Farewell to big clubs! Optimism in Greece is making a comeback in the small charming bars with the passionate dance moves in the rhythm of swing
Americans in the 30s and 40s used swing dancing as an escape from the reality of Great Depression. Greeks nowadays use it pretty much in the same way.. For the past two years, Lindy hop as a specific style of swing dancing, has turned out to be not only a popular trend and a way of forgetting about the dreary grayness of political and economic problems in daily life, but a passion and a way of life for many in this Mediterranean country. Every Wednesday Lindy hoppers put on their authentic 1930s and 1940s dresses, suits and pants, men smartly dressed with immaculate hair styling, women wearing happy-colored dresses and vivid red lipstick, and turn themselves over to the irresistible dancing madness in the tunes of swing. If you are ever in Athens and accidentally step into a bar with Lindy hop dancers get ready to be dazzled and completely immersed by the positive energy in the air. Needless to say, you will be dancing along within minutes, and a day later singing up for your first Lindy hop lessons.
The Athens Swing Cats
Josephine and Ben are the founders of one of the first Lindy hop dance groups in Athens, named the Athens Swing Cats. If you are in Athens you can join their parties every Wednesday either in Floral in Exarheia or Blue Fox (Aisklipou 91, Exarheia). They say the reason behind the dance company is plain - they wanted to dance in Athens. “Ben and I have been living abroad for years. Because of our professional careers in music we knew a variety of dance styles, in particular swing dances. Well, about three years ago we went to a concert in Athens, all dolled up, appropriately dressed and in the mood for dancing. However, when we got to the concert we were shocked. There were like 100 people just standing there with their drinks in hand and just nodding along to the music. No one was dancing. So, this was a defining moment for us and we decided that we want to do something that would inspire people to dance when going out”, says Josephine. As she explains, Athens Swing Cats started out with about 8 people that were interested in swing-dancing, the number gradually went to 15. Now their group is over a hundred people and the number is continually increasing.
Josephine is a musicologist. She completed her studies and PhD in Edinburgh. Joss has been dancing since the age of 5 and has tried out several different dancing styles, varying from classical do jazz-ballet. Her two partners in Athens Swing Cats are another instructor, Christina, and Ben who apart from his dedication to jazz and swing dancing has a significant experience in breakdancing and Kung Fu. Joss and Ben were acquainted with Lindy hop as a style - Joss even remembers watching her mother swing dancing. “One day I just randomly ran into a Lindy hop group dancing on the streets of Edinburgh. They had such positive energy that I said to myself 'Ok, this is it' and signed up for Lindy hop lessons the very next day at the college club. Ben and I started Lindy hop lessons at different periods, but as time passed by the teachers told us we had the talent for this kind of dancing”, Joss adds with a smile, saying that they overcame the student phase and are now able to teach it to swing-dance enthusiasts.
Lindy hop trivia
Lindy hop has developed as a dance style in the 1930s, having as its predecessors the Charleston, Fox-trot, jazz and a variety of African dances. This dance style was living its best years in the club Savoy in Harlem, which from the 1920s to 1950s was the dance sanctuary where the “black and whities” could dance together free, without boundaries. There was a special place in the Savoy club for Lindy hop dancers known as the Cat's club. The popular Frankie Manning is considered the coolest cat and the father of Lindy hop.
Lindy hop is a mix of several dance styles that in time developed a faster pace that turned into Lindy hop the way it is today - crazy quick and fun, both for dancing and observing. As a style Lindy hop has two variations - the Savoy style which is quicker, livelier, crazier and involves more acrobatic movements, and the Hollywood style, which has a slower, calmer pace.
“When you mention Lindy hop, swing, the first thing that comes to mind is the economic crisis, the Great Depression, World War 2. All of these historical events are crucial for the development of Lindy hop. If this kind of dancing appeared in the 70s maybe it would have gone unnoticed. However, in the 30s and 40s people were under such pressure due to political and economic circumstances that they were bound to explode and this explosion was the birth of Lindy hop. Music and dancing are revolutionary, liberating, give you the freedom to escape from reality”, comment Joss and Ben.
In their opinion the current economic crisis is the key to explaining the overwhelming popularity of Lindy hop in Greece. As Joss says, people are searching for something more than the daily problems and political headaches, they are tired of the same old places where one just sits, drink in hand, sometimes not even leading a decent conversation. “Our generation grew up hanging out in big companies and dancing in discotheques. And all of a sudden this is gone. People are constantly alienating. And Lindy hop jumps in this situation and helps in creating smaller or bigger groups of people that want to spend time together. People come to the dance lessons on their own and after 2-3 classes they are a part of the big Lindy family”, Joss points out to me. There is no age-limit for Lindy hop dancing. Athens Swing Cats' students vary in age, from teenagers that are still in high-school to 60-year olds. Regardless of their age, the dance students support each other constantly, both about dance and daily-life problems.
