This dance was born in the mid-1930s in a black nightclub operated by a man named Fat Sam on Park Street in downtown Columbia, in what was once the House of Peace Synagogue. The Big Apple was popularized nationally when it was taken to Manhattan by University of South Carolina students. A combination of the square dance and various jazz routines of the 1920s, the Big Apple caught the attention of white college students who, encouraged by Fat Sam, paid 10\u00a2 to watch dancers from the nightclub balcony. Soon they were repeating the steps at fraternity parties. By the spring of 1937 the Big Apple was attracting more than local attention. In August of that year several student couples performed the dance at New York\u2019s Roxy Theatre and then toured cities throughout the Northeast. The Big Apple received such an enthusiastic reception that it became a brief national craze.<\/p>\n
According to a 1937 report in Time, <\/em>the routine opened with the dancers in a circle led by a caller, somewhat like the Virginia Reel. The fundamental steps seemed to be the Lindy Hop with bits of the Black Bottom, Suzy-Q, Charleston, Shag, Truckin\u2019, and an Indian rain dance thrown in. It all ended on an irreverent note as the group leaned back, arms outstretched to the heavens, and shouted \u201cPraise Allah!\u201d<\/p>\n After about a year the Big Apple dance faded from view and so did the nightclub. The building was moved to its present location adjacent to the Richland County Library and restored to its former elegance in the late 1980s. It is operated by the Historic Columbia Foundation and is rented for various social events.<\/p>\n \u201cBig Apple.\u201d Time <\/em>30 (September 13, 1937): 37\u201338. \u201cBig Apple Is New Dance Craze Sweeping the South.\u201d Life <\/em>3 (August 9, 1937): 22. Maxey, Russell. \u201cThe Big Apple.\u201d Columbia State Magazine, <\/em>May 30, 1982, pp. 5\u20136.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This dance was born in the mid-1930s in a black nightclub operated by a man named Fat Sam on Park Street in downtown Columbia, in what was once the House of Peace Synagogue. The Big Apple was popularized nationally when it was taken to Manhattan by University of South Carolina students. A combination of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":-1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","class_list":["post-6350","entry","type-entry","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ecms-a-z","ecms-african-americans","ecms-b","ecms-encyclopedia","ecms-great-depression-1930-1938","ecms-midlands","ecms-popular-culture","ecms-recreation-and-leisure","ecms-richland-county"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n