Interview with the Swing Dance Choreographer Ruby Doo
Beyond the historical setting
It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing
From the dance floors of 1950s Berlin to the stage at ISH, Swing choreographer Ruby explores how movement, music and a little rebellion bring Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet to life.
What does Swing dancing have to do with Shakespeare's most famous tragedy? More than you might think.
In the International School of Hamburg's forthcoming production of Romeo & Juliet, the feuding families of Renaissance Verona find themselves in the divided Berlin of the 1950s. It is a world in which political loyalties, social conventions and competing ideas of freedom shape the lives of young people.
Dance helps tell that story.
While classical choreography represents tradition and established social order, Swing introduces a different energy: spontaneity, individuality and the freedom to challenge the rules.
For Ruby, Swing choreographer and founder of the Hamburg dance school Swing Time, that contrast lies at the heart of what makes the dance so compelling.
A dance born of freedom
Ruby first discovered Swing while studying dance in her twenties. What began as a hobby became a passion and eventually a profession.
She specialises in Lindy Hop, a dance that emerged from African American communities in the United States and became one of the defining expressions of the Swing era.
For Ruby, understanding those origins is essential. Long before Swing became associated with Hollywood musicals and glamorous ballrooms, it was shaped by Black dancers whose creativity transformed social dancing.
Ruby describes a form of movement that embraces improvisation, changing partners and finding one's own interpretation of the music.
Although Swing has recognisable steps and techniques, its appeal lies in the freedom dancers have to make those movements their own.
It is a philosophy she hopes to share with the ISH students.
When dancing becomes an act of rebellion
Swing has a particularly poignant place in German history.
During the Nazi era, young people in Hamburg embraced American jazz and Swing culture despite the regime's hostility towards such influences. Members of the Swing-Jugend faced persecution for refusing to conform.
The connection is especially close to home for ISH. Just a short distance from the school stands the Christianeum, historically associated with Hamburg's Swing Youth movement.
Ruby reflects on the young people who embraced Swing not necessarily because they intended to become political activists, but because they wanted to enjoy the music and express themselves.
"They just wanted to hear good music," she explains.
The political significance of something as ordinary as listening to music or dancing becomes clearer when even those choices are restricted.
As Ruby puts it: "You can say it's forbidden, but the people will dance."
The historical setting of Romeo & Juliet resonates with her personally, too. Born in the former East Germany, near Berlin, Ruby grew up with family stories of life under a divided political system. Her husband's family also experienced flight from East Germany to the West.
These personal connections give particular meaning to a production in which young people confront boundaries imposed by the world around them.
Although Hamburg's Swing Youth belonged to an earlier generation, the spirit of musical independence provides a compelling parallel with the cultural tensions of Cold War Berlin.
Two families, one dance floor
In Romeo & Juliet, the Montagues and Capulets are so consumed by their rivalry that they struggle to recognise the humanity of those on the other side.
Ruby sees the dance floor as a place where such divisions can begin to dissolve.
She believes that dancing together encourages people to communicate, laugh and discover something about one another beyond their differences.
For her, Swing is not about everyone moving identically. Quite the opposite.
Partners change, movements evolve and improvisation allows dancers to respond to one another.
That openness is reflected in the choreography she is creating with ISH students. Alongside traditional Lindy Hop steps and more ambitious movements, she encourages them to contribute their individual personalities.
Some students are naturally outgoing; others are shy. Both can find a place in the dance.
There is no single right answer
Teaching Swing to teenagers preparing for a stage performance presents an interesting challenge.
Students are accustomed to learning choreography and reproducing it accurately. Yet Swing depends on something less easily rehearsed: the confidence to improvise.
Ruby has noticed that the young performers are often concerned about getting the steps right.
Her response is refreshingly unconventional.
When a student makes a mistake, she sometimes tells them: "Great. Because it's a variation."
Rather than copying her movements exactly, Ruby wants students to understand the idea behind them and develop their own interpretation.
"Trust yourself," she tells them.
It is a lesson that extends well beyond dance. In a school environment where students regularly search for the correct answer, Swing offers an opportunity to discover that creativity sometimes begins when there is no prescribed solution.
Ruby hopes that rehearsals will give students the confidence to move freely, work with different partners and express themselves without fear of making mistakes.
A different kind of teenage rebellion
If today's teenagers could travel back to a Berlin dance hall in the 1950s, Ruby suspects they would be surprised by how naturally young people danced together in pairs.
In contrast to much of today's individual club dancing, Lindy Hop is built around communication between partners, shared rhythm and a clear understanding of boundaries.
The dance may appear exuberant and spontaneous, but cooperation and mutual respect are essential.
For Ruby, that combination makes Swing particularly valuable for young performers learning to navigate relationships, trust and self-expression.
And perhaps this is where Swing connects most directly with Shakespeare's tragedy.
Romeo and Juliet inhabit a world in which family expectations and inherited loyalties leave little room for individual choice. Swing, by contrast, offers a space where people can experiment, connect and express who they are.
Ruby's message to the young cast is simple:
"Everybody can dance. Everybody can dance how they like."
In a story about two teenagers struggling to find their own way in a divided world, it is a fitting philosophy.
And, for once, Shakespeare's young lovers might have found that the answer was simply to dance.