Dancing the Big Apple 1937

A closer look at the roots of the Big Apple takes us on a journey back to Africa, through slavery, and into the fascinating account of the Ring Shout ceremony practiced by the African-Americans - sometimes secretly, sometimes openly -- for several centuries. Fast forwarding to 1937, we see the nation struggling to recover from the Great Depression. The Big Apple dance provided helpful medicine in hard times. Americans from every walk of life let loose in this infectious circle dance. Cued by a caller, dancers did moves from the Lindy Hop, Shag and Charleston, and popular jazz steps like Trucking and Pecking. Individual dancers or couples were invited to "Shine" in the center of the circle. DVD Preview The dance craze was put in motion by an encounter of cultural traditions. One night, three white teenagers entered an African-American nightclub, in Columbia, South Carolina, housed in a former synagogue. They saw a called, circle dance done to popular swing music which they named the "Th