Video Blog – Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers In Hellzapoppin’

Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers were a group of black club kids who’d pioneered the highly athletic second wave of the lindy hop dance style, which would spawn the jitterbug and the jive, at Harlem’s legendary Savoy Ballroom in the 1930’s. Perfecting the ‘air steps’ / ‘ariels’, which described the motion of the female dancers, who’d be thrown around by their male partners, this was as wild a style of dancing as ever devised, and it’d be another 40 years, and the advent of breakdancing, before anything came close in terms of sheer power, strength and energy.

Passing It On

Before I headed off on tour I pulled out my recently acquired copy of Bob Dylan's autobiography 'Chronicles: Volume One' (2004), which I'd specifically earmarked for this trip. However, on my connecting flight from Manchester to London I realised that rather than packing it in my hand baggage, as intended, I must have put in my suitcase, so, with my luggage checked through to Hong Kong, when I arrived at Heathrow I went into WH Smith to see if I could find something else to read on the journey. I was really looking forward to the Dylan book, so, when I saw it on the shelf I decided to get another copy, and pass the spare one on somewhere along the way.

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