The swing dance revival and its effects on the research and preservation of swing-era music and materials

Abstract

Pop culture has a fascination with the past, often seen through a nostalgic lens. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, some of that fascination turned towards the swing era, with its big band style of jazz and its energetic and athletic form of social dancing. The Lindy hop had a resurgence as a dance craze, and a new version of music combined the earlier big band style with a rock influence. The popularity of the swing revival climaxed culturally with appearances by swing music and dancing in several films and even a well-known Gap television commercial. Interest in this era of music has continued, and the Lindy hop community thrives internationally. In this thesis, I examine the effect that the surge in popularity and growing interest in this era of music have had on research and preservation efforts, with a focus on the research efforts of band leaders and swing dancers.