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If It Ain't Got That Swing: The Rebirth of Grown-Up Culture
If It Ain't Got That Swing The Rebirth of GrownUp Culture Author:Mark Gauvreau Judge In a world dominated by teenagers, it is easy to forget that popular culture once catered to adults. A countercultural "Gen-X" writer shows in his new book that the rise of rock and roll and the suburbanization of America have produced a narcissistic society drained of joy and hope. Yet in the spreading revival of swing dancing-an artifact of a ... more »more sophisticated and convivial way of life-he detects a harbinger of cultural renewal. Mr. Judge recalls the Washington neighborhood of Shaw, birthplace of Duke Ellington and once a stylish hub of black culture, which was suddenly devastated by riots and radicalism in the 1960s-a fate emblematic of urban America in general. Suburbia's simultaneous conquest of America delivered the death blow to adult culture. Without the traditional "third place"-the tavern, dance hall, or corner post office where neighbors once met-civic life withered and families retreated into domestic cocoons. The rock-and-roll culture that replaced the ballrooms of Shaw is adolescent, narcissistic, and humorless to the point of suicide. And despite its pretense of rebellion, rock has become the establishment-elitist, intolerant, and hollow. Mr. Judge finds true rebellion in the exuberant, breezy, joyful world of swing, a world where people are not afraid to have fun. With its emphasis on elegance and maturity, practice and skill, and complementary roles for men and women, it is an antidote to our demoralized popular culture.« less