Jazz dance

Jazz dance emerged in the nineteenth century, and then moved into the twentieth century. Originating in the slave roots of Africa, the transference of African American music and dance traditions evolved as slaves arrived on American shores. From the dance steps of the plantations to the music halls, jazz dance became a style that interplayed with popular culture across the spectrum. Jazz dance, commonly associated with popular culture in America, is exemplified in a range of expressive interpretations. A veritable melting pot of traditional African movement with European inspired steps created a vast and impressive canon of what is called jazz dance.

Aesthetically, the components of jazz dance involve a close relationship to jazz music and its rhythmic elements. The interrelationship between music and dance in the jazz realm has always been significant, playing out in a symbiotic flow and beat of the song and its physical component. The choreographic styles and movement vocabulary pertain to popular culture. Likewise, the method of moving fits the socio-cultural stylistic language of the cultures from which the dance evolves.

Brief History

Historically, the earliest jazz dance is associated with slaves brought to America in the 1800s. Dance became an emotional and physical expression and outlet for the slave experiences. Their emotional worlds and intensity of oppression played out in the physical dance forms. Additionally, the dance release was a way to exercise the body in a positive way. A strong relationship to the ground creates an earthy dynamism of movement in the jazz dance form. Rhythm and beats characterize the vocal and physical expression of song and dance that not only cries out but motivates and energizes and celebrates with joy. The dance may be vibrant and energetic or flow with the slow soul feeling the music generates.

The exact dates attributed to the dance history remain fluid, as do the specific dance sources. Certainly the slave roots of Africa, transposed into America, and the urban ghetto type scenarios of later years contributed to the sounds and styles of jazz emanating.

The New Orleans musical jazz culture of the 1900s had a direct relation to jazz dance coming out of this period. By the 1920s, the Jazz Age had come into being, an easy, ambient fashionable music style that matched the dances. Early dances such as the Charleston, Shimmy, and Black Bottom were popular. Initially tap dance was called jazz dance.

By the late 1920s, Lindy Hop became the rage. Set to a smooth rhythmic beat, Lindy Hop and the Jitterbug (another popular dance) reflected the joyousness of jazz music. Danced with a partner, Lindy Hop was an interactive social experience. Swing dancing developed in conjunction with swing jazz, from the 1920s through to the 1950s. Swinging, improvisatory in nature, provided the opportunity to partner, to release, and have an athletic work out while doing so. Other forms of jazz dance of this period include the Balboa and Shag, with Slow Drag or Blues more aligned with slow intimate dancing.

As musical theater gained prominence around the 1930s and again post-1950s, dance choreographers of note began to create dance works with a jazz feel. George Balanchine, Jack Cole, Bob Fosse, and Jerome Robbins are the top names in this field.

Pioneers of the jazz dance form molded works of art by innovating techniques and spreading the love of jazz style. Prominent contributors include Asadata Dafora Horton, especially in the 1930s, and Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus in the 1940s.

From the 1940s, jazz dance began to be offered in studios, gaining popularity for the layperson as well as aspiring professionals. From the 1950s, modern jazz dance set the scene of an emerging popular dance culture of a more contemporary nature than earlier jazz styles. Still drawing from the African American origins, a merging of European influences occurred.

Overview

Jazz dance is associated with a sense of physicality. Body weight connects into the ground with an oftentimes earthy or sensual feel. The isolations of body parts characterizes the jazz dance technique and style. Breaking down of body parts and isolating them is evident in the exercises and choreography. Katherine Dunham is said to have introduced the way the modern dance world understands isolations. Leaps and turns lift the dance to heights and rapid effective pacing. The improvisation of jazz music and the syncopated sounds feed into the improvisatory nature and rhythmic flow of many jazz dances. In modern times, training for contemporary jazz dance is often suggested as being supplemented by or commencing in a strong ballet background. This allows the dancer the proficiency gained from strength, flexibility, and agility associated with a classical training.

