Swing Dancing from the 1950s in the Philippines

Hey it’s Asian American Pacific Islander month in the United States, so I’ve been thinking a lot about Asians in the lindy hop scene, and our history with the dance. As a Filipino American, I know that swing music and lindy hop made it across the Pacific to the Philippines in the 1940s and 50s, but not much more than that.

Here’s a clip I don’t know anything about, but is fun to watch! It’s from a 1957 Filipino movie called Kalyehera.

There’s a lot to unpack in this scene:

• The music feels very Elvis Presley inspired

• A lot of the dancing is “groove around then throw an airstep” which I suppose was probably what people were expecting to see in a dance scene

• The non-partnered dancing was silly and fun, particularly the bunny hop stuff

Here’s a poster from the film, with the tagline “See Rocking the Be-Bop New Dance Craze”.

A synopsis from Letterboxd.com describes the plot as:

A story about Nora a rich young woman from the province who made a vow along with another friend to go the metro and pretend to be beggars to raise money for their church. On their way there on the train they met Ernesto a rich young man who falls in love with Nora oblivious of her vow.

I am dying to see more historic footage of lindy hop and other partnered dancing in Asia! Drop a comment or contact us if you know where to find some.