Reykjavík Grapevine - 31.07.2009, Qupperneq 44

32
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 11 — 2009
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WWW.CINTAMANI.IS
ICelANdIC
OuTdOOr
equIpMeNT
& SupplIeS
IN The CITy
CeNTer
Somewhat fittingly, the dance of the
big depression years, the Lindy hop, has
finally made it to Iceland. This month,
Arctic Lindy Exchange, the first swing
festival of Iceland and probably the first
travelling dance festival on earth, will
bring together hundreds of dancers
from around the world with the finest
swing music. They aim to invoke the
atmosphere of the interwar period, the
golden era of jazz, in Iceland at the the
festival, which runs from the 3rd to the
11th of August with swing concerts
every night, swing parades, street
concerts and more.
LINDY HOP, YOU SAY?
But what is Lindy hop? Well, it’s a
dance that plays an important role in
the lives of hundreds of thousands of
people around the world today. During
the roaring twenties and throughout
the thirties, it was THE dance craze
that swept the world (probably more
so than even the fabled Macarena). At
present, it is a phenomenon that can
attract hundreds of people from across
the world to Iceland. Well-kept in an
underground community over the last
few decades, the Lindy Hop has seen
a big increase in interest lately that
may see it as the world’s most popular
dance-craze once again.
As crucial as Charles Lindberg's
cross-Atlantic f light may have been, it
didn't only affect the world of aviation.
The Lindy hop moniker is traced to
Shorty George, one of the inventors of
this African-American jazz dance, who
– after long hours of dance marathon –
when asked for the name of the thing
he replied without much thought: “The
Lindy hop! We're f lying like Lindy did.”
jAZZ IT UP
Like all dance styles throughout history,
the Lindy hop evolved with a certain
type of music. This music was jazz,
one of the most important tools of the
African-American community in the
US to express themselves in a very
racist period of time. It's no surprise
that this same community created the
Lindy hop after the mid 20s in Harlem,
New York. It was the first form of jazz
dance that White America knew and fell
in love with. It's a very significant fact
that in the period of segregation, blacks
and whites would come together in the
ballrooms where Lindy hop was danced.
Around the mid 40s though Lindy
hop was still popular but jazz started
to become more intricate and deviated
from dance music with the arrival
of Bebop. On the other hand, by the
50s another type of music swept the
young crowds and the popular culture,
bringing other styles of dance to the
forefront.
REVIVED FROM OBSCURITY
In the next three decades, Lindy hop
faded away so much that there was
hardly anyone who knew its name. In
1984, a dance couple eager to learn
the roots of swing dancing discovered
the August 23, 1943 issue of LIFE
magazine. It was the first time that they
had seen the name Lindy hop. “This
magazine changed our lives,” say Erin
Stevens and Steven Mitchell, who then
begun the search for the original Lindy
hoppers. In this same period, founding
members of Sweden's Rhythm
Hot Shots (Anders Lind, Lennart
Westerlund, and Henning Sörensen)
were also in New York seeking Lindy
hoppers for the same reason: to learn
and bring this dance to life. Thus began
the revival.
They've found many names like
Al Minns, Norma Miller, Frankie
Manning. They spread the word and
helped bringing up new generations
of dancers. Frankie Manning, one of
the fathers of Lindy hop, passed away
this year on April 27 at the age of 94.
He kept on dancing and sharing his
experience with the whole world up
until that day.
This August from the 3rd to the
11th, the Lindy hop and its music
will be celebrated to the delight of the
dancers and jazz aficionados at the
Arctic Lindy Exchange with hundreds
of Lindy hoppers coming from all the
corners of the world with the finest
swinging music.
All the concerts will feature swing
music with the DJs from Sweden,
Australia, England, Turkey and Iceland.
At concert events, the house opens at
19:00 and the shows starts at 21:00.
This is a travelling festival, and will be
at Ólafsfjörður on the 7th and 8th of
August.
MONDAY, AUGUST 3
15:00 – Beach swing party at
Nauthólsvík
21:00-00:00 – Pre-party at Kaffi Rót
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4
17:00-18:00 – Swing Parade in
downtown starting at Austurvöllur
19:00-03:00 – Swing band
Jóhannes Þórleiksson and the
Acapella swing band Three Voices
at the National Theatre Basement
Þjóðleikhúskjallaranum
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5
16:00-17:30 – Blues with DJ music at
Iðnó
19:00-04:00 – Lester Young Tribute
Band with Haukur Gröndal at Iðnó
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6
16:00-17:00 – Happy feet with DJ music
(really fast swing tunes)
19:00-04:00 – Big Band Svansins
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7
09:00-17:00 – The festival travelling up
north and doing some surprise events
in the towns on the way
19:00-03:00 – The Cangelosi Cards
from the USA at Ólafsfjörður
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8
19:00-03:00 – Lester Young Tribute
Band with Haukur Gröndal at
Ólafsfjörður
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9
19:00-04:00 – The Cangelosi Cards
from the USA and acapella swing band
Three Voices at Iðnó
MONDAY, AUGUST 10
19:00-03:00 – Swing band Jóhannes
Þórleiksson at Rúbín
TUESDAY, AUGUST 11
19:00-01:00 – <Swing band Ragnar
Árna at Óliver
H. HAkAN DURAk
Will Iceland Swing Itself
Out Of The Economic
Depression?
The good people of the Arctic Lindy Exchange
seem to think so
Events
Schedule:
Nightlife | Dancing!