences in then mostly white America and Europe quantum-leap more widely publicized & popularized them.

[PatsBooks]

@JudgeJulieLit No they music did not want a man rotating his hips in front of white girls that may give them some ideas. So Elvis was the chosen white boy to imitate the Blacks and present Blues aka Rock n Roll to the white teenage public. Fact!

[luvureally]

@JudgeJulieLit Elvis's acrobatic moves?! LMAO! He danced as if his hips were broken! no rhythm!

[skarikari29]

They still do this dance in many swing clubs around the world! So glad they recorded this footage, so we can try and learn it!

[diminishedchord]

this is truely inspiring... Thankyou

[swingsteve]

Is Frankie Manning in this routine? I think I hear his distinctive voice but I can't tell from the grainy footage whether it's him.

[Khantikone123]

This is so good and seems so much fun to part of.

[Prometevsberg]

ah that part of the 1950ies that started in 1939!

[TheJackieo2006]

The original soul train line. I love it!!!!

[blkchk]

I'm glad I grew up in the 50s when they still had dancing like this. Or for that matter REAL dancing that actually required steps and cooperation between partners.

[Bumblebee38]

As usual NO credits to the BANDS

Who are THEY , Please ?

[Akosuaification]

I love this!

[jeangonnella]

we are so blessed to known some of these dancers....it's really not that long ago if you think on it. Bless up Frankie and WHitetey's lindy hopping :) come dance with us! !OVE always = dance!

[MrsWilliamTheBloody]

I feel so white and unco watching them. God damn.

[Lisamould]

Anyone out there know which song they dance this to?????

[Lisamould]

Anyone out there know which song they dance this to????????

[CarlSchwamberger]

Had to go back and forth to check, but some of those moves in the first three minutes are in the Ray Charles scene in the Blues Brothers movie.

[mclovin1617]

I would rather go to a swing club and dance swing sober every friday night then go to a club and listen to lil_wayne any day of the week.

[BRazor78]

If I had a time machine, I would go back to 1939 and steal all these dancers. So they can show teenagers these days what REAL dancing is like.

[firstnamenavarre]

As a young hispanic street dancer, i've noticed that the status quo amongst street dancers younger than 30-35 is to confine their dance to the studio and the stage. Kids these days are effectively removing the street out of street dance, and it should be remembered that, at one point, these jazz dancers were street dancers. i learn all that i can from these dancers to ground my dance in history and reality. My first rule is to never forget to enjoy dance for the joy of it.

[nurulpss]

Hell yeah, BRazor78! \m/

[2FinnsUP]

@BRazor78 haha I TOTALLY agree with you. I am a teenager, and boy do I wish I could dance like that. ha, I wish I could find a guy that could dance like that with me. That grinding crap that everyone does is just...crap

[darktanko]

@BRazor78 i would fund your efforts

[jihadsoup]

Soul Train, the Early Years.

[ozulu45]

@BRazor78 UHH EXCUSE ME MACK.... BE CAREFUL ABOUT THAT! GOING BACK IN TIME IN 1939! BEING BLACK IN AMERICA WAS NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES LIKE WHAT YOU SEE HERE! GOING OUTSIDE THE BLACK COMMUNITY WAS HEAVILY RASICT AND SEGREGATED! SO IF YOU CAN HANDLE THAT BACK THEN!

GOD BLESS YA!

[BAMitsrosei]

@BRazor78 I'm 14 and I'm in level 2 going on level 3 of swing dancing... (:

[SuperGoingGoingGone]

@BRazor78 Your time machine is YouTube!!! :D



[229kara]

@BRazor78 agree with you fully.......Great dancers here

[Alexbossler]

@BRazor78 And if someone from 1939 had a time machine, they would travel back to 1880, steal a bunch of dancers and show those dam swing kids what 'real' dancing looked like. I hate everything as much as the next internet citizen but its all relative.

[gcrav]

Joy for what was. Sadness for what is.

[Fiftiesflashback]

@gcrav

How apropos. I don't think it could be better stated. Touche!

[HongLulu]

Kitűnő ! Capital !

[Bumblebee38]

Which Band is it, Please /

[mhomer4]

We set the standards for entertainment period.  We are imitated by everyone.

[RoxiiL0ve]

ahahaha whata b*tch!

[LittleKim1001]

Great!!

[HimeBerrii]

god i love my culture.

[quelch666]

you below,brain thing,,satan a'' is that why your watching it,and loving it!!!!!!!!!!!

