Swinging at the Savoy Savoy Ballroom

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Swinging at the Savoy

Author(s): Barbara EngelbrechtSource: Dance Research Journal, Vol. 15, No. 2, Popular Dance in Black America (Spring, 1983),pp. 3-10Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of Congress on Research in DanceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1478672

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Articles

SWINGINGAT THE SAVOY

BarbaraEngelbrecht

With the passing of the Savoy Ballroom, a part of theshow business is gone. I feel about the same way I did

when someone told me the news that Bill (Bojangles)Robinson died.-Count Basie, 1958. The demolition

of Harlem's Savoy Ballroom.'

Like Bojangles, by 1958 the Savoy had become an institutionin the world of entertainment, and like Bojangles, it caughtthe imagination of thousands upon thousands of people dur-

ing its 32-year history. The Savoy was a building, a geograph-ic place, a ballroom, and the "soul" of a neighborhood. It per-sonified a community and an era, and became a monumentto the music and dance of "swing." On its huge and shinymahogany floor, the Lindy Hop was born, a dance that tookthe world by storm and would become as seminal as the waltz

in the history of social dance. The Lindy Hop, together with

countless other dances like the Flying Charleston, the Stomp,the Shim Sham Shimmy, Rhumboogie, Suzie-Q, Big Apple,Black Bottom and the Scrontch, were taken to an extraordi-

nary level of performing perfection at the Savoy. Within itsinner circle, great dancers and musicians set trends and stylesin dance and music that ricocheted throughout the world.There were other ballrooms and clubs-Connie's Inn, Small's

Paradise, The Cotton Club, The Lenox Club, The KentuckyClub, and the downtown clubs on 52nd Street-but therewas only one Savoy.

Situated in the heart of Harlem, the Savoy spanned an en-tire city block on Lenox Avenue between 140th and 141stStreets.2 Simply the size of the place, which could boast adance floor as big as a city block, must have been awe-inspir-

ing. The initial impact of the enormous space was describedby dancer Leon James: "My first impression was that I had

stepped into a different world. I had been to other ballrooms,but this was different-much bigger, more glamour, realclass...."3 Dance and Jazz historian Marshall Stearns wrote:

You descended one floor to check your hat and coat atone of several ornate counters staffed by a small army ofattendants. Then you climbed two mirrored flights ofmarble steps until you found yourself in a teeming crowdat the middle of a block-long dance floor. Directly op-posite, a raised double bandstand gleamed with instru-

ments, and one of two bands was up there in full swing.4

In 1939, New York based writer Leonard Ross described hisfirst visit to the Savoy. After paying the 754 admission fee and

checking his coat, he hurried up the stairs.

I heard a battery of brasses blaring "Flat Foot Floogie"into infinity. The first thing I saw, on a huge oblong of adance floor, was some four hundred black dancers goingstark mad. Men lifting women way up, throwing them

down, flinging them over their shoulders, tossing themover their heads, hurling them to arms' length, yankingthem back, shaking them like wet mops.5

The success of opening night on March 12, 1926, gave an

indication of the kind of fame the ballroom would attain dur-

ing its heyday from the late 1920's through the 1940's. Open-

ing night was attended not only by lesser celebrities, but bywell-known city, state and federal officials, representativesfrom Harlem's civic, cultural, welfare and educational groups,as well as Broadway and Hollywood stars. This opening nightcrowd

... glided and whirled on the sleek springy unobstructeddance floor. They jumped with ecstatic joy to the musicof not one, but two of the "best bands in the land," The

Savoy Bearcats, directed by personable Leon Abbey, and

high-hatted, clarinet-playing Fess Williams and his RoyalFlush Orchestra. Few first nighters will ever forget the

dynamic Fess, whose eye-catching trademark was a

shimmering, glittering diamond-studded suit, and whose

showmanship and musicianship eventually catapultedhim to national fame from the newly-born Savoy's No. 1bandstand.6

Charles Buchanan, the Savoy's manager, who co-ownedthe Ballroom with the white financier Moe Gale, sought tocreate a

palaisde danse that would not

onlyserve the local

community, but would give Harlem a "luxury ballroom toaccommodate the many thousands who wished to dance in an

atmosphere of tasteful refinement, rather than in the smalland stuffy halls and the foul smelling, smoke laden cellar

nightclubs.... "7

Buchanan and Gale were aware of the popularity of Rose-

land, The Acadia, and other famous downtown ballroomsthat flourished in the 1920's. They set out to make in Harlemnot only a ballroom that would rival these other establish-ments in the scale and sumptuousness of its interior, but aballroom that would enthrall the public with the excellence ofits musicians and the brilliance of the dancers that came to"cut the rug" with some of the greatest bands of the period.'Their choice of location can only be described as ingenious.

