Lindy Hop Archives

I don’t blog that much about my favorite dance “The Lindy Hop“, but for today’s post I want to share with you an event that is close to my heart-ULHS…The Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown in New Orleans. And why today? Well this weekend marks the very last time this event will run, as the organizer is hanging up her hat (after 14 years) and letting it become a slightly different event called the New Orleans Swing Dance Festival.

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orleans -Lindu Hop on the Street. — Photo: Dean Villafuerte

What was ULHS? Well simply, it was a weekend in New Orleans (birthplace of Jazz) that featured Lindy Hop Dance competitions, Live New Orleans music, jazz club dance crawls, Second Line Parades, cool vintage buildings for dance venues and so much dancing! It was pure magic and one of the best events I have every attended.

Check out this AMAZING Video created for its 10th Anniversary that features outstanding Lindy Hop and takes you from its original start in Minneapolis to its final stop in New Orleans (seriously..watch this video).

Now for today’s blog I wanted to fill it up with pictures and some videos of the weekends I attended (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012) to create one big I LOVE ULHS post.

Let’s Begin…

New Orleans

The Saint Louis Cathedral is the oldest Cathedral in North America, founded as a Catholic Parish in 1720 along the Banks of the Mississippi River in New Orleans.

My friends and I outside of Anne Rices Old House (I think it was lol).

We ate at so many yummy restaurants, like our favorite Coop’s. IT’S THE BEST PLACE TO EAT IN NEW ORLEANS!

And another favorite of ours “Yo Mama’s” even at one point had a very interestingly placed pole in their dining room (it sadly is behind a wall now).

The Music and Second Line Parades

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orleans- Music on the street in New Orleans

d.ba. was a sweet place to listen and dance to music. They had a great selection of beers as well. -Washboard Chazz-

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orleans had a dance at D.B.A. a super place to eat, drink and dance in New Orleans.

Second line parade through the french quarter.

Secone line parade through the French Quarter in New Orleans. — Photo: Dean Villafuerte

The Lindy Hop Competitions & the Dancing

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orleans -Lindy Hop Competitions in the streets of the French Quarter. — Photo: Dean Villafuerte

The dancing at night was in venues, but the Lindy Hop was still jumping!

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orleans -dancing competitions at night. — Photo: d.tom

Solo Jazz Competition featuring my friend Nancy Hitzig (front and center).

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orleans - Solo Jazz Competition featuring Nancy Hitzig. — Photo: d.tom

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orleans - Lindy Hop Competition. — Photo: d.tom

Lindy Hop at Louis Armstrong Park.

Liz aka ‘The Vintage Inn Blog’ doing her own bit of Lindy Hop at the night dances.

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orleans-Lindy Hop Dance — Photo: d.tom

In 2009 at my first ULHS I was able to dance in the WW2 museum in the city. Simply..Amazing.

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orleans at the WW2 museum

The Fun-Ohhh the fun! I was lucky that every time I went to this event, many of my Swing Dancing friends were attending as well so it always turned into a good party. Here a collection of some of those images.

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orelans -Canadian Lindy Hop Drinking Team

New Orleans is always a party and you just never know who might grab you to dance (like this guy with me).

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orelans -dancing in a bar.

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orleans-Canadian dancers at a restaurant. — At Yo Mama’s (after the pole was put behind the wall)

More pictures of all the Canadian Lindy Hoppers at the dance (My husband and I are in the background).

We even were able to dance on a historic Paddlewheeler-The Creole Queen one year.

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown New Orleans-Paddleboat photo.

New Orleans-Large fish bowl drinks. — Drinking out of a Fishbowl is a must in NOLA

My husband always manages to get in all the photos with the pretty ladies haha 🙂

My turn with all the handsome men…man…and ummm…..

Love this photo. Taking a break at a super outdoor market on Frenchmen street with a dear friend.

I’m going to end my post with a video from one of the late night dances on Bourbon Street in 2009. The band is the fantastic Loose Marbles at the bar Fritzels.

Thanks for the fun Amy Johnson and Team!

Question Time: Have you been to New Orleans? Or maybe you attended ULHS yourself and if so how was your experience?

FURTHER READING: Collection of Vintage Blog Posts on Swing Dance & The Big Band Era

Liz 🙂

I’m a Lindy Hopper (the original swing dance of the 1930s/40s and beyond) and I have been for a long time, I’m also a lover of 1940s fashion (if you read my blog this is a no brainer), so it was with a squeal and glee that I saw that the Frankie Manning Foundation was running a fun challenge on the day of Frankie Manning’s Birthday (one of the original creators of Lindy Hop) and I hope you can all join along.

(NOTE: CHALLENGE NOW CLOSED but feel free to do your own Lindy Look)

Frankie Manning vintage photo of the legendary Lindy Hopper / Swing Dancer — Frankie Manning

The Challenge:

On May 26th they are encouraging everyone to wear something from the 1930s thru to the 1950s to peak a conversation at work or at the coffee shop about the dance we love, The Lindy Hop. Then take that picture and post it on social media with the hashtag #THELINDYLOOK.

1945 Swing Style — Source: Flickr: Julie Alicea

WAIT! You don’t have to be a dancer to participate….

Now I got to thinking that maybe you don’t have to be a dancer to get involved (because I know some of my lovely readers have mentioned that you have 2 left feet). You could join along by doing the following:

Put on your best vintage like you were going to a dance
Post your picture on Social Media with the Hashtag #THELINDYLOOK
Or you can share it with me (email: thevintageinnblog@gmail.com, twitter, my FB invite) and I will collect everyones images and post collectively on my blog.

I know for many of you all you need is an excuse to dress up and this is a pretty good excuse (at least I think so). And if asked why are you dressed up so nice? “Because Frankie Manning said I should”.

Speaking of Frankie Manning…..

These were the depression years (which didn’t make that much difference to my family since we were poor anyway) and dancing was an outlet for people because there wasn’t much else they could do. We all stayed in Harlem, but you could find someplace to step out every night of the week. Going to a ballroom became our social life.

Even though we were poor, we always dressed up. People in Harlem felt that they’d get more respect if they dressed well. Guys felt that the better they looked, the more likely a young lady would be to dance with them. I only owned two suits, but I always wore them with a shirt and tie and nice shoes, not two-tones, just black or brown ones. This was the fashion, and everybody dressed that way.”

-Frankie Manning-

Inspiration for #THELINDYLOOK AKA 1940s Fashions

Over my time as Blogger I have written many posts on 1940s Style, Swing Style etc. So here are links to those posts that you can use for your own inspiration on May 26th.

Happy May 26th Planning!

FURTHER BLOG POSTS ON THE SWING DANCE / LINDY HOP ERA: Swing Dance & The Big Band Era

Liz

Category: Lindy Hop

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown in New Orleans: The Memories

May 26th, Suit Up Swing Style – #THELINDYLOOK

The Challenge:

Inspiration for #THELINDYLOOK AKA 1940s Fashions