In April 1999, American Movie Classics (AMC) aired an hour long special featuring neo-swing music and Lindy Hop. The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies headlined the event, which was a concert given at the Supper Club in Midtown Manhattan. We were one of six couples invited to dance during the hour long concert. This clip is our jam during the concert. We are the second to last couple out. It’s the only one capturing us doing air steps, including one of our own. While we don’t claim that putting your partner over your head during front-to-back charlestons is earth shattering. It’s no snatch. At the same time, we came up with the air step ourselves, so it holds some significance for us. If you care for the backstory, read on.
We will never forget working on the move at Big Apple Lindy Hopper rehearsals. At that time, Frankie was still the group’s coach, when he was in town. We had the idea for doing this step, which friends would call the Chadori, but didn’t know how to get from the idea to reality. We tried different ideas for sets (a set is where you do most of an air step, but stop short, a dry run of sorts). I tried to lift her on my shoulders from a charleston position, but that proved dangerous.
Well, we were in the middle of figuring it out, when Frankie arrives for rehearsal. As he makes the rounds, he sees what we are up to. And, to make a long story short, tells us to “Just go for it.” The next thing I know, I lift her up from a front-to-back charleston. She tucks and goes over my head and right behind me.
We spent much of the rest of rehearsal working on the step. Though nothing extravagant, the move was something we came up with ourselves, so I was excited. And I asked Frankie if he had ever seen it before. Looking for reassurance that we had come up with something new. In Frankie’s reluctant way, he said that he actually had. For a minute, I felt deflated. The move wasn’t novel after all. But then I realized, it didn’t matter. In a way, it’s our connection to some dancers from the past. And that’s not a bad thing at all.
Posted on October 12th, 2007 by chad
We perform and teach popular and historical social dances of the Jazz Age and Swing Era and have appeared on stage, independent film, and local and national television. Known for our performance and our research of social dancing, we also consult and choreograph for period productions, particularly those set in the Roaring Twenties. Though we do not regularly compete, we have placed in a number of competitions, including 1st in the 2004 American Lindy Hop Championships Fast Dance division.