Ruth “Sugar” Sullivan was born in 1930. Her mother was a shake dancer and Sugar grew up around a whole community of dance performers who taught her their performance routines and got her small gigs from a very young age. She became interested in swing dancing after seeing Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers in films and started dancing at the Savoy in 1948 as soon as she was old enough (you had to be 18 to enter the club).
Swing dancing had become popular all over the country by that point, but the Savoy ballroom still had a reputation for turning out top dancers. Savoy lindy hoppers were known especially for being able to dance FAST! The iconic Spirit Moves documentary offers a brief glimpse of what it was like to dance at the Savoy in 1950 (that’s Sugar Sullivan in the long white dress with a pony tail). In the video this segment is described as ‘Bebop Lindy’ reflecting the shift in popular music styles.
The first Harvest Moon Ball Sugar Sullivan competed in was in 1948. She and her partner made it to the finals where she got to meet the famous Savoy lindy hoppers that she’d seen in the movies. After that Sugar became a regular at the Savoy. In 1951 she competed in the Harvest Moon Ball with her husband George. It’s often mentioned that George didn’t do much lindy hop at that time because he didn’t like to get his suits sweaty but he stepped up when Sugar’s original dance partner left after she broke her finger in rehearsal. Her partner had assumed she wouldn’t heel in time for the competition but she wasn’t going to let the injury hold her back. Sugar and George didn’t win that first year but they did make the finals. They continued to train hard and competed again in ’53 and ‘54 getting closer to winning each time. During this time Sugar gave birth to two children as well!
In addition to helping keep lindy hop alive in Harlem through the intervening decades, Sugar Sullivan played an important role in bringing the dance to a wider audience in the 1990s. She was an important contact and trainer for the Jiving Lindy Hoppers and was soon teaching at dance camps and festivals all over the US, Canada and Europe. She often teaches with long-time collaborator Barbara Billups (fellow member of Sonny Allen & The Rockets).
Recomended Resources
Interview with Sugar Sullivan (video)
Sugar Sullivan – The Savoy Lindy Hopper and Jazz Dancer (blog)
Bobby White’s spectacular blog series covering the Harvest Moon Balls
Swing Dance Leeds 