Dance Research Journal 15/2 (Spring 1983) 31.983Barbara de Mardt Engelbrecht



il

Leon James and Villa Mae Ricker Lindy Hopping. Photos: Gjon Mili.

Harlemin the 1920'swas rapidlybecominga cohesiveblack

community-a communitythat was a mecca for blackmusi-

cians,performers,artistsandwriters. At the timeof the open-ing of the Savoy Ballroom in 1926, big-band jazz sound-

swing-was in ascendency.Around 1923 the Fletcher Hen-dersonBandwith LouisArmstrong,was playing at the Rose-land Ballroom.Theseeveningswere often broadcastlive onradio.And, in 1926, FletcherHendersonrecordedThe Stam-

pede which "is almostan archetypeof the swing band score:writtenpassages hat separatethe ensembleby sections,anti-

phonalphrasesbetweensections,a writtenvariation-on-theme

...,solo

improvisationsat

designatedpointsin the music."@

The people dancingto popular swing bands like FletcherHenderson's,downtown at Roseland Ballroom, were pre-dominantly white. Inasmuch as the phenomenon of swingconstituteda part of the continuoustraditionin jazz music

amongblackmusicians,there was a similartraditionamongblackdancers.These dancersfrom the black community inHarlemhad, with the openingof the SavoyBallroom,avenueof the calibreof RoselandBallroom.

The timely opening of the Savoy Ballroomcoincidedwiththe most prosperousyears of swing-the Depressionyears.While breadlinesformedthroughoutthe city, the entertain-ment businessboomed. As Duke Ellingtonsaid, "Night lifehad a songand a dance."'0Dancingto live bandswas one of

the leastexpensiveand mostpopularnighttimeactivitiesdur-

ing the Depression.The Savoy Ballroomwas one of the more importantball-

roomswhere blackmusiciansand dancersconvergedand de-fined a period:music and dance at the Savoy drew attentionto the fact that the traditionof black musicalanddanceformswereinterrelated,andtogetherwereresponsibleortheswingphenomenon.

Harlem's amous image spreaduntil it swarmednightlywith white people from all over the world. The touristbuses came there. The Cotton Club catered to whites

only, and hundredsof other clubs rangingon down tocellar speakeasiescatered to white people's money...The Savoy, the Golden Gate, and the RenaissanceBall-rooms battled for the crowds-the Savoy introduced

ThursdaysKitchen Mechanics'nights, bathing beautycontests,and a new car giveneach Saturdaynight. Theyhad bands fromall'over he country n the Ballroomsandthe Apollo and Lafayette theaters. They had colorfulbandleaders ike Fess Williams in his diamond-studdedsuitandtophat, andCabCallowayin hiswide-brimmedwhite hat andstringtie, settingHarlemafirewith "TigerRag," and "hi-de-hi-de-ho"and "St. James Infirmary"and "Minniethe Moocher."Blacktown crawled withwhite people, with pimps, prostitutes,bootleggers,with

4 Dance ResearchJournal 15/2 (Spring1983)



"4AP.r^* 1,

hustlersof all kinds,with colorfulcharacters,and with

policeand prohibitionagents. Negroesdanced like theynever have anywherebeforeorsince. I guessI musthaveheardtwenty old-timers n Smalls Paradiseswear to methat they had been the first to dance in the Savoy the"LindyHop"whichwas bornthere in 1927."

