African American Dances Born in Harlem (1920sβ1970s)
By Keith Hasvision Rogers - June 10, 2026
β¦ LOOK AT HARLEM β¦
Wait… Did a Lindy Hopper Just Invent That Bboy Move?
How Harlem's 1920s Renaissance secretly laid the floorwork for Hip Hop — from the Savoy Ballroom to the Bronx.
Just a Perspective from learning about these dances.
It hit me during a late-night YouTube deep dive. I was watching Bboy crews from the 90s spinning on floors and hitting freezes. Then the algorithm showed me "Hellzapoppin'" (1941). I almost scrolled past. But there they were: Lindy Hoppers at the Savoy Ballroom. Flying. Dropping to their knees. Popping up like nothing happened.
I promise you — I saw a Bboy freeze. That's when I realized: breaking started in the Bronx in the '70s, but the soul moves? The grounded swagger? That story starts right here, in Harlem, forty years earlier.
Before Hip Hop, there was the Harlem Renaissance. Think of it as the original Black creative cloud. Music, art, dance and theater exploded out of one neighborhood — and without those dancers, your favorite BGirl wouldn't have that low-to-the-earth fire. Let's walk through every dance that built the foundation.
1920s–1930s
The Harlem Renaissance Era
These dances set the foundation. They were social, improvisational, and built for the ballroom — especially the legendary Savoy Ballroom.
| Dance | What to Know | Why It Matters | Key Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cakewalk | Originated in the 1800s but popularized in Harlem. Enslaved people created it to mock plantation owners' formal walks. | One of the first African American dance forms to become a national craze. Taught Black dancers that attitude is part of the move. | Aida Overton Walker — Vaudeville star and choreographer. Called the "Queen of the Cakewalk." |
| Charleston | Exploded nationwide in 1923. Combines African polyrhythms, jazz music, and fast kicking steps. | The first dance that made "going low to the ground" cool. Breakers would recognize the swiveling footwork immediately. | Josephine Baker — Her Charleston at the Plantation Club and in Paris made the dance global. |
| Black Bottom | Hip movements, stomping, and a "slapping the backside" motion. Named after a Georgia plantation. | Ground connection — hips bent, weight low. You can hear its rhythm in early hip hop breaks. | The Whitman Sisters — Performed the Black Bottom across the TOBA circuit through Harlem. |
| Shimmy / Shake Blues | Fast shaking of shoulders and hips. Roots trace to Nigerian "Shika" dances and Haitian rituals. | Pure groove. The kind of movement that makes you feel the beat in your whole body before you start "breaking." | Earl "Snake Hips" Tucker — Savoy Ballroom legend. His style directly influenced James Brown's footwork. |
| Suzie Q | A crossover step where one foot crosses over the other while swinging the hips. | A foundational footwork pattern that shows up in Lindy Hop, early rock 'n' roll, and top rock moves. | George "Shorty" Snowden — Lindy Hop pioneer who popularized the Suzie Q at the Savoy. |
| Big Apple | A circle dance where dancers took turns showing off in the middle. Named after a South Carolina club. | That's literally a cypher. Dancers in a circle, one person steps in to "get down." Break dancing's format, 40 years early. | Frankie Manning — Organized the first "battles" at the Savoy and formalized the Big Apple. |
| Lindy Hop | Born at the Savoy Ballroom in 1928. Combines Charleston, tap, jazz, and wild aerials. | The direct ancestor of break dancing: floor drops, improvisation, battles, "breakaway" solos, and athletic showmanship. | Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, Herbert "Whitey" White — Manning invented the first aerial in 1935. Norma Miller: "The Queen of Swing." |
1940s–1950s
The Bebop & Post-War Era
After swing, jazz got faster and more complex. Dancers adapted — and got sharper.
