DANCE FLOOR

Al Minns and Leon James

The Savoy's dance floor, as Panama Francis points out, was sacred in terms of the special reverence that was paid to it. Every night cleaners would scrape off offending pieces of gum, they would scrub the whole floor and have it polished ready for the next evening. No smoking was allowed on the floor and offenders were abruptly ejected. More talented dancers, commanding between them an immense range of dance forms, graced its surface than probably any other dance floor in the world. Harlem versions of ballroom dancing predominated in its dance sessions, the most famous being the Lindy Hop, but during the cabarets and special evenings organised by the different clubs and fraternities that booked the Savoy many other types of dancing took place. Initially this section of the site will concentrate on the Lindy Hop dimension, but in time other forms of dance will be listed and described.

In particular we have outlined the main groups of "Savoy Lindy Hoppers," who were the featured dancers who became one of the main attractions that brought out of town visitors to the Savoy. Many of these "Savoy Lindy Hoppers" competed in the main annual competition - the Harvest Moon Ball, but not all. There was a fair amount of cross-over between these two groups but there were also those who preferred performing to competing and visa verca . And we will of course look at a cross section of dancers who danced at the Savoy ranging from people who worked there to casual visitors who were just out for some enjoyable social dancing.. Altogether then, we will be looking at the three main modes of the Lindy Hop at the Savoy, the professional/performers, the competition dancers and the social dancers.