[KyndalSarah]

SOOO amazing! I love love love it!

[BrainwashedDolt]

Dancing is of satan!

[texasmusk]

You know they were forced to teach them to dance, Satan is enjoying dancing like a black man.

[ilove2sing23]

Malcolm X used to enjoy this believe it or not

[PatsBooks]

LatinSoul,

I agree with you saying that we are innovators. All the the dances that you mentioned are an African/Black American creation. America doesn't have a culture. The culture of Amerca reast with Black Americans. We give them culture.

[crazydaysful]

Yep, you said it right. Blacks made America great we built most of America's culture. It's a shame that only Whites were the ones allowed on TV deceiving the television audience that they created those dances!

[firstnamenavarre]

i'll admit that much of popular culture has been developed by black americans, but there is also a basis for this coming from european music and dance styles. where did the piano come from? guitar?

moreover, as urban environments begin to encompass a broad range of ethnic cultures and economic backgrounds, including white people, it's no longer just black music or black dancing, but can only be described as urban music and street dance.

[crazydaysful]

The dances and sounds were created by blacks so it doesn't matter. And who cares who invented the piano and other music instruments - it's how you play the thing and they type of music you create from them! And I know africans and black americans invented a lot of instrument we use today especially the drums!

[PatsBooks]

@crazydaysful

Obviously you are bothered by it. If you don't care, so be it. But if I care, what is it to you.

[HimeBerrii]

actually, if you take a world music class, the piano was taking from africa, and the europeans just developed it more.

The guitar is from the lute family, and it has its origins in the middle east/north africa.

the only dance styles that europe gave to america is partner dancing.

[firstnamenavarre]

@HimeBerrii I was wrong and you are right. The world owes a lot to Africa, but part of the reason for that is that the emergent culture of economically excluded blacks in America was appropriated by disillusioned middle class citizens, then transmitted by America, the strongest and most pervasive world power, to the rest of world. If we had imported a lot of Indian slaves into America, our idea of urban music might be completely different.

[woldewhosonolden]

@HimeBerrii - You might be a good candidate to update Wikipedia with some citations, then. From what I'm reading, the piano as we know it descended from the European harpsichord and clavichord and is credited to an Italian inventor. If you're thinking of a set-up where strings are struck with tools to produce a musical note, there are multiple types of these instruments that bear more resemblance to a xylophone than a piano and have origins in asia and europe, not solely from africa.

[HimeBerrii]

@woldewhosonolden The xylophone also has it origins in africa. And if you look at the origin of human and the diaspora it wouldn't faze me that a lot of this are similar but all of it links back to Africa.

Also I am very aware of the harpsichord but i was wrong when i thought it was where the piano started.

[woldewhosonolden]

@HimeBerrii - If the argument then is that human origin can be traced to Africa, I can hardly contest this.

I'm confused by your second paragraph. Do you mean "I am aware of the harpsichord, but Wikipedia is wrong to say that it's the origin of the piano"? Or do you mean "I'm aware of the harpsichord, and I was wrong when I thought that the piano started elsewhere?" Or do you mean "I am aware of the harpsichord; I also thought that this was the origin of the piano, but I was wrong."

[HimeBerrii]

@woldewhosonolden lets go with the very last quote.

[woldewhosonolden]

@HimeBerrii - Could you be more specific about why you believe that the piano did not descend from the harpsichord? Was it not invented by an Italian off of these influences?

[HimeBerrii]

So I suggest the next time you want to be technical about things. Maybe you should read some.

[page371069]

@firstnamenavarre yup....typical....try and whitewash everything....white people just can't help themselves.

[firstnamenavarre]

@page371069 I don't know whether or not you're in agreement with me. It's a matter of class. The reason "white" people have appropriated black culture for so long is that Black people have continuously been in a state of economic and social exclusion, with the emergent culture being viewed by middle class (sometimes white) America as a fantasy of freedom from pressures to try to attain as much upper class status.

[firstnamenavarre]

@page371069 Acknowledging the historical achievements of African Americans is good, but also understand that it was a product of economic circumstance, not RACE. Saying that it's due to intrinsic blackness is racist. Look at modern-day complacent middle class blacks wearing the same manufactured urban chic fashions and listening to the same bullshit Lil' Wayne tracks and making the same bullshit music as middle class whites, indians, hispanics, whatever.

[page371069]

@firstnamenavarre yup....whitewash everything.

