How has jazz dance developed over the years

Jazz dance | Definition, History, Characteristics, Types, & Facts

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jazz dance, any dance to jazz accompaniments, composed of a profusion of forms. Jazz dance paralleled the birth and spread of jazz itself from roots in Black American society and was popularized in ballrooms by the big bands of the swing era (1930s and ’40s). It radically altered the style of American and European stage and social dance in the 20th century. The term is sometimes used more narrowly to describe (1) popular stage dance (except tap dance) and (2) jazz-derived or jazz-influenced forms of modern dance. It excludes social dances lacking jazz accompaniment—e.g., the rumba and other Latin-American dances.

Jazz dance developed from both 19th- and 20th-century stage dance and traditional Black social dances and their white ballroom offshoots. On the stage, minstrel show performers in the 19th century developed tap dancing from a combination of Irish jigging, English clog dancing, and African rhythmic stamping. Tap dance and such social dances as the cakewalk and shuffle became popular vaudeville acts and appeared in Broadway revues and musical comedies as these replaced vaudeville early in the 20th century. In addition, comedy, specialty, and character dances to jazz rhythms became standard stage routines. By the 1940s elements of jazz dance had appeared in modern dance and in motion picture choreography.

Although the stage popularized certain social dances, many others were transmitted mainly in social gatherings. The dances that gave rise to social forms of jazz dance developed from rural slave dances. In both early dances and 20th-century jazz dances, there is a noticeable continuity of dance elements and motions. The eagle rock and the slow drag (late 19th century) as well as the Charleston and the jitterbug have elements in common with certain Caribbean and African dances. In addition, the slow drag contributed to the fish of the 1950s; the ring shout, which survived from the 18th into the 20th century, in isolated areas, influenced the cakewalk.

About 1900 the cakewalk, popularized through stage shows, became a craze in European and American ballrooms. In its wake appeared other social dances such as the Charleston (1920s), the jitterbug (1930s and ’40s), the twist (1960s), and disco dancing (1970s). Some, like the fox-trot, borrowed European dance steps and fitted them to jazz rhythms. The growth of radio, television, and recording, which popularized Black music among wide audiences, greatly aided the diffusion of these dances. Fusing ballet with jazz has led in recent years to the formation of such troupes as Canada’s Les Ballets Jazz.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.

Brief History of Jazz Dance

Although jazz dance is thought to be as American as apple pie, its roots are in Africa. This form of dance quickly became popular in early America and has continued to evolve, while enriching the lives of people of all age brackets. Put simply, jazz dance is any type of dance movements to jazz accompaniments. What’s more, it’s made up of a variety of forms. Here’s a brief history of jazz dance, along with why it can benefit your young child.

EARLY BEGINNINGS IN NORTH AMERICA

Jazz dance is rooted in African traditions, a culture which integrated dance and music into their daily lives. These dances were brought to America via the slave trade. Enslaved Africans performed traditional dances such as the Cakewalk and the Pattin’ Juba on plantations, and these dances laid the groundwork for the evolution of the Jazz Dance technique we know today.

Soon, the dance moves and choreographies were mimicked by traveling musicians. Drumming was influential as, like in African dance, jazz dance mimicked and accentuated the rhythm of the music into isolations and movements of the body. One of the main cities where jazz dance took off was New Orleans. Jazz musicians here were known for creating “the blues”, along with spirituals, marches and ragtime music. Jazz dance evolved alongside the evolution of jazz and blues music.

20th CENTURY JAZZ DANCE PERFORMERS

It was during the latter part of the 19th century and into the new century that these new dance moves resulted in dance trends, including the Jitterbug, the Charleston, Swing, Boogie-Woogie and other fads. The rhythms of jazz even permeated classical, formal European ballet, which added a unique American flavor to traditional dancing.

This paved the way for the various forms of dance that began in the 1920s and continued into the mid-20th century. Jazz dance was a popular feature in ballrooms of the 1940s and 1950s. It was around this time that jazz dance started to become a studied technique and not just a form of social dancing.

