Jazz Dance

The History of Jazz Dance

     Early roots of jazz dance came from African culture imported by slaves.  In Africa,
natives danced to celebrate cycles of life: birth, puberty, marriage and death.  Children, adults
and the elderly all depended on dance to express their cultural beliefs.  Drums, string
instruments, chimes, reed pipes and other percussion instruments set the beat for the dancers.

     Slaves continued to interpret life through dance.  However, their dances, while based on the
traditions of Africa, were influenced by the European background of the plantation owners, so
the dances changed.  The only place where African dances remained outside this influence was
Congo Square in New Orleans.  From 1805 to 1880 slaves were permitted to dance by the French
and Spanish Catholics who inhabited the area.  They felt that providing slaves with an
opportunity to dance under supervision would make the slaves happier, monitor plans for revolt,
and prevent secret voodoo dances from being performed.

     Watching slaves dance led whites to stereotyping.  Whites began blackening their faces and
imitating slave dancers as early as the 1800s.  John Durang, one of the first American
professional dancers, described parts of his routine in 1789 as containing "shuffles," a movement
of slave dancers.  The first worldwide dance imitating slave dancers was the "Jump Jim Crow"
by Thomas Rice in 1828.  This dance copied the movement of a crippled slave and became the
basis for an era of American entertainment founded on the crude stereotype of the dancing slave.

     Another big influence on dance in America was the Minstrel show, which was popular from
1845 to 1900.  It is composed of a troupe of up to fifty performers who traveled from city to city,
the Minstrel show portrayed blacks as slow, shuffling idiots or sharply dressed dandies.

     Since the 1920s jazz dance has meant a constantly evolving form of popular and artistic dance
movement.  As popular culture changes, so does jazz dance changes.  Crucial to jazz dance is
individuality and improvisation.  Jazz dances include the Charleston and the Black Bottom from
the 1920s, theater dances of Bob Fosse, funky jazz and lyrical jazz.

The birthplace of jazz has many origins: New Orleans, St. Louis, Memphis and Kansas
City are just a few. But New Orleans was and still remains an important jazz center. The ethnic
rainbow of people who gravitated to the bars and brothels were a major factor in the
development of jazz. The city had been under Spanish and French rule prior to the Louisiana
purchase. By 1900, it was a blend of Spanish, French, English, German, Italian, Slavic and
countless blacks originally brought in as slaves.

The first jazz bands contained a "rhythm section" consisting of a string bass, drums, and a guitar
or banjo, and a "melodic section" with one or two cornets, a trombone, a clarinet, and sometimes
even a violin. Years later, jazz was taken over by large orchestras; a "society jazz band"
contained fifteen or more musicians. Today, there is a renewed interest in the "big band" era,
even though the music has very little to do with real jazz.

True jazz is characterized by certain essential features. The first is a tendency to stress the weak
beats of the bar (2nd and 4th) in contrast to traditional music which stressed the first and third
beats. The second feature is syncopation through an extensive repetition of short and strongly
rhythmic phrases or "riffs". The third feature of jazz is swing (regular but subtle pulsation which
animates 4/4 time). The swing must be present in every good jazz performance.

Basic Jazz Dance Steps

Ball change:  Change weight R+L ball-stamp (step-stamp), or stamp-stamp.

Cat walk:  Walking like a cat, crossing one leg in front of the other with a bent back.

Catch step:    Like a ball change but from flat foot to flat foot (stamp).

Chasses:  One foot chases the other.

Fall over the log:  Piqué passé. (See also jumps over the log).

Hip walk:  Déhanchés sidewards or front-back.

Jazz drag:  It's like a catwalk but with dragging one leg behind.

Jazz run:  Like a jazz walk but fast (running).

Jazz walk:    Walking straight in plié with shoulders in opposition.

Moonwalk:  The walk forward that goes backwards (Michael Jackson).

Moonwalk:  2nd version: tribute to the first man that walked on the moon. Piqué attitude-fondu
in slow motion. « Walking on the moon » de Sting .

Pivot step:  Step front, twist and step back twist (pivot).