[Latinsoul65]

African Americans are the innovators of so many american dances. THANK YOU!!! for posting this video. It's not that often I get to see film footage of African Americans dancing american popular dances like: swing, jitterbug, lindy hop, charleston etc on film. It's a shame that even though most of these popular dances stem from African American communites they never really spotlighted African Americans on screen dancing these dances especially the Charleston which is an African American dance.

[BellaStrega50]

Damn I can Jive and Lindy but NOT as good as them...fuck I love this video :) <3

[PatsBooks]

Wonderful! My grandmama was 28 years old in 1939.

[tatitati284]

omg mines too lol

[IvanLongShanks]

my dad was a zygote in 1939

[Marianvalkyrien]

An illustration of why obesity wasnt as much of a problem in theold days!Love it!

[greenrate]

LOL . . .

[withoutporpoise]

my mother, now 87, used to tell us ubout the dances they went to and all the jitterbugging they did. I love that this is documented on film, so many trying to claim a different history than what we know is true. She shocked my young son by doing some of the steps during the 90's swing craze.

[Enrikutis483]

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[agillespie]

How did they organize this? There was no internet back then.

[get2knowmii]

lmao. ha ha...

[niquester]

I Love this- Thank God you showed this. African Americans claiming their history and having a real great time!

[Zeanu]

@niquester Aw come now, whites also contributed and invented a lot of the dance styles and music and had a lot of fun with it. =D

[BELLCHUB]

this stuff should be taught in evry high school gym class! it's part of our National heritage and it's FANTASTIC!!!! it's watching this stuff that makes really proud to be American.

[lovekillsbeware]

iam sorry i clicked bad comment by accident i meant good comment

[HimeBerrii]

hahahah negroes!

[jnccod]

AWESOME FOOTAGE. I, also, am just flattened by the idea that this is from 1939!  So so many people would have all around better lives knowing how to Lindy Hop. It comes with great appreciation of insanely great music *coupled* with something that is PERFECT cardio exercise for anyone who is tired of running in place on a treadmill. Thank you for the great GREAT post! ,':OD

[Khultan]

'Flattened by the idea that this is from 1939?' This is one of the few instances, I take, that you actually attempt to go beyond the horizon?

[jnccod]

What are you talking about? I was just blown away at how great the footage was and that it was so old and historic and that we all get to the privelage. That has nothing to do with "going beyond my horizon"... Next time? I recommend you think twice before you type something that makes you look like a complete and utter toolbag, okay?

[Khultan]

Fair, fair, Jnccod, but now you go on and insult me as your farewell. Utter toolbag? Really?

[jnccod]

("one of the few instances, I take, that you actually attempt...").

Just replying to *your* insulting venom 1st, grandpa. Insulting me as your HELLO, rather than me doing it as my farewell. And yes, YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY A TOOLBAG.

[Khultan]

Wow, and here I thought ,okay, it's becoming civil after a rough start and you relapse into idiot form. heh, heh....'grandpa?' Ha ha ha....you're a youngster showing YOUR dim range. heh heh heh

[Codycole80]

GIT DOWN!

[bronxbarbiedolla]

Thanx for posting this classy classic

Long Live the KING - Frankie turns 95 in '09!

[vintagequeen56]

We learned this in my swing class, and it's amazing!

[vi867]

"gimme that cup!" hahahaha!

[slynn1372]

The Lindy Hop is so much fun, it's hard to believe this movie is pushing a century old.

[LauraBeachnut]

WOW....

It's a shame we have to go back this far to find REAL TALENT.

The talent we see today (the blonde one will go nameless) should study this and stop doing shit like shaving her head balled, beating her cane with a stick and trying to fool the public that shes crazy... oh, umm , like I said... NAMELESS!

No hate mail please.

[houndz11]

Bustin a move in 39.

[odantoro]

Really great stuff here; I love how she "lets him down easy" at 4:18!

[vicmor899]

AMAZING

[Diamondgrl2007]

im glad my grandma taught me the jitterbug when i was little....i can still do it now!!! lol its hella fun

[urthanjell]

This is so freakin cool!!!!!

[jerste]

Jittering Jitterbugs?

[samuel7275]

What's the name of the song?

[LindyPenguin]

I don't believe the song was actually named - I'm pretty sure it was written for the film. To my knowledge no original recording (other than what's in the film) of it survives.

However a modern swing band, The Solomon Douglas Swingtet, has recorded a version of this song.

[RingtailSage]

great video, real great find.

[ballinagra13]

Wonderful footage!

[italiangrl1]

1939....WOW! Where on earth did you find this? Great video..love swing dancing.