The Savoy Ballroom: A Change In Society's Social Culture

The Uprising Savoy Ballroom
She loved to dance but she was not old enough to get in. She did not have the money, so she had to sneak in. She’d watch people swing and enjoy the life on the dance floor from her bedroom window. She imagined moving her feet to the beat of those sweet jazz sounds and dancing with the hottest guys in town. She was the girl that lived right across the street from the Savoy Ballroom. There, at the Savoy, was the heart and soul of social entertainment in New York. It was the also “Billed as the ‘World’s Finest Ballroom’” (Loomis). The Savoy Ballroom was an establishment and development that showcased a change in the society’s social culture.
“The Savoy was modeled after Faggen 's downtown venue, called the Roseland Ballroom” (Scott). “It opened March of 1926 in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance; a couple of years before the rising of the Great Depression. Even though the Great Depression was about to occur, this economic downfall in history did not stop the Savoy Ballroom from being successful. Moe Gale, a Jewish businessman and Charles Buchanan-Saw, an African American businessman” (Loomis) was the starting foundation of the Savoy Ballroom. It was a grand ballroom, that covered two streets on Lenox

But once the ballroom success became worldwide, many clubs, ballrooms, and social entertainment gathering places wanted to be identical. Late night after hours became known as speakeasies where you could buy illegal alcoholic beverages. “In New York City, ballrooms dominated Harlem, but one, the Savoy was to become the king of Swing. The Savoy Ballroom enjoyed a long and sparkling career that lasted well into the 1950s, before a decline in its fortunes set in” (Loomis). The Savoy Ballroom represented a remarkably success for creating a interracial culture within the city of Harlem during the Harlem