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After reading the article on jazz dance, I had found out a number of interesting things that I hadnt known before. I thought it was a dance form that was fairly new, starting in the early 1900 s. I then found out that it actually pre-dates all the way back to the seventeenth century. I also thought income from the United States, when it really originated in Africa and was brought here by the slaves. The dancing and drumming was such a part of their lives; it was eventually continued by the slaves on the plantations with dancing and the clapping of their hands for rhythm. It was used as a form of entertainment, as well as enjoyment, and sometimes, even for competition.
It was around the 1830 s when the song and dance of the Africans began being performed in theaters, called < i style = 'mso-bidi-font-style: normal'> Minstrel shows, but the dancers were actually white. Then in the 1860 s, blacks were finally aloud to perform in these shows. They became very popular and then died out in the early 1900 s, which lead the way for new shows. The most popular of these being the < isle = 'mso-bidi-font-style: normal'> Vaudevi lle show. The Vaudeville show, presented a number different acts with all different cultures of people and dance, which encouraged diversity. It served as a professional school, a training ground and an experimental station for dancers destined for Broadway, nightclubs and film. -Richard Kislan.
The < i style = 'mso-bidi-font-style: normal'> Vaudevilleer a began the emergence of jazz music, which mixed ragtime and blues. The dancers would then begin to connect tothe condensed rhythms of jazz music. Now jazz incorporates a gathering of styles and movement, which can mean a lot of different things to different people. When we learned jazz dance in class, I found it hard to keep up at first. I liked the way it looked, when someone who knew what they were doing, was dancing. I remember changing directions a lot.
I also noticed while dancing that you use pretty much every part of your body. I thought I would be good at it, considering I am an athlete, and I am tune with my body. But I wasnt, I just felt like so many different things to remember. Maybe if I practiced it more, I could pick it up. What I dislike about jazz dance, is how free it is. It really gives you the opportunity to express yourself.
Even the guy who came in to instruct us was telling everyone to perform the moves in your own style. Since we didnt really have any jazz music, I found it hard to keep rhythm. I would have liked to see if I danced better with a jazz beat. Even though I wasnt to good at it, I did find jazz dance very enjoyable. Now that I have completed the reading, I noticed a lot of things we did in class that relates to the reading.
The article talked about howe clapping of hands was used in place of drums when the slaves danced on the plantations. In class we experienced same thing. Since we didnt have proper music, the teacher told us to clap our hands at certain times of our dance. I also mentioned that jazz dancing was sometimes used as a form of competition.
There was definatleycompetition felt in our class, because there was another higher-level dance class mixed in with our class, learning the same dances. It seemed as though every time we were taught a new dance, and it was time to perform it, they tried to do better then. At certain points in the dances we would try to out do each other, by giving our best struts, high kicks and showstopping footwork. This is pretty much the same as a cakewalk mentioned in the article, except unlike a cakewalk when u try to out do each other with partners, we did it individually. When giving description of jazz dance the article said that no movement is dull and there an unabated theatricality about jazz. I would have to agree with that statement, the moves that we were making in class were anything but dull, I felt like we were always in constant movement, as if we were performing.
Another thing mentioned in the article wash jazz dance was based on improvisation. Improvisation was what the jazz dance teacher stressed to us the whole class, to do your own thing. The freedom dance how u wanted to, was what made the whole jazz dance class an enjoyable experience.
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Research essay sample on Jazz Music Early 1900