| Dance | What to Know | Why It Matters | Key Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop / Bop | Danced to the fast bebop jazz of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. More angular and less "smooth" than Lindy Hop. | Moves got tighter — closer to the precision of breaking. You can hear the transition from swing to bop. | Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie — Their complex rhythms forced dancers to completely change their footwork. |
| Shim Sham | A short, repeatable tap-jazz routine that became the "national anthem" of swing dancers. | It's like a dance cypher ritual. Everyone knows it. Everyone joins in. Hip hop's "electric slide" has the same function. | Leonard Reed — Created the Shim Sham as a tap warm-up in the 1920s, later adopted by bebop dancers. |
| Flying Harlem Home Style | High-energy, acrobatic Lindy Hop emphasizing air steps and solo improvisation. | Pushed the athleticism further. Dancers did flips and drops without mats — direct inspiration for breaking's power moves. | Al Minns & Leon James — Kept the Flying Harlem style alive through the 1950s. |
| Applejack Challenge | Competitive, call-and-response style dance battles within the bebop scene. | "Challenge" is right there in the name. Structured dance battles — just like a Bboy battle. | Cholly Atkins & Honi Coles — Their battles at Harlem's Apollo Theater are legendary. |
1960s–1970s
The Bridge to Breaking
This is where the floor work becomes the whole point. The moves get lower, faster, and more competitive.
| Dance / Influence | What to Know | Why It Matters | Key Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The "Good Foot" | Inspired by James Brown's 1969 hit. Dancers gathered at Harlem World on 116th Street to battle. | The direct precursor to breaking. The Good Foot battles at Harlem World in the early 1970s were where Bboys first tested their moves. | James Brown created it. Shorty "The Dancer" — a Harlem World legend who was a direct mentor to early Bboys. |
| Uprock | Competitive upright dancing with mock-fighting moves and footwork — no floor spins yet. Popular in Brooklyn and Harlem. | Before breaking went to the floor, it looked like uprock. The "rock" in "breakdancing" comes from here. | "Mambo" Joe Falero — Fused Cuban mambo footwork with uprock. Puerto Rican dancers brought Santería and rumba battle energy. |
1970s
Breaking (Bboying / BGirling)
Born in the Bronx in the early 1970s — but with deep Harlem roots.
| Dance | What to Know | Why It Matters | Key Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breaking / Bboying | Top rock, down rock, power moves, and freezes. DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and others built the culture. | Breaking took everything before it: Lindy Hop floor drops, Big Apple battles, Flying Harlem acrobatics, Good Foot energy, and uprock attitude. Then it added spins and freezes that changed dance forever. | DJ Kool Herc (Jamaican American) — Invented the breakbeat. Afrika Bambaataa — Turned breaking into a global peace movement. Rock Steady Crew (Crazy Legs, Ken Swift) — Formalized the floor work and power moves. |
The next time you see a Bboy do a knee drop or a slide, don't just think "Bronx, 1973." Think Harlem, 1932. Think Frankie Manning grinning while spinning on a dance floor. Think Snake Hips Tucker. Think Shorty "The Dancer" at Harlem World. Think of a culture that never stopped talking to itself across decades.
Keep digging: Watch Hellzapoppin' (1941) on YouTube and count the moves that remind you of breaking. Visit the Schomburg Center in Harlem. Read about Norma Miller — she danced until her 90s and never lost the swing.
Ready to Move? Learn These Dances in Harlem
These community organizations are keeping Harlem's dance legacy alive with classes, events, and tours.
The Harlem Swing Dance Society
www.theharlemswingdancesociety.org
The primary organization dedicated to preserving and teaching authentic Lindy Hop in the neighborhood.
Swing With Us NYC
www.swingwithusnyc.com
Community hub for Lindy Hop events, walking tours, and historical celebrations including the Savoy Centennial.
Both organizations operate in Harlem. No partner? No experience? No problem.
Next time someone says "That's a new move" —
smile and say, "Nah. That's a Renaissance."
About the author
Keith Hasvision Rogers
Keith Hasvision Rogers