The Big Apple

The Big Apple was a dance craze that swept the USA in the late 1930's. It is done in a circle and is actually a dance in which the steps are called out by a Caller, just like in square dancing.

Just scratch the surface of the Big Apple and learn 35 (yes thirty-five)Big Apple moves from the delightful Joel and Allison Plys on their Big Apple DVD.Or hang in with them to learn 40 moves (forty!)from the Big Apple choreography in the film Keep Punching.

And some of our historic videos have Big Apple sequences in them. The one that is clearest to see is the one in The Spirit Moves, Part One: Jazz Dances 1900-1950. The hottest one appears in the 1938 film Keep Punchin' danced by those amazing Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. It is very fast and not filmed very well but it is justifiably the version of the Big Apple that is most popular today. Listen carefully and you can hear Frankie Manning's voice calling the steps! The Big Apple routine from Keep Punchin' appears on the compilation DVD Jammin' with the Greats.

The Keep Punchin' Big Apple sequence is also found on the compilation American Dances. Here the music on the clip has been dubbed with some very inappropriate piano music instead of the original big band music found in the film. The America Dances compilation has lots of wonderful resources on the Big Apple, including former Whitey's Lindy Hoppers Al Minns and Leon James demonstrating 14 of the the popular steps used in the dance. And some wonderful old newsreel clips of the Big Apple dance craze.