Origins of Jazz Dance

The story of jazz dance begins with the importing of African culture to America

through the American slave trade.

Almost 300 years of slave trade had put Africans to various parts of America and

also many other parts of the world.

In new, unfamiliar and unfriendly environment, they struggled to

survive under inhumane conditions, but even under these torturing

circumstances, the Africans had not forgotten about their music and

dance. They danced to express their joy and sadness, anger and happiness, and they also danced in their religious

gatherings

Whenever they got a chance, they sang and danced as a communal expression for their

cultural beliefs. In time, these ethnic songs and dances gradually became urban music and dances which were spirited and lively; and

because new steps and variations were constantly being created, the American people took an avid interest in this rhythmically strong

kind of dance.

Jazz originated from Minstrel entertainment in America of 1830s – 1900s

Developments of jazz dance have followed the evolutions of jazz

music in the early part of the 20th century. The earliest jazz dance

was social dance performed to jazz music by black people.

The Cakewalk was an exciting new development of Jazz dance towards the end of the 19th to Ragtime music in the Black

community

These performances were particularly popular in villages in southern America; and amateur dancers in New Orleans would

perform jazz dance in clubs and social gatherings. It was also

common for dancers to dance according to the words and

contents of the songs.

After jazz dance became a dance performed to a special type of music, both black and white dancers began

to make numerous changes and improvements to the basic steps. New

comers to jazz dance also created and/or added movements of the hip, the shoulders and torso isolations to

the dance vocabulary.

Tap Dance evolved from the Irish Jig but it was Bill “Bojangles” Robinson that influenced tap in the 1920s and made it light and

flexible

The Charleston was made famous in 1923 by a Broadway

Play called Running Wild

In the 1920s, many forms of swinging type of dance had become fashionable. For

example, the Charleston, the Shimmy and the Lindy all had their moments in dance

history. Later, with the appearance of "Boogie-Woogie," couple dance with a closed position hold had given way to a new form where a couple danced facing

each other but separately (e.g. the Jitterbug).

Jazz dance evolved into three different types in late 1930s and early 1940s:

• 1) modern jazz dance that was heavily influenced by classical ballet;

• 2) a type of jazz dance that was inspired by African and Latin dances;

• 3) a type of jazz dance that consisted of comical music and tap dancing elements.

Even though jazz dance was quite popular at that time, it began to lose its footing in the latter

part of the 1940s when jazz music underwent some major changes. A new type of jazz where rhythms were very complicated had replaced the big band swinging jazz, its complex beats had made it hard to dance to. In addition, the

birth of the phonograph (record player) and the heavy tax that the government (USA) imposed

on dance floors had forced many dance clubs to terminate their businesses.

With the passing of the older style of jazz dance came new developments in the jazz dance scene. Evolutions of jazz dance have taken place largely in the

US and since the US is a mixing ground of various cultures, the new form of

jazz dance have brought together dance & music elements from

different sources and backgrounds.

Jazz developed throughout the 20th Century and was popular in Broadway musicals

Dance styles and steps of the 1920s to the 1940s were mixed

with the dance steps of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Popular media of

the times have also helped in raising the popularity of jazz dance.

Types of Jazz Dance

ModernContemporary

LyricalStreet

Swing: Jive, Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, East Coast, West CoastMusical Theatre

CommercialFunk

Abstract

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Characteristics of Jazz dance

Movements in jazz dance are simple and free, they reflect a person's emotions

through body movements like shaking, twisting and swinging. Just like when we

hear our favourite tune or music, our bodies have a tendency to move to its rhythm, we snap our fingers, nod our

heads, stamp our feet; our movements mimic and fuse with the mood and rhythm

of the music that we hear.

Jazz dance is a fast-paced, energetic rhythmic dance form; and unlike classical ballet or modern dance which is typically "inward," jazz dance

is "outward" in nature (i.e. tends to project everything outwardly).

Movement Characteristics of Jazz Dance can be summarized as follows:

• use of the bend knee position (plie), to bring the body weight closer to the ground. A lower centre of gravity allows more flexibility for the lower limbs, while the upper body could remain relatively relaxed and thus be able to perform quick rhythmic actions. This permits more variety in movement patterns.

• ability to shift/move the centre of gravity quickly; indeed, the ability to move the body weight quickly in a horizontal fashion is a typical jazz technique.

• move individual body parts in isolation, i.e. the head, shoulders, rib cage, hips.

• an emphasis on angular and linear movements.• syncopated movements.• polyrhythmic movements.

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