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The first known Hop dance was the 'Egg-dance or Hop-egg'
dance, as it was also called. It was a dance generally performed
by women, who, in much the same manner as of a version of the Scottish
sword-dance,
who performed their figures with eggs placed Around the floor. This
practice has also been described by the writer 'Chaucer' (1340-1400)
in his 'Canterberry Tales'(1387,) who says " the performers
are called hoppesteres." Also the eminent antiquarian named
Strutt, in his "Sports and Pastimes," written about 1790,
mentions that the so-called slang phrase, "Going to the hop
tonight?" (which appeared to have been old even in his time)
evidently came from this get together dance!
Later, the Hop was a term used for many different
styles of dance as well as a term for a get together with dance.
These "Get Togethers" were very popular in the early 1900's
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were called "Hops" by the College kids. The Hop (get togethers/
dances) which again resurfaced in the 1950's were called Record
Hops and or Sock
Hops.
Many dances were last named "Hops" with
a hope they would become popular with the college kids. Some of
the dances actually had hopping movements. Some were named like
the Lindbergh
hop aka Lindy Hop (5/21/1927), after Charles
Linbergh's (1902-1974.) The Al
Smith Hop as a campaign trick to try to make his
campaign seem more popular, thinking of the popularity of Lindbergh
having so much stuff named after him, this tactic would appear (or
illusion) that Smith was more popular than he was. Plus others
trying to do the same thing or Chroeographers trying to cash in
on the Lindy Hops popularity during that time period. |
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