Sw[ivell]ing Movement

This is so fuckin funny

Aaron Siskind, Savoy Dancers; Harlem Document, c1936

Caption: [A question on screen reads, "I'm curious how common gender swapping roles is in this scene? It feels way more inviting to me than the latin/ballroom scene I used to be in".

Hey, thanks for this question. The Lindy Hop community has done a fair amount of work degendering the roles and making the dance much more inclusive over all. Of course there's always work to be done but I thought it'd be fun to go through a few examples of people switching or dancing the non-traditional roles. What you're watching right now is the switch competition at Camp Hollywood.

It's one of the newer competitions and it is so fun to watch. People switching roles on the fly is always really entertaining. Definitely look this competition up on Youtube, it's amazing. One of the first competitions I ever finaled in was Jack and Jill in San Luis Obispo. Since then, the Lindy Hop community has done away with the name jack and Jill and those competitions are now named "Mix and Match" as a way to be more gender neutral.

In this competition, I was paired with Calvin, who has since gone on to be an incredibly influential member of the queer community in the Lindy Hop scene. Calvin and some other amazing dancers from the Bay Area have started The Switch, a whole dance weekend dedicated to giving dancers the space to dance the roles that they want to, especially outside of gender norms.

WONDER BAR (1934) | dir. Lloyd Bacon

Imagine being a black, gay drag queen in the 1800s after being born into enslavement AND having the style and cachè to throw soirées that the girls had to come to! That’s why I don’t want to hear this “we’re not our ancestors stuff.” You’re right!

From The Very Black Project Page- William Dorsey Swann was a gay liberation activist. Born into slavery in 1858, he was the first person in the United States to lead a queer resistance group and the first known person to self-identify as a “queen of drag”. Imagine the queenery of this icon.

He was a slave in Hancock, Maryland and was freed by Union soldiers after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. During the 1880s and 1890s, he organized a series of balls in Washington, D.C. He called himself the “queen of drag”. Most of the attendees his gatherings were men who were former slaves, and were gathering to dance in their satin and silk dresses. William was arrested in police raids numerous times,including in the first documented case of arrests for female impersonation in the United States, on April 12, 1888. In 1896, he was falsely convicted and sentenced to 10 months in jail for “keeping a disorderly house” (running a brothel). After his sentencing, he requested a pardon from President Grover Cleveland. This request was denied, but but he was the first American on record who pursued legal and political action to defend the LGBTQ community’s right to gather.

He was known to have been close with Pierce Lafayette and Felix Hall, two men who had also both been slaves and who formed the first known male same-sex relationship between enslaved Americans.

When William stopped organizing and participating in drag events, his brother continued to make costumes for the drag community. Two of his brothers had also been active participants in his drag balls.

Imagine how intelligent and ambitious this man had to be to come up with drag balls in the 1800s! Imagine how many terrible concepts he had to unlearn by himself to be a confident gay black man who does drag in the 1800s! Imagine how courageous he had to be to fight for lgbt people as a former slave in America in the 1800s!

in the name of the moon…. have a happy Pride 🏳️‍🌈🌈✨

THANK YOU FOR THIS!!

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Hace unos dias vi una serie de gifs de Marie Kondo explicando que a la hora de ordenar nuestra ropa debemos elegir la que nos produce felicidad, y para no sentirnos mal por la ropa que queremos botar, agradecer el tiempo que estuvo esa prenda estuvo con nosotros y dejarla ir..

Esto me llamo la atención y luego en Netflix descubri que habia una serie de ella, donde va a casas de personas y las ayuda a organizar. Me gusto su método y quise compartir algunos de sus consejos con ustedes. Quien sabe. Siempre se aprende algo 😉

Saw this TikTok and fell in love with this artist/creator, making “earrings” to wear with head coverings.

Dressing Gown

1932-1935

United States

Link: An interview with the producer of the show.

— 1925 Oxford shoes by Coxton Shoe Co. Ltd, Rushden (Northamptonshire), England

“The ‘Oxford’ lace-up shoe was the predominant style in men’s footwear during the 1920s.  It was known in the trade as a ‘closed tab shoe’ because the eyelet tabs (the sections of leather with holes for the laces) were stitched under the front section of the shoe, or vamp,  rather than on top of it.  

Usually Oxfords were made up in black or brown leather for everyday wear.  British footwear fashions were conservative during the 1920s with strict rules dictating what colour shoe could be worn with which outfit.  Brown shoes with a dinner suit were frowned upon and flamboyance was considered distasteful.  Bright red leather with striking gold swirls would have been considered highly unusual, even vulgar.  These shoes were made up for display at the London International Shoe Fair in 1925 and may have been aimed at the American market which was open to more exotic designs.”

(source: from the V&A collections)