LINDY FIGURES

Lindy—4 beats/measure; 30-36 meas/min

Lindy came out of the swing, jive, and jitterbug of the nineteen -teens and -twenties. In 1926, the Savoy Ballroom opened in Harlem, and the dance acquired all sorts of lifts, flips, throws, and slides. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made his famous flight or "hop" across the Atlantic and so provided the perfect name for this acrobatic and aerial style of dance. The story is that it was named the Lindy Hop by a Harlem dancer named "Shorty George" Snowden.

I remember seeing some of these "aerials" in Steven Speilberg's 1979 movie, 1941, and there was some of the real thing in Public Television's History of Jazz. However, Round Dancing isn't quite that athletic . Our lindy is smooth and easy with some rather pronounced dips during some of the 1, 2, counts. It feels like a fast west-coast swing.

FIGURE AND COUNT	STEPS (In the abbreviations, a comma separates two beats, a semi-colon marks the end of a measure, and a slash (/) indicates a split beat, two things occurring in a single beat of music.)	In Freestyle, You Could Follow With This
Basic 1,2,3/&,4;	Lower in the right leg and step back left with a smooth dip to the body and a back sweeping motion with the right arm, and recover on the right, crossing right in front of left to get out of the woman's way. She swivels forward right and forward left. Blend to closed position. Chasse turning 1/2 right face: fwd L/cl R, fwdL; the woman does a little hitch turning 1/2 RF: perhaps, fwd R/sd L, XRIF still in closed position.	The Basic is the first measure of a number of the two-measure figures. It is similar to the Alemana in other rhythms. The introductory Basic is not usually cued.
Swing Out 1,2,3/&,4; 1,2,3/&,4;	In left open facing position, lead feet free, start with a Basic: rock back on left and swing right arm back in a bowling backswing motion. Turn your lead hand a bit to the left, and the woman will swivel right face on left and step forward on right, toe out. On the second count, the man recovers, and the woman swivels left face and forward on the left. Blend to closed position and turn right face 1/2 with a sd/cl, sd; she does her triple: perhaps, crossing right in front of left and turning 1/2 right face/back, recover still in closed; The second measure is a hook turn: hook right in back of left and turn 1/2, step side. She steps fwd, fwd, turning 1/2. She ends with a little side triple, and he does a bk/cl, bk; to left open facing again.	In Bahr's Saturday Night Lindy, part A starts with a Swing Out to face the wall;; Kick Away to a Swing Out;; and then a Lindy Circle;;
Kick Away To A Swing Out 1,2,3/&,4; 1,2,3/&,4;	A variation of the Swing Out. If you end the previous figure in a left open position, you can replace the rock/recover of the standard Swing Out with a kick: kick the lead across the supporting trail leg, and then bring the lead foot back and touch, no weight change. Continue with the remaining 1 1/2 measures of the standard Swing Out.
Heels To A Swing Out 1,2,3/&,4; 1,2,3/&,4;	A second variation. In left open facing position, both rock back on heels, with legs straight, bend at waist, and let the trail arms swing back. Recover to balls of feet with soft knees; no real weight change. Then complete remaining 1 1/2 measures of standard Swing Out (above). You can do a Heels to a Lindy Circle or most any other figure that begins with a rock-recover.
Swing Out With Jump Ending 1,2,3/&,4; 1,2,3/&,4;	Do the first 1 1/2 measures of a Swing Out, and instead of the final triple, both jump a little apart and land on both feet with knees soft. Hold and freeze in position for the fourth beat. The second measure, then: hook RIB of L woman fwd L, sd L turning 1/2 woman fwd R turning, both jump apart, -;
Lindy Circle 1,2,3/&,4; 1,2,3/&,4;	Begin with a Basic: In left open facing position, line of dance, lead feet free, rock back on left and swing right arm back in a bowling backswing motion. Turn your lead hand a bit to the left, and the woman will swivel right face on left and step forward on right, toe out. On the second count, the man recovers and turns lead hand a little to the right, and the woman swivels left face and forward on the left. Blend to closed position and turn right face 1/2 with a triple. In tight closed position, XRIB of L woman fwd L, step side and back L woman fwd R, triple to semi-closed position facing line of dance.	Pecking
Side Break &/1,	Step side with lead feet and quickly side with trail. The feet should be about shoulder width apart, the arms straight down at sides, with the palms facing partner.	Do a Side Break, Hold, Hold, Shorty George; -;
Shorty George 4;1,2,3,4;	Draw left to right, change weight to L, on ball of foot lower left shoulder and point left index finger straight down to floor. On count 1 of next measure, lower onto R, bend knee, lower right shoulder, and point right index finger to floor. On 2, bend left knee a little more and lower onto ball of left foot, lower shoulder, and point left index finger. On 3, start rising. In place, step on ball of right foot, lower right shoulder and point. Finally, continue to rise, step on ball of left, lower left shoulder, and point. So, you are stepping, tilting shoulders, and alternately pointing toward floor: down, down, down, up, up. May be done starting with trail feet.	Repeat Side Break, Hold, Hold, Shorty George; -; starting with the trail feet.
Glide To The Side 1,2,3/&,4; 1,2,3/&,4;	I left open facing position, facing the wall, do a Basic: rock back on left and swing right arm back in a bowling backswing motion. Turn your lead hand a bit to the left, and the woman will swivel right face on left and step forward on right, toe out. On the second count, the man recovers and turns lead hand a little to the right, and the woman swivels left face and forward on the left. Blend to closed position and turn right face 1/2 with a triple. The man will be facing center; leave a little room between you. Second measure: step side with trail feet, XIF, sd/cl, sd;	Repeat to face wall again.
Chicken Walks s,-,s,-; q,q,q,q;	In left open facing position, the man walks backwards with sharp, ball-flat steps, his right hand on his right hip, fingers together and pointing down. The woman swivels forward, swiveling right face when stepping forward on the right, toes out, and left face when stepping forward on the left, again toes out. Both lean back, pulling with the joined lead hands. The woman can swing quite a bit of hip into this walk.	Swing Out
Slip Slop &q,q&q,q;	In a facing position, lead feet free, lift the lead knee to cause a slight hop and slide on the trail foot, close the lead foot, and repeat with the trail foot,:	In the Bahrs' Sugar Blues, there is a lindy circle;; syncopated side chasse [a1a2a3a4a]; slip slop; swing out with woman outside turn;; lindy circle;;
Pecking 1,2,3/&,4; 1,2,3/&,4;	In semi-closed position, line of dance, rock back on the lead and recover. On beat 3, step forward on the left and hold, head up and back. On beat 3, the woman steps forward on the right, turns left face, closes on the left facing the man, and steps side and back. The man has taken three steps: bk, rec, fwd, -; The woman has taken five steps: bk, rec, fwd R turning LF/cl L, bk; Both have the trail feet free. In the second measure, the man steps forward R pushing his chin forward like a chicken pecking, and the woman steps back. She may peck back at him or not. Repeat the pecking with the left foot, and again with the right. On the & count, close L turning left face to semi reverse, and step back on count 4. The footwork for the man during the second measure is fwd, fwd, fwd turning/cl turning, bk; For the woman: bk, bk, bk/cl, bk;	Repeat to reverse, and then Swing Out.

"They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon."