Savoy Ballroom 1926-1959

Owned by a Moe Paddon (A Well known Gangster.) the Savoy Ballroom, which stood two stories high and a whole block long from 140th to 141st street on Lenox Avenue, was a very popular dancing spot which could hold up to 4000 people. There was usually a 15% white turn out, but this usually depended on which band was playing on the night. It was only open 5 nights a week, the other two nights were for private parties.

It had a double bandstand and a long dance floor. The venue mainly played swing and was not really a venue for Tap dancers but really for couples to enjoy there selves. Some of the big bands had Tap dancers on their payroll and there was usually an intermission piece where a solo dancer or group of dancers would perform.

It is claimed that in 1926 a local dance enthusiast named 'Shorty George' was watching some of the dancing couples and a news reporter asked him what the dancers were doing, Shorty, thinking of a reply saw a news paper with an article on the Lindbergh's flight to Paris with the headline 'Lindy Hops The Atlantic', laying on the bench beside him and immediately replied 'The Lindy Hop' and the name stuck.