Some of the primary jazz dance performers and choreographers of the 20th century include:

Jack Cole—In the 1930s, this popular jazz dancer started to include African and East Indian dance moves into his dance choreography. This led to Mr. Cole becoming a major influence for many jazz performers of the 20th century.
Katherine Dunham—Besides being a dance choreographer, she was also an anthropologist. This woman was one of the first pioneers in black theatrical stage dance.
Gus Giordano—This Chicago jazz dancer is known for creating precise and clean dance moves.
Bob Fosse– Considered perhaps the most influential innovator of jazz dance, Bob Fosse created a technique that merged elegance and burlesque with a bit of quirkiness. You may know him for his choreography in Chicago, Sweet Charity, Pippin, Cabaret, Kiss Me Kate, or the Pajama Games.

1980s THROUGH THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY

Most jazz dance, by the 1980s, did not include jazz music as its main inspirational source. Jazz dance became popular on stage and on screen. Music videos and movie musicals pumped more life into the technique and style.

As American culture continues to change, jazz dance continues to grow and change right along with it. There are many different branches of jazz dance in our culture today- vernacular, Broadway, commercial, modern- and each brings a new spice and life to the traditions jazz dance is honored to come from.

THE FUTURE OF JAZZ DANCE

The possibilities are endless as to the directions that today’s jazz choreographers and dancers may go. Even though we may not be able to imagine what’s in the future for jazz dance, we can be sure that it will continue to reinvent itself as well as discover new fans. In other words, jazz dance will remain as a popular American way to dance, besides continue to be a mixture of different world cultures.

BENEFITS OF JAZZ DANCE FOR KIDS

There are several perks of jazz dance lessons and especially for children. These benefits include:

Improved physical fitness—Does your child spend way too much time staring at a computer screen or other type of electronic device? Jazz dancing is one of the best ways to get your child away from electronics and physically active.
Better emotional and mental health—Besides boosting strength, flexibility and coordination, jazz dancing can also serve as an excellent way for children to express their emotions and gain confidence in their individuality!
Muscle memory is another benefit as children must keep in step with fast pace of the music.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Jazz dance continues to evolve.
Throughout the history of jazz dance, this form of dance continues to develop alongside the popular music of the day.
This type of dance is highly beneficial for kids.

For more information on our wide selection of dance classes, contact us.

History of Jazz Modern Dance

HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN JAZZ DANCE

Modern dance and jazz dance developed for many years as independent trends, and only in the 70s did the process of borrowing techniques from various schools begin. And not only from the above-mentioned techniques, but also from classical ballet. Therefore, the history of modern dance and jazz dance will first be considered separately.

The history of the development of jazz dance

The United States of America brought two artistic elements to the world's choreographic evolution: Isadora Duncan's "free" dance and African-American jazz dance. The latter was brought by blacks - slaves from Africa, but historically formed and evolved in the United States. The artistic feature of jazz dance is the perfect freedom of movement of the entire body of the dancer and individual parts of the body both horizontally and vertically of the stage space. Jazz dance is, first of all, the embodiment of the dancer's emotions, it is a dance of sensations, not forms or ideas, as happens in modern dance. nine0003

Jazz as an artistic phenomenon is the result of a hundred years of evolution of percussion playing by the Negro tribes of Africa. Each Negro tribe has its own set of dances with specific rhythms for each specific occasion. Rhythms change even depending on the season and are clearly differentiated. Many of them take more than four hours to complete.

Another process was going on at the same time. Since the main contingent of the US population consisted of Irish, Scottish and English settlers, the dances of these national cultures were an important part of art and everyday life. These dances can be divided into two large groups. The first included the so-called "country dance", i.e. rural dances, which were of a folklore nature and performed by a group or duet. Irish dances "Jig" and "Clog" were performed in special wooden shoes, with the help of which the rhythm was tapped out. The second group of dances popular at that time included ballroom dancing - the minuet in the 18th century, the cotillion, country dance, quadrille and gallop in the 19th century. nine0003

These two cultures - European and Negro - influenced each other in the New World and eventually assimilated. Thus, we can conclude that the process of the emergence of jazz dance as a direction took place on the basis of African culture, i.e. rhythms and dances of a folklore nature, on which various layers were superimposed; ethnic, religious, aesthetic, geopolitical.