Students often comment that Lindy hop made a tremendous change in their life. “They come to class and say we have changed their lives. However, I don't think that we, the three professors have made this change. I think it is the whole group that caused the actual change, all the energy and support created within the group changes people. It has certainly changed us. We started the Athens Swing Cats for fun, because we wanted to dance, then it turned to a hobby and now it's our entire life”, say Joss and Ben, explaining they are devoting their time to practicing both with the students, but also working on their dance skills and focusing on improvements of the dance group the rest of the time. Joss is even considering to put her academic career in Scotland behind her and devote herself full-time to working with the Athens Swing Cats.
The fashion
Apart from the positive dance energy that immediately takes over anyone joining an Athens Swing Cats' party, another catchy detail is the dress-code. Almost all Lindy hoppers are dressed following the fashion of the 1930s and 1940s. According to Joss, it is surprising that men are paying more attention to the way they are dressed than women. “It's striking how much they pay attention to detail and how many of them are showing up dressed up all elegant and smart. As if they missed this elegant manner. In the US in the 30s people were dealing with poverty, but they were always decently dressed for the parties. Whereas now we have a financially comfortable life, but our style is more casual, we don't always pay attention to how we look in public.”
It was actually the increasing interest of the students and Joss' attempt to persuade them all to wear authentic outfits for their annual Snowball dance that inspired the Athens Swing Cats' professors to start designing and manufacturing clothes. Somewhere in between dance rehearsals, academia and teaching the Lindy hop moves, Joss is also designing dresses, skirts, pants and other Lindy hop appropriate accessories for their fashion line Swing Kitty. She says the ideas come from various old movies that include big swing and Lindy hop dancing scenes. The studio organizes open days and bazaars so that the students can choose the pieces to their liking. The fashion merchandise was another big surprise on the way for the Athens Swing Cats' founders, as the fashion line Swing Kitty turned out to be popular not only in Greece, but also in the UK and the US.
Lindy hoppers in the world unite
Even though to some it may seem that swing dancing communities dwell in the dusty past, they are in fact blossoming. Lindy hop lovers are constantly starting new dance groups, one may even say that the wave of the Lindy hop revival that started in the 1980s is slowly turning into a dance tsunami. International Lindy hop communities are collaborating, and some of the most active communities are the ones in the UK, Sweden, the US, Italy and Greece is also hopping on board. As Joss tells us, wherever a Lindy hop dancer goes if he/she finds the local Lindy hop community and tells them he/she is a dancer too the community will immediately accept them and try to assist them in all ways possible.
One of the most interesting characteristics in the international Lindy hop cooperations is the Lindy hop exchange, when for example the Athens Swing Cats invite Lindy hop dancers from the Balkans, US or UK and organizes a Lindy hop festival. The exchange lasts for several days and it is filled with non-stop concerts and workshops for the local and guest Lindy hop dancers.
“Lindy hop is not only the dancing style of the 30s. It belongs to us as well, here and now. We are trying to become more open to the new swing music they are creating now, but we also do enjoy the music from the 30s and 40s, and in my case, even the 60s and 70s, the big bands music and especially the way they sound on the old records. It's not only about the past - it's current, it's now as well. And it's about everyone”, says Ben, as a small sweet battle arises between him and Joss about different music preferences. Ben is a fan of 60s swing, Frank Sinatra and New Orleans jazz while Joss is particularly fond of Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, Jonny Cooper and The Royal Crown Revue. And when it comes to films, “Swing Kids” and “A Day at the Races” are absolutely essential.
Everybody wants to be a cat...
All throughout the conversation I have the catchy tune from “Aristocats” – Everybody wants to be a cat - echoing in my head. It seems that for Joss, Ben and their studio the cat is indeed a holy symbol, starting from the name Athens Swing Cats, inspired by their pet cat Sasha, to the often repeated “cool cat” phrase from the 1930s, the Cat's corner in the Savoy club, and finally a very friendly chubby cat named Tito that lives in the building where the dance studio is located. “Tito, the former Yugoslavian president...”, Joss says and I immediately respond by giggling. “It's actually sad that many people nowadays don't know how Tito was, they don't know about the history of our neighbors. I've made this joke about the cat's name and the ex Yugoslavian president so many times and in many cases people just look at me puzzled”, Joss adds.
Joss and Ben say they are open to a collaboration and workshops with dance groups from Skopje and would be more than happy to see some of them during the three-day Athens Lindy hop festival they are working on at the moment. “I know you have great musicians, great jazz musicians and Jazz festival, but I am not acquainted with the swing-dancing scene in Skopje. I remember this amazing band Anastasia I saw perform live in Athens in the 90s”, Joss points out to my great surprise. Both of them say that if an opportunity comes up they would be more than happy to come to Skopje and have some workshops or perform at a festival, or have a Lindy hop exchange with the local swing dance groups.
I tell them there are a few tango dancing groups in Skopje, but no Lindy hop dancers yet, and explain the enthusiasm of my friends that are big fans of swing dancing and would love to dress up 1930s style and do the shim sham. Josephine smiles and with a positive tone of a Lindy hop dancer just says: “I am sure there is someone in Skopje that knows everything about Lindy hop, knows how to dance but is just waiting for the right moment to start and make it really big there. I believe than in Skopje, just as in Athens, right now is the right moment for the music, dance and cultural revolution”.
Published in Utrinski Vesnik, 8th January, 2011
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