Gottschild, Brenda Dixon - Waltzing in the Dark

[oyceter]

(subtitle: African American Vaudeville and Race Politics in the Swing Era)

I looked for this after reading The Black Dancing Body, since I do lindy and wanted to know more about the history of lindy hop, particularly how cultural appropriation, cultural theft and racial politics play into it

Comments

[delux_vivens]

while integration's intent was all well and good, because racism didn't disappear, it effectively killed off many black-centered theaters and locales

which is why an awful lot of people were very much *against* integration, and some people still are, although the idea that integration may have had negative effects on blacks is a huge novelty to many.

also its interesting you mention benny goodman. people in my family had a particular and serious loathing for him, having seen him hanging around in harlem eating soul food and learning music from the people who made it, then hopping off to 52 st and being hailed as an inventive genius.

[oyceter]

Duuude. I can see why people in your family have the hate for Benny Goodman! Arrrgh!

And yeah, I was thinking about a lot of your posts when I read this, particularly the ones on cultural theft and integration and I was going to go into how the author talks about swing being discussed as "swing" and "jitterbug" (the whitewashed versions) as opposed to being labeled "lindy hop" except I forgot to.

Then there's Gap appropriating it (I'm not sure what style they appropriated; I can't remember the ads) for the khaki commercials. Oh wait! Found one! Wow, clearly this is before Gap got the multicultural memo, because look how white that is. And they are dancing lindy hop style -- I can just see it. "Let's go and steal again from the origins of what we call swing, now that it's been whitewashed and turned into West Coast Swing over the years!"

And am not getting into how I bet most people have seen the lindy hop in Swing Kids and how that focuses on lindy hop as the dance of rebellion for white German kids. Historically accurate, and

[delux_vivens]

I can see why people in your family have the hate for Benny Goodman!

well most of the people who knew that sort of thing are dead now, but. you kno what i mean.

the thing i like about books like this is it is documetnation taht people who would otherwise dramatically heave their bosms and say 'oh but it doenst matter lets just have fun' cant really ignore. well they can, but they cant ignore it the same way that cheerfully ignore the sort of oral history that i grew up with.

[cryptoxin]

This sounds like a fascinating and disturbing book -- I know some bits and pieces of other aspects of the history of white theft of black cultural forms (mostly music), but nothing about dance in the swing era. Thanks for the great write-up!

[oyceter]

It's really interesting! I mean, it is probably more interesting to me because I dance lindy hop and have a vested interest in the era, but I am hoping it will be interesting to people not in lindy as well!

[oracne]

This sounds cool--I missed the first post on this author, so was glad you linked to it, too.

more for the wishlist....

[oyceter]

Glad it sounds interesting!

[sanguinity]

Now, that looks like an interesting and enlightening read. Thanks for the rec!

[oyceter]

Glad to spread it around! It was a really fascinating read.