July 2026: Learn the Called Big Apple

Before Frankie Manning choreographed the Big Apple Routine–performed in the 1939 film Keep Punching and beloved across the modern Lindy Hop scene–the Big Apple was a called group dance, done in a circle and composed of simple solo vernacular jazz steps and short partnered moves. Named after the Big Apple Club in Columbia, South Carolina where it was invented, and pulling influences from Ring Shouts and Square Dancing, this dance was a national craze from 1937-1939.

For more history about this dance, check out these articles:

https://swungover.wordpress.com/2021/02/04/the-rise-of-the-big-apple/

http://socialdance.stanford.edu/Syllabi/1937_Big_Apple_handout.pdf