DC Public Library System

Dancing the Big Apple 1937, African-Americans inspire a national craze, Dancetime Publications in association with SavoyStyle presents ; a film by Judy Pritchett ; produced by Dancetime Publications in association with SavoyStyle

eng

videorecording

Dancing the Big Apple 1937

501181918

Dancetime Publications in association with SavoyStyle presents ; a film by Judy Pritchett ; produced by Dancetime Publications in association with SavoyStyle

26

African-Americans inspire a national craze

In 1937, the nation was struggling through the depths of the Great Depression. The Big Apple dance was an elixir in hard times and soon Americans from every background were letting loose in this infectious circle dance. The dance craze was spawned by a remarkable cross-cultural collision, when three white teenagers stumbled into an African-American synagogue-turned-nightclub named "The Big Apple" in Columbia, South Carolina. This documentary examines how at a time when there was little to celebrate, this exuberant dance with African ceremonial roots provided healing and joy as it spread from coast to coast

1937 -- Whites are captivated -- Big Apple hysteria -- Ingredients of the Big Apple -- Everybody can do it! -- The Big Apple name -- Birth of the Big Apple -- Big Apple performance troupes -- The Ring shout -- Ancestry of "Keep Punching."

general

live action

African-Americans inspire a national craze