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Jazz Dance : The Story of American Vernacular Dance
Marshall Winslow Stearns/Paperback/Orig. pub. 1963
This is THE classic. It
covers all kinds of African American
improvisatory dance
styles, with a chapter on the Savoy Ballroom.
ORDER
Swingin' at the Savoy : The
Memoir of a Jazz Dancer
Norma Miller, Evette Jensen / Hardcover /
Published 1996
A delightful personal account of Lindy Hopping
at the Savoy
in its heyday by a member of Whitey's Lindy
Hoppers. Lot's
about the young Frankie Manning, too. ORDER
Steppin' on the Blues: The Visible Rhythms of African American Dance
Jacqui Malone / Paperback / Published 1996
Outstanding coverage of the history of swing
dancing at the Savoy Ballroom, placed
in the context of African American history and
expressive styles. The chapter on the
Savoy is the best coverage I have seen. ORDER
Digging
the Africanist Presence in American Performance:
Dance
and Other Contexts by Brenda Dixon Gottschild
This brilliant book is not for the
faint-of-heart...it is not an easy read! But the insights
about the interchange and co-mingling of
African and European influences in American
culture has everything to do with Lindy Hop.
This book changed my life. ORDER
The
Swing Book
Degen Pener, Intro by
Scotty Morris/ Papberback,/Published
2000
This small, easy-reading book covers anything
the modern swinger would want to
know about the swing dance scene: albums, artists,
fashion and even steps. Best
of all the history section is notably
accurate, something that means a lot to us here
at the Archives of Early Lindy Hop. ORDER
Stomping
the Blues
Albert Murray / Paperback / Published 1989
Another brilliant book
about blues and swing music. Murray's poetic
language reflects
the exuberance of the
music and captures the original context in which it developed. Read it
for the photos and
captions, alone! ORDER
Jookin' :
The Rise of Social Dance Formations in
African-American
Culture
Katrina Hazzard-Gordon / Paperback /
Published 1992
Inspired in part by
Murray's Stomping the Blues, the author traces
African-American
dance back to African origins. An indispensible
book for understanding
the close relationship between the musicians
and dancers in Lindy
Hop, it is ironic that this books greatest
shortcoming is too
little coverage of the Lindy Hop.But the
principles apply completely. ORDER
Say, isn't that
Frankie Manning on the cover?
Swingin' the Dream:
Big
Band Jazz and the Rebirth of American Culture
Lewis A. Erenberg/ Hardcover/ 1998
An excellent sweeping coverage of the Swing
Era. Among other things, the book interprets the popularity of Big Band
Music and Dancing as a populist, "melting pot" movement in the post-Depression years, rebuilding
optimism and faith in the American Dream of equal opportunity for all.
BTW
: I hope you won't be dissuaded
from reading this book by the unfavorable review someone-- I suspect an
academic competitor of the author's -- has put up at Amazon.com. If any of
you has an opinion on this or any other swing related book, send it to me, and
I'll be happy to print it here.JP
.ORDER
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