At the end of the 18th century, musical shows for the white audience appeared in the large cities of the liberal North, in which white performers, wearing black masks and costumes, imitated African songs and dances. Of course, they were not identical to the original, but the exoticism and grotesqueness of such spectacles was a good bait for the public. In 1830, Thomas Dartmund Rais staged a performance in the theater of Louisville, in which the famous black dancer of that time, William Henry Lane, "Master Juba" took part. It was the first black performer whose name was preserved in the history of jazz dance. nine0003

Black actors were allowed on the stage only after the end of the American Civil War in 1865. However, there were very few black troupes, and in order to win the sympathy of white audiences, they had to show themselves only in a negative-ironic style, therefore, such genres of stage art as the sketch, vaudeville and comedy were mainly developed. It was in these genres that jazz dance began to develop as a theatrical dance, constituting a single whole with singing and music. This path of development led in the 20th century to the emergence of such a typically American genre as the musical. nine0003

The only way for a black performer to get on stage was to participate in dance competitions, which were very popular at the time. Favorite competitive dances were "Jig" and "Keiku-ok". The first was a solo dance, the second was a pair dance. Often the dancers held a glass of water on their heads, and white spectators made a bet on which of the dancers would have more water at the end of the competition.

Although black performers gained access to the professional scene, there was an opinion that the "black" dance was separate, illogical and inept movements. Over time, white dancers began to understand the charm and complexity of the dance of this direction. One of the first performers of the Negro dance was George Primrose, whose creative career began in 1867. nine0003

The "black" dance remained a priority in the performances of the "minstrel theater", which gradually turned into magnificent shows. In 1880, James MacArthur was the first to use the dance technique of black performers in his dance shows. Around the same time, jazz music was born in New Orleans.

Starting from the 90s and until the end of the Second World War - the next stage in the development of jazz dance as a special technique, with its own school, a certain lexical module and movement system. It was at this time that jazz dance had a huge impact not only on theatrical and everyday dance, but also on the ballet theater. The genre nature of jazz dance is becoming less and less obvious. The mutual influence of "black" and "white" dance is increasing, the folklore character of the dance is being lost. All this determines the separation of jazz dance into a separate direction of dance technique. nine0003

Between 1890 and 1916 there was a real explosion in the popularity of "black" dances in the field of everyday dance. They are danced by the whole New and Old World. "Charleston", "Black Botton", "Tu Step", "Big Apple", "Chicken Stretch", "Drag", "Shimmy", "Congo", "Funky Bat" succeeded each other with incredible speed. The appearance of the word "jazz" and "jazz dance" belongs to the same time. This word comes from many roots, but researchers are inclined to believe that it was used by blacks both as a noun and as a verb. As a noun, it translates as "strength, impetuosity, ecstasy." And as a verb - "excite, activate, delight." nine0003

1917-1930 - the pinnacle of the development of jazz dance. "Black" dance and music became an integral part of musical performances on Broadway and in Harlem. Outstanding performers of that time - Bill Robinson, Bert Williams, Back and Babols were at the center of all musical performances in the "black" variety show in Harlem - the capital of Negro art and culture, whose history began in 1920.

Shuffle Elong (1921) started the tradition of black revues on Broadway. Many shows traveled to the cities of Europe, introducing the audience of the Old World to new areas of dance and music. Al Taner, Avon Long, Elvis Whitman - these names were familiar not only to US viewers, but also in many European countries. At 19In 1922, three "black" musicals had already been staged on Broadway: Miss Lizzie's Start, Planstein Revue, and Liza.

Jazz dance, having gone from everyday, folklore dance through stage, theatrical dance, gradually became a special kind of dance art. It gradually captures the whole of Europe. In the show and musical performances, the "black Venus" also shone - Josephine Baker ("Chocolate Dandy"), Bill Jungla Robinson - the best tap artist and others.

In the 1930s, interest in jazz dance faded somewhat. This is due to the fact that "black" art was purely entertaining. Many choreographers tried to create more serious works on the theme of jazz dance, but these attempts were not always successful. nine0003

In 1931, Hemsley Winfield founded the "Negro Theater of the Arts", whose prima ballerina was Edna Gay. She tried to dance spirituals and created a new dance style that combined African plastique and the achievements of modern dance.

