Jazz Dance

Jazz dance is a specific type of dance that includes several dancing styles such as ballet, tap, jazz music and other related dance forms. Jazz dance is also referred to as theatrical dance that is usually danced on jazz music but can be performed on other types of music as well. The jazz dancing form is widely recognized as an American dance style and altogether, it is apparent that it is an offshoot of blues, work songs, spirituals, jazz and African-American ragtime.

Pertaining to jazz dance, it is known that there is a lot of movement isolation in this type of dancing and propulsive polyrhythms appear to be one of its distinguishing features. However, there are other specific characteristics of jazz dance namely, ballet technique, the utilization of specific jazz shoes, the bending of knees for low center of gravity, leaps, pirouettes, movement starting from hips and torso et al.

History Of Jazz Dance: A Glance

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Pertaining to the historical evolution of the jazz dance, it is known that the origination of this dance dates back to the African American vernacular dance form of the late 1800s to mid 1900s.

The jazz dancing style is known to have started at the squalid dancing halls and brothels of the Midwest and South where the meaning of the word jazz was primarily sexual intercourse. However, at the start of the jazz dance in dancing halls and brothels, the blacks from the South started to play European music accompanied by African modifications.

According to sources, the birthplaces of jazz are namely, Kansas City, Memphis, St. Louis and New Orleans. However, the city of New Orleans is still considered to be a specific location where jazz dance has flourished tremendously and the primary factor responsible for the growth of jazz in this place is the ethnic group of people who moved towards the brothels and bars of the city.

It is known that until 1950s, the term tap dance was utilized instead of jazz for the reason that at that point of time, tap dancing was considered to be the principal performing dance. During the later period of jazz dance, the highly popular types of jazz dances were Charleston, cakewalk, swing dancing, jitterbug, black bottom dance, Boogie Woogie and Lindy Hop.

However, after the period of 1950, the pioneer of jazz dance Katherine Dunham extracted the core of Caribbean traditional dance and translated it into a significant and unique performing art. As other types of entertainment music started to gain control over the market , the jazz dance evolved into modern jazz and tap dancing moved away to follow its own revolutionary course. It is known that Bob Fosse, a pioneer of jazz dance made the performance style of jazz dance extremely popular and it is proven by specific shows hosted by Broadway theaters, namely, The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Cabaret and Chicago.

Jazz Dance— At The Height Of Popularity

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Available statistics on the popularity of jazz dance reveal that within the period 1830—1929, jazz dancing became extremely popular. Master Juba, a well-known African American dancer of the 1840s created rhythms with several parts of the body; he created the chief principles of jazz dance and tap dance such as isolations and syncopation.

However, during the 1920s, after the completion of the First World War, it was observed that jazz music and dance came to be known as an indelible part of American society and during this time, Dixiel and jazz music emerged as a popular music. However, with people getting attracted to syncopated rhythm, jazz music became extremely popular.

Within the period 1930-1980, the jazz dance gained recognition as a mainstream dance and choreographers were hired by film producers for the purpose of creating popular jazz dances for films. With the growing popularity of jazz dance and music in this era, dance enthusiasts started enrolling for jazz classes in college campuses as well as dance studios.

Thereafter, from 1980—2000, movies having jazz dance sequences became highly popular and music videos extracting benefits from the sensuality of jazz dances became the darling of the masses.

The Pioneers Of Jazz Dance: A Glance

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Some of the people who have contributed immensely towards the development of jazz dance are namely, Gus Giordano, Bob Fosse and Jack Cole.

Gus Giordano is a founder of jazz dance and is known as a talented choreographer and master teacher. The dancing style of Gus Giordano is known to have added a specific influence on modern jazz dancing. Bob Fosse is a noted film director and a musical theater choreographer. He pioneered jazz dance to a significant extent and his dancing style exhibits certain features, namely, full-body isolations, rounded shoulders and inward knees. However, the other pioneer of jazz dance, Jack Cole emphasizes on a particular jazz technique that lays stress on long knee. Pertaining to Jack Cole, it is known that he is widely recognized as the father of jazz dance and has developed certain methods of jazz dancing that are extensively utilized now-a-days in videos, certain television commercials and movies.