Choreographers and Choreographic Styles. George Balanchine (1904-83) launched his dance career in the United States, following his European (Russian) beginnings, becoming one of the most prominent choreographers in the ballet world. As the artistic director of the New York City Ballet, Balanchine introduced a neo-classical style of ballet with the dancer rather than the plot at the forefront. A modern jazz lyricism colored his works.

Jack Cole (1911-74) considered the father of jazz dance by most scholars, led the jazz stage in an explosive style. Having gained expertise in the bharata natyam dance of India, he translated aspects of the technique into his jazz style. These include isolations, the way the body is placed, sliding of the knee, and fast changes in direction. Cole exerted a profound influence on Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins.

Bob Fosse (1927-87) was an American born dancer and choreographer who burst onto the musical theater and film scene with an energetic dance style characterized by hip rolls, articulated hand movements, and a unique dance vocabulary. All that Jazz is his semi-autobiographical film capturing his style and some of his personae.

Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Rabinowitz) (1918-98) is the musical theater choreographer best known for productions such as Gypsy and West Side Story. Initially cast by Balanchine as a chorus member in a Broadway show, Robbins later changed the face of Broadway musicals through his choreographic genius.

Eugene Louis Faccuito (1925-2015), better known as Luigi, innovated jazz dance exercise technique. Luigi was a jazz dancer and choreographer who taught internationally. Having personally suffered injuries following a vehicular accident, he devised a system of exercises both for dancers and toward rehabilitation of the body.

Other jazz dance styles of the twentieth and into the twenty-first century feature hip-hop, which emerged onwards from the 1970s. This was the new jazz, with the relationship to popular music again inspiring the choreographic dance vocabulary and style. The inimitable jazz dance style of Michael Jackson, King of Pop, flourished through his innovative dance moves and unique choreographies.

From the seeds of early jazz music and dance that were planted in the 1800s slave expressiveness, jazz dance has moved through styles and nuances. The style remains ever alive from hip hop to contemporary dance and ballet and to studios reviving the popular swing dance forms from earlier times.

Bibliography

Fisk, Judy. "Dance Isolation Exercises." AZ Central. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 16 May 2016. <http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/dance-isolation-exercises-2288.html>.

Fox, Margalit. "Eugene Louis Faccuito, Creator of Jazz Dance Style, Dies at 90." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 11 April 2015. Web. 16 May 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/arts/dance/eugene-louis-faccuito-creator-of-jazz-dance-style-dies-at-90.html>.

"George Balanchine." New York City Ballet. New York City Ballet, n.d. Web. 16 May 2016. <http://www.nycballet.com/explore/our-history/george-balanchine/>.

"Jack Cole." Dance Heritage Coalition. Dance Heritage Coalition, n.d. Web. 16 May 2016. <http://www.danceheritage.org/cole.html>.

"Katherine Dunham." KDCAH – Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities. Katherine Dunham Center for Arts and Humanities, 2011. Web. 16 May 2016. <http://kdcah.org/katherine-dunham/>.

"New Orleans Jazz. A New Orleans Jazz History, 1895-1927." 2016 National Park Service Centennial. National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 16 May 2016. <https://www.nps.gov/jazz/learn/historyculture/jazz‗history.htm>.

Piccoli, Liz. "History of Jazz Dance / Jazz Dance." Online video clip. Youtube. Howcast, 24 July 2012. Web. 16 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC4xX3E2JOk>.

Semko, Elizabeth. "Jazz Dance Legend: Bob Fosse." Dance Advantage. Dance Advantage,7 Dec. 2015. Web. 16 May 2016. <http://www.danceadvantage.net/legend-bob-fosse/>.

Sporre, Dennis J. "A History of the Arts." London: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1990. Print.

Vaill, Amanda. "Jerome Robbins: Something to Dance About." American Masters. Thirteen, WNET, 27 Jan. 2009. Web. 16 May 2016. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/jerome-robbins-about-the-artist/1099/>.

"What Is Swing Dancing?" Edinburgh University Swing Dance Society. Edinburgh University Students' Association, n.d. Web. 16 May 2016. <http://www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/societies/society/swing-dance/whatisswingdancing/>.