Dancing with Finesse: History of Social Dance pt.1

Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

We say that LITM is a podcast about music, the dance floor, sound systems and counterculture, but we realise that we haven’t dedicated a show to dance floor practices for some time. So in this episode, Tim is in the hot seat to give us a quick primer on the history of social dance in the USA and beyond. With reference to the prevailing gender, class and power relations of their time, we learn about the surprising sensuousness of the Waltz, James P Johnson and the Charlston, the Lindy Hop, the Swing Age, The Twist and even Deadhead freakouts.

Calling into this history the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, Elvis, the Acid Tests and more, Tim charts a history of social dance spanning over 200 years, and bringing us to the doors of the Loft and the Sanctuary in the early 1970s, from where we’ll pick up next episode.

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Tracklist:

Johann Strauss II - The Blue Danube Waltz

James P Johnson - Charlston

Frankie Manning - Hellzapoppin

Count Basie - One O’Clock Jump

Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - The Twist

The Grateful Dead - Mama Tried (Live at Woodstock)