The Lindy was named after Charles Lindbergh in the

euphoricaftermathof his famous"hop"across he AtlantictoParis n 1927.Thecrowds in Harlem,captivatedby theevent,celebrated at fever pitch in the Savoy Ballroom.Describingthis periodCharles Buchanan said:

One year... the boys and girlsbegan to break out in allkinds of wildcat steps. It was an epidemic. Well Lindyfliesto Paris and the next night up here[at the Savoy] itis like they have 104fever. Youneversaw such jumpingup and down.... I wanted to stop wildcat dancing-theycalledit the Lindy Hop and it sweptthe nation."

Bythe timethe SavoyBallroomreached its 25th anniversa-

ryin 1951, an estimated15,000,000 peoplehad dancedthere,an annual average of about 700,000. The ballroom could

actuallyhold4,000 at a singletime. To keepabreastof chang-ing taste and style, it had been redecorated five times. Theenormous prung loor,worn down by constantuse, hadto be

replacedeverythreeyears. 3

The cost of admissionremained remarkablyinexpensivethroughout the Savoy'shistory. Charles Buchanan stressedthefact that, from its beginning,the Savoy"developed nto acommunity proposition... where we could give the publictwo orchestras,a beautifulplace and an opportunityof inter-pretingthe rhythmof the drumand music that existthroughtheages,all forcheapadmission."'4

The Savoywas open every night of the week.

Mondays, Tuesdays they [the dancers]came early be-cause the admissionpricerose at 6

p.m.from30 cents to

60 cents and roseagain at 8 p.m. to 85 cents. Mondaywas LadiesNight and Thursdaywas KitchenMechanicsNight, when maids and cooks had the-night off. Thecrowds were thin then, and the relativelyopen dancefloorwas great for practice. On Saturdaysthe middle-agedwhite squaresshowedup to watch the dancers.OnSaturdayafternoonsthe dancerssent their best clothesout to be pressedfor Sunday night. In their secondbestsuits they gatheredin front of the Savoy, wisecrackingandwaiting for managerCharlesBuchanan to rushoutandofferto pay them to go in and dance for the people.On Sundays,dancers,musiciansand actorsfrom Broad-way shows jammed the Savoy. Now, dressed in their

Dance Research ournal 15/2 (Spring1983) 5



best, dancersexecutedstepstoo fast for the eye to follow.ShortySnowden tightly clutched his partner, Big Bea,who was a foot taller than he, while his feet shot out inalldirections.StretchJonesdanced with Little Bea, whowas a foot shorter than he and was always getting lost.The folksdowntownloved it and showeredtips upon thedancers. 15

Buchananclaimed that the Savoyneverconsciouslysoughtout a white clientele: "We'renot partialto white peoplewho

come to gawk.. besideswe'renot gearedto makemoneyoutof them. They can'tspendmore than the admission ee and a

coupleof drinks."'6Whites were not catered to specificallyatthe Savoy, unlike the CottonClub, which drew its audience

largely from the monied white downtown population thatcame to see staged entertainmentsby black jazz musiciansand performers.Whites who made the trip uptown to the

Savoycame not only to hear the vanguardof America's azzmusicians-musicians like ChickWebb, Duke Ellington, CabCalloway, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman,and any number of name bands and singersof the time-butto watch and emulate the black dancers who were inventingand developingintricate and brilliantdances with an aston-

ishing prolificacyand performingvirtuosity.Foryoungblack dancerswho went to the Savoynightafter

night, and more particularly hose dancers who became the"elite"and were thereforeable to dance in the Cats'Corner,dancingat the Savoybecame a way of life. The Cats'Cornerwas a substantialareasituatedin the northeastcorner of theballroom and clearlydelineatedby an unspokenrulethat re-served t for the best dancers.Nobodycould blunderinto this

part of the ballroom. Dancersgraduatedinto this cornerbythe sheer inventivenessof their dancing and the finesse anddistinction of their performingstyle. Therefore,a great dealof time had to be spentworkingon the invention and perfec-tion of new stepsand partneringmaneuversbeforeexhibitingthem to fellow dancersin the Cats' Corner. Once a dancerwas accepted into the corner, the competitionwas intense

*f.2L1i

and the drive to invent new steps, to perfect technique, andexcel was paramount.