In 1933, Doris Humphrey choreographed the Negro opera Run Little Children. This was the first attempt to create a serious work based on Negro art.

The staging in 1935 of J. Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess" brought real success. Although the role of choreography in this performance was limited, it had a huge impact not only on musicians, but also on choreographers, who began to turn to the "black" theme in their work. nine0003

But the most famous choreographer, dancer, writer, ethnographer and anthropologist was Katherine Dunham - the person to whom jazz dance owes theory and methodology. Having deeply studied the history and specifically African folk dances, she included their elements in her choreography. It is safe to name the exact date of the transformation of "black" dance into stage art. It was April 18, 1940, when Katharine Dunham presented her first jazz production in New York, Tropics and Hot Jazz, subtitled "From Haiti to Harlem." The content of the performance was the path of "black" jazz dance from the West Indies, New Orleans and up to Harlem. This ballet brought fame not only to Catherine, but also to dancers (and later choreographers) Archie Savadt and Telly Beatty, who performed for the first time on Broadway. In the same year, another premiere took place - the Negro musical "Cabin in the Air" with Ethel Waters and Katherine Dunham in the lead roles. Then Dunham's work in Hollywood, and at 1943 again Broadway production - Tropical Revue. Famous dancers such as Lavinia Williams, Archie Savadt, Telly Beatty, Jean-Leon Dustin and Walter Nicke have grown up in the Dunham troupe. Dunham opened a school in New York in 1945, where she experimented with methods and theory of teaching jazz dance.

Among the great dancers and choreographers of the 1940s is Pearl Primus. In her work, she delved into the history of "black" dance. An ardent opponent of shows and revues, she touched on serious political issues in her productions. "Strange Fruit" - the problem of lynching, "Hard Times" - the problem of the living conditions of blacks in the South, "Slave Market" - the attitude towards the black population. nine0003

In 1950, Dunham's student Telly Beatty came out on his own as a choreographer. His most famous production is Phoebe Snow's The Way of the Train. From 1959 to this day, this performance has been part of the repertoire of the Alvin Ailey troupe. For this troupe in 1968, Telly Beatty created the play "Black Belt".

Jazz dance played a huge role in the history of musical development. In the 1930s and 1940s, the process of artistic evolution of the musical took place. His themes become diverse, the choreographic richness of his expressive means increases. The performances are staged by well-known and talented choreographers: J. Balanchine, X. Holm, A. deMille, J. Robbins. nine0003

In the 1950s and 1960s, with the advent of young talented choreographers - G. Champion, M. Kidd, B. Foss, G. Ross and others, a detailed choreographic action became the artistic basis of the performance, and dance became a means of expressing the psychological world of the heroes of the performance , the motivation of their actions, a means of recreating a unique artistic atmosphere.

By the end of the 1960s, jazz dance had firmly taken its place in a number of trends in modern choreography. Its application was quite wide: everyday dance, theatrical dance, film dance, and, finally, purely choreographic performances created by the language of jazz dance. Being an "open" system, jazz dance in its quest turns to the means of expressiveness of other systems and directions of dance, incorporating the achievements discovered by modern dance, classical dance, folk choreography and other areas of dance art. As a result, the process of merging the main schools of modern choreography began and a new artistic phenomenon arose - modern jazz dance. However, before considering the main features of this dance system, a few words about the history of modern dance. nine0003

The history of the development of modern dance

This direction is entirely the brainchild of the 20th century. In literal translation, modern dance is modern dance. In the future, this term became its own name for the direction in choreography. This dance system is associated with the names of great performers and choreographers. Unlike jazz or classical dance, this direction was created on the basis of the creativity of a particular person.

In modern dance, the performer's attempt to build a connection between the dance form and his inner state is essential. Most modern dance styles were formed under the influence of some clearly stated philosophy or a certain vision of the world. nine0003

Experiments in the field of movement and in particular dance began in the middle of the 19th century. We can mention the theory of "bodily expression" by F. Delsarte and the experiments of J. Dalcroze in the field of creating a movement alphabet for the visual embodiment of music.

However, the "pioneers" in the field of stage dance were bright and talented performers Loi Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Isadora Duncan. The debut of the new direction was extremely successful, because it deeply touched the viewer.

