Updated September 2003

 The History of D.C. Hand Dance

By Rose A. Manriquez

About the Dance:  To significantly cover the history of D.C. (Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area) Hand Dance, we must identify the critical what’s, when’s, who’s, why’s and where’s of the dance.

 WHAT--  What Is D.C. Hand Dance?  D.C. Hand Dance originated in the Washington, D.C., Area in the mid-1950s as D.C.’s own version of the “jitterbug” or “swing”.  (Swing dance has existed in many different styles and cultures since there has been swing-dance-type music to dance to.) From its very beginning, D.C. Hand-dance was referred to and called “D.C. Hand Dance/Hand-Dancing”, “D.C. Swing”, “D.C. Style” (swing) and “fast dance” (meaning D.C. Hand Dance).  This is the first time a version of “swing” dance was termed “hand dance/hand dancing”.  D.C. Hand Dance is characterized by very smooth footwork and movements, and close-in and intricate hand-turns, danced to a 6-beat, 6 to 8 count dance rhythm.  The footwork consists of smooth and continuous floor contact, sliding and gliding-type steps (versus hopping and jumping-type steps), and there are no aerials.  The partners generally move to, from, around and/or in front of each other while executing hand-turns and other dance moves. The two partners’ hands (either one or both) are always joined in some way, thereby receiving the name “Hand Dance”.  It is basically a “street” swing dance with an “attitude”, which is ad-libbed and non-choreographed—danced “at and for the moment as the partners’ feelings to the music occur”.  This dance is best danced to rhythm and blues (which inspired its beginning) or other sensual-type swing music (such as funk, funk or blues rock and beach music.  D.C. Hand Dance is a “sensual” swing dance.

 WHEN--  When Did D.C. Hand Dance Begin?  D.C.’s own swing dance style began in the mid-1950s, about 1954 or 1955.  D.C. Hand Dancing was going on before American Bandstand and the Milt Grant Show were televised, but when these shows were on TV, we would dance along with the dancers (at home) if we were unable to go ourselves.

WHO--   Who Originated D.C. Hand Dance?  Washington, D.C., dancers from N.E., N.W., S.E., and S.W., and dancers from the Maryland and Virginia suburbs, from all types of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, began this version of the “swing”/”jitterbug”.  D.C. Hand-Dance is not ethnic or culture specific, it is D.C. Area and time-period specific.

 WHY--  Why Did D.C. Hand Dance Begin and Why Is It Called D.C. Hand Dance?  This dance evolved as rhythm and blues music was becoming the craze in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area.  D.C. Hand-dancers created a needed new way to express this sensual music in swing/jitterbug dancing.  Rhythm and blues music is just as its name suggests—it’s “blues” with a rhythm, a sensual rhythm.  Although D.C. Hand Dance was designed to rhythm and blues music and funky dance rhythms, this unique swing dance is adaptable to any type of “swing” dance rhythm.  D.C. Hand Dance can be danced to fast rhythms and “big-band” rhythms, and its unique feature to break down faster rhythms into what we call “half-time” rhythms allows for great hand-dancing to any and all types of “swing-dance” music.  “Hand Dancing”, as mentioned before, is so called because the two partners are always “holding hands” in some way throughout their dance together.

WHERE--    Where Was D.C. Hand Dancing Danced and Where Is It Danced Today?  In the mid-1950s, most of us began learning and dancing D.C. Hand Dance, at about the age of 12 or 13, while attending D.C. Metropolitan Area junior high schools such as Paul Junior High School in D.C. (District of Columbia).  It was more or less learned “on the street” (anywhere we could) and in small gatherings, and brought back to the schools and homes where we would practice with doorknobs and have girls dancing with other girls who would do the “lead” parts.  We danced in the gymnasiums and on the ball fields after gym classes.  We danced at parties and on Hot Shoppes and Mighty Mo parking lots.  We danced anywhere and anytime we could.  All we needed was a loud (car) radio blasting our favorite music or somebody’s house to go to with lots of records to dance to.  We danced along with the American Bandstand, Milt Grant Show and other TV show dancers in the late 1950s.  In the late 1950s and early 1960s, we danced at countless church halls and firehouses as well as dances Don Dillard (a very popular D.C. Hand Dance era DJ) held in various Metropolitan Area landmark armories.  Nightclubs began holding dance contests in the early 1960s and many D.C. Hand Dancers danced at various area nightclubs such as the Alpine Room and the Lions Den.  (Some of us still have trophies from those contests.)  In the mid-1960s through the 1980s, many hand-dancers went to D.C. Area clubs such as the Starlight, Rand’s, Benny’s, the Hayloft, the Rocket Room, the Shelter Room, Sonny’s Turntable Lounge and Gus and John’s.  In the 1990s, a popular club for hand dancers was David’s Supper Club.

   Many of the original D.C. Hand Dancers are no longer with us or no longer in the D.C. Metropolitan Area.  Our dance, however, is being taught, performed and preserved in various Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area locations (available on the DC Hand Dance Club's web site and in the Newsletters).  Many originals still in the area that have been active in this dance for over 40 years, teach others--who teach others--to dance, enjoy, love and preserve D.C. Hand-Dance!

 About the Author:  Rose was born in Washington, D.C., in 1942 and is an American of Spanish-Italian descent.  She has been dancing “D.C. Hand-Dance/Swing” since it began, and is a member of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Hand Dance Preservation Society (D.C. Hand Dance Club) in which she is a member of the D.C. Hand Dance Hall of Fame as well as other clubs in the area.

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