The presenceof this regulargroupof dancersat the Savoymeant that night after night presenteda new challenge. Inthis spirit of competitionand mutual admiration, technical

proficiencyandshowmanshipwas not only attainedbut hadto be maintainedas well. For seriousLindy Hoppers,themostcrucialpart of the eveningwas "showtime":"A third of theway or so throughthe eveningthe main-vocalizing ndinstru-

mentalstylingwould come-and then showtime, when onlythe greatestLindy-hopperswould stay on the floor, to try toeliminate each other. All the other dancers would form a big"U"with the band at the open end."'7Describinga "show-time"performanceMalcolmX wrote:

Andfinallythe Duke (Ellington)kicked off showtime. IknewandLaura knewthat shecouldn't match the veter-an showtime girls, but she told me that she wanted tocompete.Andthe nextthingI knewshe was amongthosegirlsover on thesidelineschanging into sneakers.I shookmy head when a couple of free-lancing girls ran up tome. As always the crowd clapped and shouted in timewith the blastingband: "GoRed, gol" Partly it was myreputation, and partly Laura'sballet style of dancingthat helpedturnthespotlight-and the crowd'sattention-to us. They never had seen the feather-lightness hatshe gave to lindying, a completelyfreshstyle-and theywere connoisseurs f styles. I turnedup the steam, Lau-ra's feet were flying; I had her in the air, down, side-ways, around;backwards,up again, down, whirling....The spotlightwas workingmostlyus. I caught glimpsesof the fouror five other couples, the girlsjungle-strong,animal-like,buckingand charging.But little Laura in-spiredme to driveto new heights.Her hair was all overherface, it was runningsweat, andI couldn't believe herstrength.The crowdwas shoutingand stomping. A newfavorite was beingdiscovered; here was a wall of noisearoundus. I felt her weakening, she was lindying like a

I

6 Dance Research Journal 15/2 (Spring 1983)



fighterout on her feet, and we stumbled off to the side-lines.The band was stillblasting.I had to half-carryher;she was gaspingfor air. Someof the men in the band ap-plauded. And even Duke Ellington half-raisedup fromhispianostool andbowed.'

The passionof the moment, the hard-driving"hot"soundof the music, andthe excitedmobwatchingand spurring hedancers o new heightscontributed o the elements of daring,risk, speed, and ingenuity of a "showtime"performance.

Everythinga great Lindy Hopperworked for came togetherin moments ike these:"If a showtimecrowd liked your per-formance,when you came off you were mobbed, mauled,grasped,and pummeled like the team that's just taken theseries."19

Mostpeoplefrequentingballrooms n the 1930'sand 1940'swho danced the Lindy Hopdid not executethe aerial maneu-vers describedabove by MalcolmX. They demanded a tech-nical skill that was beyond the realm of the averagedancer.

And, even amongthosedancersadmitted into the Cats' Cor-ner at the Savoy, there remainedtwo distinctLindy Hops-the floorLindyand the aerialLindy. MarshallStearnsclaimsthat"a crucialpoint in the evolutionof the Lindyat theSavoytookplace in the middle to late thirties,splittingthe dancers

into two groups:those who used floor steps and those whoused air steps."

George "Shorty"Snowden was one of the old guard ofLindydancersat the Savoy. Togetherwith hisregularpartnerBig Bea and another couple, StretchJones and Little Bea,thesedancershad "betweenthem, breathtakinglyand hilari-ously, exhausted...every combination of floor steps thatcould be broughtto the Lindy."20

Snowdenwas a remarkableLindyHopperwho producedastyle of Lindying at the Savoy that anteceded the AerialLindy. He and those he influencedchanged the appearanceof the dance. He executedfamiliarsteps,such as the two step,with suchtremendous peedthat his fastsyncopatedfootwork

I

seemedall the more precipitousas it explodedwith an ever-

expandingmomentum.21An impressiveaspectof the Lindy is the speed with which

the partneringtakes place. The partnering maneuvers are

keptstrictlywithin the tempoof the music and the accelerat-

ing insistencyof the swingsound. This rhythmiccontinuityisone of the most outstandingfeatures of the dance, and thedancephenomenonat work is the same as the swing elementin the music.

