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Comment on the history of jazz dance and its influence on the commercial dance sector
What Jazz dance started like
Jazz is a style of dance “that arose in the United States in the mid 20th century” (1). The origin and roots of jazz dance include polyrhythm and improvisation. The music they used for jazz borrowed rhythms from African music, especially drumming, and inventing new forms. “The style of African dance is earthy; low, knees bent, pulsating body movements emphasized by body isolations and hand-clapping"(2). This comes from African ritual and celebratory dances from the seventeenth century, due to the slave trade. Thousands of African people were shipped to America and enslaved. One of their many tasks was to dance on deck for the white Americans for entertainment purposes and to keep them fit. Later minstrel shows were introduced to mimic and ridicule the African Americans. These shows were also created for entertainment purposes and were at the peak of their success between 1850 and 1870. The earliest minstrel shows were performed by white male minstrels, which are traveling musicians. They painted their faces black, whilst they mocked how the slaves sang and danced. This form of the tradition is labelled as blackface minstrelsy. “The Father of the 'black face' show was Thomas Dartmouth Rice (also known as Jim Crow Rice)” (3). The show was divided into two sections. They would perform a grand entrance first, followed by some comedy and instrumental numbers and so on. The second stage consisted of every member doing their own specialty number while others sang and clapped. This concluded with a hoedown or walk-around. Occasionally there was a third part consisting of a burlesque, farce, or comic opera. When slavery ended, black people were still not allowed to perform on stage until after the American civil war. Several of these had black owners and managers including Sawyer Minstrels and the Hicks.
The evolution
In the 1930s several dance moves unleashed such as the Cakewalk, Lindy hop, Boogie Woogie, Swing, Black Bottom, Charleston, Jitterbug and Swing became popular. Dance was then used in films, which had a positive impact on a lot of performers success to fame in Hollywood such as Fred Astaire. He was a leading man in dance films and musicals performing a mix jazz and ballet. Bob Fosse is a perfect example, he was an American dancer, actor, musical-theatre choreographer, film maker and theatre director. Fosse is best known for Tony Award-winning musicals including ‘Cabaret’ and 'Chicago'. Bob Fosse is the only person who has won Tony, Emmy and academic awards for his directing in the same year (4). Fosse brought limelight to jazz hands (5) through his Broadway musical, Pippin, which had its own television commercial. This had a major impact on fosse’s precise, expressive choreographic style going mainstream. There were many other jazz pioneers for example Jack Cole, Matt Mattox and Jerome Robins.
“In the 1960’s Jazz stood out in several movies” (5) e.g., Flashdance, Dirty dancing. Fame and staying alive. Jazz became more popular which made people take dance lessons and take join classes as they were taking it more seriously. Jazz was so popular that companies such as coca- cola, began using it to advertise goods.
In the 1960’s MTV was created for teens and young adults. It broadcasted music videos showcasing all different dance styles including Street dance, jazz and even ballet. The most famous choreographers at the time were Janet Jackson, Michael Peters, Toni Basil and Madonna. Michael peters choreographed Michael Jackson’s thriller which is still one of the most iconic music videos today. MTV added the sensation of making jazz as well as all dance popular again. Judi Sheppard inspired the public to stay active by creating Jazzercize. She made videos for women who were working at home during this period. The aim was for them to have whilst exercising at the same time. “Jazzercize was a mix of Jazz dance, Yoga, Kickboxing and in general exercise” (6).
In the 2000’s dance was extremely popular so it was then used in movies. A lot of the movies followed the same story line “about dancers chasing and pursuing their dream” (7). Some examples are Billy Elliot, Save the last dance and Centre stage.
Today
Jazz dance is still popular today being a key part of all types of entertainment from movies to musicals. Jazz can be seen in the commercial sector mainly in music videos such as play that sax by Fleur east. To this day movies are still following the same script about dancers trying to pursue their dream for example ‘feel the beat’ a Netflix original movie. Jazz today is a lot more about impressing the audience with high kicks and massive jumps as opposed to how it was back in the early 90’s.
References
(1) Author: Mahoney, B, Date published (1998) Title: The international Encyclopaedia of Dance. Place of publication: Oxford, Publisher: Oxford university press
(2) Author: Nalett, J Date published (2005) Title: History of Jazz Dance. Place of publication: Publisher: McGraw Hill
(3) Author: Clark, A (date created: 2019), page title: How the History of Blackface Is Rooted in Racism. {Available at: How the History of Blackface Is Rooted in Racism - HISTORY} (Accessed: 16/11/21)
(4) Author: Franklin, M, (Date published:2021) Title: Celebrate More Than 45 Years of Pippin on Broadway, Place of publication: New York City, Publisher: Gainesville: Phil Bursh Pages: 1-2
(5) Author: Thompson, Z (date created:2014) page title: Jazz dance timeline {Available at: Jazz Dance Timeline by Gabrielle Marchesi (prezi.com)} (accessed: 16/11/21)
(6) Author: Thompson, Z (date created:2014) page title: Jazz dance timeline {Available at: Jazz Dance Timeline by Gabrielle Marchesi (prezi.com)} (accessed: 16/11/21)
(7) Author: Thompson, Z (date created:2014) page title: Jazz dance timeline {Available at: Jazz Dance Timeline by Gabrielle Marchesi (prezi.com)} (accessed: 16/11/21)