A lot has been written about A. Duncan, therefore, in the context of this manual, it is only necessary to mention that, having a huge number of followers around the world and having opened her studios in Paris, New York, Berlin and Moscow, she still did not create her own school.

On stage, she was completely free and used all the possibilities of movement. She danced barefoot, in a loose tunic reminiscent of ancient Greek. Not possessing an ideal figure, she literally hypnotized the audience, although she did not show any special technique in her dance. Duncan used everyday movements, steps, jumps, simple turns. Close to natural, they expressed her individuality. In the work of A. Duncan, the intuitive, improvisational characteristics of dance are very strong. It was the immediacy, the surprise that attracted the viewer. It seemed that her dance was never repeated. Since Duncan's style was not based on a specific movement system, it disappeared with her. nine0003

L. Fuller started her search a little earlier. Her creative path went in parallel with the creative searches of Duncan (at one time they collaborated). But if Duncan's search moved along the path of the inner, emotional, then Fuller's search concerned the external. Costumes, scenery, lighting, the whole atmosphere of the performance were an arena for experiments. Fuller brought to life fantastic forms, playing with lines and bright colors. With little to no choreographic training, Fuller used her arm and body movements with incredible expressiveness. By tying long strips covered with meters of silk fabric to her hands, she created images of butterflies and flames. An important element of her productions was light. Using patches of color, phosphorescent materials and a projector, she turned the performer into an object that blends in with the surroundings. nine0003

The search for Duncan was also continued by Ruth St. Denis. In her works, the influence of the East, religious and mystical dances was felt. Thanks to Denis and her husband Ted Shawn, the first modern dance school "Deishawn" was opened in 1915, the name of which for many years became a symbol of professional modern dance. Such well-known performers and choreographers as Charles Weidman, Doris Humphrey, Martha Graham subsequently came out of this school. The emergence of the school and the search for Ted Shawn in the field of methodology and theory of education of performers served as a sign that modern dance is gradually turning from an experimental direction into a specific dance system, with its own principles and laws of technical performance. It was in Denishawn that American expressionism in dance was born, uniting the work of many choreographers and performers. This was the first, most serious direction, which was largely based on the theories of Sigmund Freud. Characteristically, until the mid-1930s, the ideas of modern dance developed in parallel both in the USA and in Western Europe, primarily in Germany. nine0003

One of the theorists and inspirers of dance expressionism was Rudolf von Laban. He turned in his works to the philosophical teachings of ancient India. In his theoretical work "Kinetography" (1928), Laban proposed a universal theory of dance gesture, which turned out to be applicable to the analysis and description of all plastic and dynamic characteristics, regardless of which national style and genre category they belong to. Space, Time, Energy are the three constants on which Laban built his theory of motion. The main role in this direction of dance art is played by the performer's ability to improvise, that is, his ability to express himself in dance. In dance, according to Laban, a person should be free from canons, and since dance expresses social relations, Laban hoped to influence society through it. nine0003

R. von Laban's student was Kurt Joss, as well as many performers of the so-called "German school" of modern dance: sisters Wiesenthal, K, von Derp, A. Sakharov, L. Glosari and others. The "star" of this direction, of course, was Mary Wigman. Often in her productions ("Complaint", "Victim", "Mother's Dances" and many others), she deliberately abandoned the traditionally beautiful movements. M. Wigman also considered the ugly and terrible to be worthy of expression in dance, so her performances were always distinguished by extreme tension and dynamics of form. nine0003

In the mid-1930s, the center of modern dance development moved to the USA. The American theater of modern dance became a milestone in the development of all American choreography.

The founders of modern dance are Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Helen Tamiris, Chania Holm. Their merit lies primarily in the fact that each of them was not only a brilliant choreographer and performer, but also a teacher who created his own system for training dancers.