Once the speed of the tempo has been decided on, itsquality is up to the musicians in the rhythm section. Imean by this that the temposhould not vary enough forthe ear to notice. A noticeableaccelerationor a slacken-

ing, however brief, is usually enough to destroy the

swing. Swing is possible,in classicaljazz, only when thebeat, thoughit seemsperfectlyregular,givesthe impres-sion of movinginexorablyahead (like a train that keepsmovingat the samespeedbut is still being drawn ahead

by itslocomotive).22

The Lindy Hop incorporatedthe "swing"characteristicfromthe Charleston'sbasicstep-the CharlestonSwing. This

"swing" nfused the Lindy Hop'sbasic step-the syncopatedtwo step, with the accent onthe off-beat-with a relaxed and

ebullientquality. And this relaxedand ebullient style of ex-ecutiongivesthe impression, ike the music, of the beat mov-

ing "inexorablyahead."The dancers'feet appear to "fly"in

syncopatedrhythms,while the body appears to "hold" thefine line of balance in calm contrastto the headlongrush ofthe feet.

Oneshouldnot underestimate he volume and loudness ofthe big band sound, and its effectiveness n raisingthe "tem-

perature" in a ballroom. As Andre Hodeir observes: ".. . onedoesn't 'get hot' by playing pianissimo."23 And the dancer

responds.For the LindyHopperthe "heat"of the music andthe "temperature"n the ballroomwere importantaspectsofthe dance. Both these elements relied on the musicians and

Dance ResearchJournal 15/2 (Spring1983) 7



dancersto "letloose,"and "blow their wigs."

The people kept shouting for Hamp's "Flyin' Home,"andfinallyhe did it.... I had neverseen suchfever-heat

dancing.After a coupleof slow numberscooled the placeoff, they broughton Dinah Washington.When she didher Salty Papa Blues, those people just about tore the

Savoy roof off.24

DukeEllingtonobserved hat:

Some musiciansare dancers. .. Youcan dancewith a lotof things besides your feet ....The reason why ChickWebb had suchcontrol,suchcommand of his audiencesat the Savoy ballroom, was because he was always incommunicationwith the dancersand felt it the way theydid. Andthat isprobably he biggestreasonwhyhe couldcut all the other bandsthat went in there.25

The relationshipbetween the musicians and the dancerswas based on mutual challenge.No evening was consideredsuccessfuluntil the "jointwasjumping,"andthe yardstick or

measuringthat was not only the number of people on thefloor,but the frenzywith which they were dancing. Bands atthe Savoy battled each other in orderto get the dancers toraise "heat." Earl Warren,alto sax player in Count Basie's

band, recalls just such an evening when Basie'sband beatChickWebb's"unbeatable" andin abattleof jazz.

Swingin' he Blueswas built to be a house breaker... tocreaterealemotionin the audience.We began workingon it when we were on the road and getting things to-gether or a battle of jazzwith ChickWebb at the Savoy.The battle of jazz was somethingto be reckoned withand we hadto have something resh and new to bringtotheSavoyor we would falter at the finishline. .... At theSavoywe saved it until about halfway down in the pro-gram. Chick did his thing, God Bless, and then wereachedinto our bag and pulled out this powerhouse.When we unloadedourcannons hat wasthe end. It wasone of those nights-I'll never forget it.26

It is highly probablethat the AerialLindywas born-prob-ablyexploded-from this kindof mountingexhilarationand"hot" nteraction of music and dance.

However, air stepshad to be carefullyworkedout. Theyrequiredgreat physical ingenuity and utmost trustbetween

partners,since they were acrobatic, and often dangerous.Mostcoupleshad a repertoireof aerialmaneuvers,which in-cludedsuch moves as the Hip to Hip, Over the Head, OvertheBack,andBackFlip. There was neverany rulegoverningtheir appearancewithin the framework of the dance. This

happenedbythe "feel"betweenpartnersandthe music.

If you have ever lindy-hopped,you'll know what I'm

talkingabout. Withmostgirls, youkind of workoppositethem, side-stepping, eading. Whicheverarm you lead

with is half-bent out there, your hands are giving thatlittlepull, that little push, touchingher waist, her shoul-ders,her arms.Sheis in, out, turning,whirling,where-ever you guide her. With poor partners,you feel their

weight. They'reslow and heavy. But with really goodpartners,all you need is just the push-pull suggestion.Theyguide nearlyeffortlessly, venoff the floor and intothe air,andyourlittle solo maneuver s done on the floorbefore hey joinyou, whirlingright n step.27

The "push-pull uggestion"referredto by MalcolmX is the

key to the flow and the flawless timing of an aerial move.

