Harlem Hot Shots - The Call Of The Lindy Hop

The Call of the Lindy Hop, starring Harlem Hot Shots, a Swedish swing dance company and project working with tribute shows and studies around the Lindy Hop and other Afro-American dances that derived out of Harlem during the swing era.

Dancers in the movie: Frida Borg, Frida Segerdahl, Jenny Deurell, Pontus Persson, Rikard Ekstrand and Sakarias Larsson. The boss: Sebastian Svensson. Produced by Explosiv Film, Mallory Film and Harlem Hot Shots. Inspired by Whitey's Lindy Hoppers in the motion picture Hellzapoppin.

Other members of Hot Shots (2010) not featured in this film: Fatima Teffahi, Jessica Lennartsson

Harlem Hot Shots has for many years focused on the traditional swing dances such as lindy hop, charleston, tap, jazz etc. During the years they have been fortunate to have worked with some of the greatest legends in in the swing community like Frankie Manning, Harold and Fayard Nicholas, Norma Miller, Sugar Sullivan, Dawn Hampton and more.

Music: Metronome All Star Band - The Bugle Call Rag*
*(Edited version for this film)

Benny Goodman - Clarinet
Cootie Williams, Ziggy Elman, Harry James - Trumpet
J.C. Higginbotham, Tommy Dorsey -Trombone
Benny Carter, Toots Mondello - Alto Sax
Coleman Hawkins, Tex Beneke -Tenor Sax
Charlie Christian - Guitar
Count Basie - Piano
Artie Bernstein - Bass
Buddy Rich - Drums

The Stockholm based performance group and project Harlem Hot Shots is a group of dancers that all share a big passion for swing dancing and music. Through hard work, stage performances, or studies and smaller projects, such as this one, the group's idea and their mission is to spread these feels and rhythms to the younger generations, and hope that the stars and talented dancers that once performed the stages and rocked the floors in Harlem always will be remembered. This little film was created as a study, to learn and understand the history around the ”soundie” as well as the bigger film productions where Lindy Hoppers such as the Whiteys Lindy Hoppers performed. This sequence was filmed with one camera, just as the famous dance sequence from the film Hellzapoppin feat Frances Jones and William Downes, Norma Miller and Billy Ricker, Al Minns and WillaMae Ricker, Ann Johnson and Frankie Manning. Each time you see a new angle means the routine or a part of the routine was performed again. Same technique as used for the particular sequence in Hellzapoppin 1941.

We wish their rhythms, moves, and music always will be present in the future of swing dancing and jazz music. We are forever thankful and grateful to the dancers, the hot shots in Harlem, for introducing this great art form to us and the rest of the world!

For further information about jazz history and swing dance on film, read and learn about the Savoy Ballroom, Whiteys Lindy Hoppers. We recommend the books and biographies about the dancers mentioned above where you can read about their experiences creating, performing, traveling, and living in America during the 30s and 40s and much more.

Norma Miller: https://www.amazon.com/Swingin-at-Sav...
Frank Manning: https://www.amazon.com/Frankie-Mannin...

And many more..