Entry · catalog no. 6204
Suzie-Q
/ /ˈsuːzi kjuː/ /SOO-zee-kyoo
noun · Harlem, New York · 1930s
✓ Verified
1.
A swing-era dance step — a shuffling cross-step with a swivel of the hips.
“Drop into the Suzie-Q and let the band carry you.”
Origin & Attribution
A Black vernacular dance step introduced at Harlem''s Cotton Club in 1936 and set to Lil Hardin Armstrong''s Doin'' the Suzie-Q the same year. It became a staple of the Big Apple and the Lindy Hop — one of a run of named steps (with Truckin'' and Peckin'') that came off that floor and out into the country.
1936
Introduced at the Cotton Club; Doin'' the Suzie-Q recorded
1930s
Enters the Lindy Hop and Big Apple
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The Northeast
Harlem, New York · 1930s
Spoken by
Harlem, New York
$SUZIEQThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Dormant90 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
30/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1936
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@bxgriot
The Bronx, NY
@phillyanne
Philadelphia, PA
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See also