Since the vital force of the Lindy Hop is the speed of the ex-

ecution of all the steps within the tempo set by the music, the

trajectory of the woman had to take place within the same

time structure of the basic steps of the dance.

An important aspect in the structure of the Lindy Hop is

the breakaway section. Its significance to the Lindy's develop-ment is overwhelming, because within this improvisational

section, new steps and maneuvers were discovered, then in-

corporated into the dance.

The breakaway, as its name suggests, is literally a break inthe partnering, as each dancer goes into a solo riff. These solosoften occured with a solo section in the music. This focus inthe action heightened the concentration of the moment, uni-

fying sound and movement. The tense excitement in the ball-room as a great dancer extemporized added to the frenzy ofthe dance once the partnering began again. For the LindyHopper, this was a moment for exposition, a chance to dem-onstrate the inventiveness and distinction of individual style.

Moves that contrasted with, or interrupted the syncopatedaccents of the Lindy's basic step-such as a split, a stop/freeze,or a retard-were risky since they could shatter the rhythmiccontinuity. However, great Lindy Hoppers like Shorty Snow-den-who remarked that he had, "put together new steps in

the breakaway by slipping and almost falling"28-played withthese rhythmic dynamics. These dancers "lived dangerously"by threatening the powerful impulse of the steady rhythm in

the music and the frenetic flight of the dance. The thrill of re-

verting back to the basic rhythm with split-second timingafter a declivitous move, then to take off again required dex-

terity and control. Great performers rarely faltered in these

moments, and their inventions had the appearance of "... notan organized composition, not even the product of creative

meditation, but the result of a crystallization of thought in thecourse of successive improvisations."29

The immense popularity of both Swing music and the

Lindy Hop among the whites was due in large part to the

impetus the burgeoning recording industry and radio gave toit. Both industries were controlled by whites who appropri-ated these uniquely black forms that were beginning to catchthe public's fancy.

The record industry was a prime disseminator of and fuelsource for swing. From small beginnings, the U.S. record-

ing industry grew to a $50-million-a-year business in the

1920's, then slumped to 1/20th of that in 1932 under the

impact of radio and the Depression. It came back strongwith the advent of the 35-cent 78-rpm record, the devel-

opment of the electric-powered record player and thesudden ubiquity of the jukebox. By 1939 there were

225,000 jukeboxes in the U.S. using 13 million discs a

year. Youngstersthronged record stores each week whennew shipments arrived, to listen, comment and buy.

Radio stations quickly understood the value of playingrecordings of vastly popular music. Whole programscould be built on nothing more than a stack of recordsand a

goodtalker. The disc

jockey becamea

figureof

national importance, ardently wooed by musicians andrecord manufacturers. Disc jockeys and the boxes helpedlaunch some great bands to fame.30

Although hours were spent listening to recordings, dancingremained the central activity among most swing fans in the

1930's and 1940's. People crowded into ballrooms all over the

country to dance to the live sound of their favorite bands.

Jitterbugging or Lindying was synonymous with Swing musicand "everywhere from theater aisles to living-room floorssprinkled with sugar to reduce friction, white youngsters were

doing the black inspired dances of the day, while black young-sters vwereadding even greater inspiration to the original con-

ceptions. 31




Some of the most powerful images that remain with us andseem to encapsulate this period in American popular musicand dance are connected to the visual aesthetic of the jazz

age. The splendor of the Big Band, its members dressed im-

peccably in suits, seated in a bank-often surrounded by a

spectacular set-their brass instruments gleaming; images likethese remain with us in photographs and films. These photo-graphs and films kindle a nostalgia for what appears to be an

uncomplicated enthusiasm for life, and somehow relieve us ofthe

memoryof the

Depressionera as a time when it was diffi-

cult for performers, especially black performers to launch acareer. What then is our residual image of the Lindy Hop-people flying through the air, crowded ballrooms, clusters of

young people around radios, big bands, zoot suited "cool

cats," Count Basie at the piano, Cab Calloway in his whitezoot or leaning nonchalantly up against his Lincoln, in his

Homburg hat?

