The Call Of The Jitterbug

Some called it Jitterbug, some called it the Lindy hop and some called it Swing dancing. Whatever its name, it was a dance craze which swept America in the 1930’s. It was also the first art form that broke through the color barrier and its center was Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom. At the Savoy, blacks and whites danced together, probably for the first time in America. The performers – dancers like Al Minns, Normal Miller and Frank Manning – remember how dance was an antidote to the economic depression outside. Some recall bitter moments on the road where prejudice denied them a place to eat or spend the night. Interviews with musicians and dancers, plus lively vintage footage, vividly evoke the sights and sounds of a bygone era.