In year 6 the children are learning about World War II. Despite the outbreak of World War II in 1939, people across the world did not stop dancing. Dance halls in the United Kingdom were extremely popular with young people who relished the opportunity to escape their everyday worries and learn all the new dance crazes!
Swing first developed as a music style in America. Its roots were in jazz but it consisted of larger ensembles of musicians which explains why the term ‘big band’ is synonymous with swing.
During the 1930s, dance elements from the Charleston and other dance forms, such as tap and the Waltz, were incorporated into new energetic dance styles which were danced to swing music. The music and dance styles of the ‘swing era’ (circa 1935 – 1946) dominated wartime entertainment.
The Lindy Hop, which is considered by many as the first swing dance, was first danced to jazz music in Harlem, America around 1928. It combines traditional dance steps with exciting acrobatics and ‘breakaway’ sections where couples separate and
improvise their own moves.
The Year 6 children had a great time learning the steps of the Lindy Hop!