Although aspects of the visual and musical aesthetic weremarked by an exaggerated style, an outlandishness and opu-lence, the Lindy Hop must be remembered within its context-Black Culture, the Depression, and the Savoy Ballroom. Itis a product of its time-perpetually astonishing those whowatched it and those who danced it.

"Now here's a story 'bout Minnie the MoocherShe was a low-down hoochy coocherShe was the roughest, toughest frailBut Minnie had a heart as big as a whale."

That's how I'd start out; then somewhere in the middle

of it, I'd start to hi-de-ho. You know, singing:"Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-ho."

Then the band would answer:"Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-ho."

Then I'd sing back again:"Hi-de-doo-de-way-de-ho."

And the band would swing, and sing:"Wah-de-doo-de-way-de-ho."

When it really got to feeling good, I'd holler for the

audience to join in."W'ah-de-wah-de-wah-de-doo," I'd sing."Wah-de-wah-de-wah-de-doo," the band and

the audience would holler back.

By now the place is jumping. I'm dancing and leadingthe band. The horn section is hitting it. The drummer is

driving us. The piano player is vamping. And the placeis really rocking.

"Bee-de-doo-de-dee-de-dow," I holler

"Bee-de-doo-de-dee-de-dow," everybody shouts back."Teedle-do-de-dee rah-de-dah-de-dah."Teedle-do-de-dee rah-de-dah-de-dah."

Then I'd bring it back home, with everybody stompingand clapping and singing:

"Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-ho.

Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-ho-Now here's a story 'bout Minnie the MoocherShe was a low-down hoochy coocherShe was the roughest, toughest frailBut Minnie had a heart as big as a whale."32

-Cab Calloway

Dance Research Journal 15/2 (Spring 1983) 9



NOTES

1. "Savoy, 'The Home of Happy Feet,' Falls Under Auctioneer's

Gavel," Jet, Oct. 16, 1958, pp. 60-61.

2. "The Savoy Story," 25th Anniversary of the Savoy Ballroom

Brochure, 1951.

3. Marshall Stearns and Jean Stearns, Jazz Dance: The Story ofAmerican Vernacular Dance (New York: Schirmer Books, 1979),

p. 321.

4. Ibid.

5. Leonard Q. Ross, The Strangest Places (New York: Harcourt,Brace & Co., Inc., 1939), pp. 179-180.

6. "The Savoy Story."

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. Frank Tirro, Jazz: A History, (New York: W. W. Norton & Co.,Inc., 1977), p. 216.

10. Edward Kennedy Ellington, Music is My Mistress (New York:

Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1973), p. 63.

11. Malcolm X and Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X

(NewYork:

Ballantine Books, 1973), pp. 82-83.12. Leonard Q. Ross, The Strangest Places (New York: HarcourtBrace & Co., Inc., 1939), p. 186.

13. "The Savoy Story."

14. Frederick Woltman, "King of the Savoy," Negro Digest, July,1951, pp. 95-96.

15. Philip W. Payne, ed., The Swing Era: Swing As a Way of Life1941-1942 (New York: Time-Life Records, 1970), p. 18.

16. Frederick Woltman, "King of the Savoy," p. 96.

17. X and Haley, p. 64.

18. Ibid., p. 66.

19. Ibid.

20. Stearns and Stearns, p. 325.

21. Observations based on his appearance in the film After Seben,1929, Paramount, from the Ernest Smith Film Collection, New York

City, 1981.

22. Andre Hodeir, Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence (New York:Grove Press, Inc., 1979), p. 198.

23. Ibid., p. 230.

24. X and Haley, p. 74.

25. Ellington, p. 100.

26. Philip W. Payne, ed. The Swing Era: Where Swing Came From1938-1939 (New York: Time-Life Records, 1970), p. 55.

27. X and Haley, p. 63.28. Stearns and Stearns, p. 324.

29. Hodeir, p. 174.

30. Payne, p. 8.

31. Ibid., p. 17.

32. Cab Calloway and Bryant Rollins, Minnie the Moocher and Me(New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1976), p. 102.


Documents

Swinging at the Savoy Savoy Ballroom