Doing the Lindy for fun and exercise in Moscow
A forbidden cultural import during the cold war, American swing dance and rock 'n' roll are now seeing a jump in popularity among Russians who embrace the retro Americana.
Pavel Sotnikov (r.) and his teammates take to the dance floor at an informal Friday night dance competition in Moscow.
Ann Törnkvist
Moscow
As teenagers during the Soviet era, Sergey and Lyudmila Gubarev used to copy American-inspired songs onto cassette tapes that then made the rounds among their friends. The music on the tapes, spanning from the 1940s onward, offered them a peek through the Iron Curtain that closed off Western cultural imports.
Today, they still love the same American tunes, but it is not such a clandestine affair.
Sergey and Lyudmila, now both 40, dance swing and the Lindy Hop to keep “young and fit.” And they’re far from alone. Dance instructor Olga Moiseeva says she has seen a tenfold hike in the number of Muscovites wanting to twist and shake. Ten years ago, only three pupils would show up to one of her classes. Nowadays she arranges Lindy-Hop parties that draw hundreds of dancers.
"The Lindy Hop is about freedom," Ms. Moiseeva says. "And the music is fantastic. But it's about more than the dance, it's about taking classes, competing and, for some, about the cars and the fashion." A burgundy skirt, discrete pumps, and a champagne-colored rose in her wavy hair sets the glamorous Moiseeva apart from her students during a weeknight beginners' class. But once dancers are ready to compete, they ramp it up in the style stakes.
