Jitterbug (dance)

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For other uses, see Jitterbug Wireless.

This article is about the dance. For the Arlen-Harburg song, see The Jitterbug.

The Jitterbug is a term used to describe various types of swing dancing. The name comes from an early 20th century slang term used to describe alcholics who suffered from the "jitters" (delirium tremens). This term was famously associated with swing era dancers by band leader Cab Calloway because, as he put it, "They look like a bunch of jitterbugs out there on the floor" due to their fast often bouncy movements. In popular culture it became generalized to mean a swing dance or the practioner of swing dancing (i.e. you were a jitterbug or you did a jitterbug dance). This has led to confusion within the dance community as many regional forms of Swing Dance are referred to as jitterbug.

Jitterbug was also done to Western Swing in the 1940s . "People were top notch jitterbugging, jumping around, cutting loose and going crazy" to Western Swing being played at the Venice Pier Ballroom, the Riverside Rancho in Los Feliz, and the Santa Monica Ballroom, all in the Los Angeles area.[1]

See also

• Swing
• Lindy Hop
• East Coast Swing
• West Coast Swing
• Cajun Jitterbug

External links

• Swing archive on Jitterbug