The first teacher, choreographer and performer who consistently created a dance system was M. Graham, who graduated from Denishawn School. The success of her group is already brought by the first performances in New York at 1926 (The Heretic and Primitive Mysteries.) At the first stage of her work, M. Graham belonged to the school of psychological realism, but later she turned to the symbolic and legendary-epic theme. The heroes of her works were the people of the era of the settlement of America: "Frotier" (1935), "Letter to the World" (1940), "Spring in the Appalachian Mountains" (1944). In the future, Graham created performances based on the plots of ancient and biblical mythology. They were characterized by a subtle psychologism in the disclosure of images, a complicated metaphorical dance action: Johnson's "Deaths and Entrances", Menotti's "With Message to the Labyrinth", Fain's "Alceste", Starer's "Phaedra". Form-creation was not an end in itself for Graham; first of all, she sought to create a dramatically rich dance language that could convey the whole range of human experiences. nine0003

The second most important choreographer and teacher was Doris Humphrey. Like Graham, she graduated from Denishawn, but her stage career was short-lived. Due to a serious illness, she was forced to leave the stage and engage only in teaching and staging activities in the troupe of Jose Limon, who continued the performing traditions of Doris Humphrey. Paying great attention to the plastic refinement and technicality of the dance, Doris Humphrey at the same time opposed the beauty and refined stylization of Saint-Denis. Her work was influenced by the folklore of the American Indians and Negroes, as well as the art of the East. She was the first in the United States to teach dance composition and summarized her experience in the book "The Art of Dance", which is a reference book for every choreographer of modern dance. nine0003

In the 1950s, the third generation began to create. After the Second World War, young performers and choreographers faced a rather acute question: to continue the traditions of the older generation or to look for their own ways of developing dance art. Some choreographers completely abandoned the experience of previous generations and plunged headlong into experimentation. Many of them denied the usual stage space and transferred their performances to the streets, parks, etc., denied the form of the performance, involving the viewer in a theatrical performance (hapening). The attitude towards costumes, music and other components of theatrical action has changed. Many choreographers have completely abandoned musical accompaniment and used only percussion instruments or noises. Composers often became co-creators of the choreographer, creating music at the same time as movement. nine0003

One of those who continued the tradition of the previous generation was José Limón. His choreography is a complex synthesis of American modern dance and Spanish-Mexican traditions with sharp contrasts of lyrical and dramatic beginnings. Many productions are epic and monumental. Heroes are depicted at moments of the highest tension, extreme spiritual uplift, when the subconscious mind guides their actions. The greatest popularity was gained by his performances "The Moor's Pavane", "Dances for Isadora", "Mass of War Times". nine0003

Merce Cunningham was undoubtedly the spiritual "father" of the choreographic avant-garde. He was one of those who went his own way and founded his own dance school. His performances amazed with an unexpected approach to the movement. Cunningham viewed the performance as a union of independently created, independent elements. Working closely throughout his creative life with the composer John Cage, he transferred many of the ideas of this composer to his performances, built on the "theory of chance". A new understanding of the relationship between movement and space, movement and music gave impetus to the creation of performances that paved the way for the choreographic avant-garde. M. Cunningham believed that any movement can be dance, and the composition of the dance is built according to the laws of chance. The main task of the choreographer is to create momentary choreography, where each performer has his own rhythm and movement. Just like M. Graham and D. Humphrey, M. Cunningham created his own technique and school of dance. A few more names of representatives of the avant-garde of the so-called "post-modern": Paul Taylor, Alvin Nikolais, Trisha Brown, Meri-dith Monk and many others, each of whom has his own vision of the world, his own philosophy and his own approach to movement and performance. nine0003

Thus, by the beginning of the 70s, several main schools of modern dance had developed: the technique of M. Graham, D. Humphrey and X. Limon, the technique of M. Canningham. At the same time, the system of jazz dance developed and improved. Naturally, teachers and choreographers more and more synthesized various techniques and styles of dance in their lessons and performances.

A well-known teacher who created the modern dance technique was Lester Horton. Famous teachers and choreographers later came out of his school - A. Ailey, D. Triit, J. Collins and K. Delavalad. This school laid the foundation for modern jazz dance, the technique of which combines jazz dance and modern dance. nine0003

Jack Cole was the first teacher and choreographer to combine modern and jazz dance techniques in his work. His system, the so-called Hindi Jazz, combined the isolation techniques of "black" dance, the movement of Indian folklore dance and the achievement of "Denishawn". From the early 1940s, with his East Indian Dancers troupe, he performed in New York night restaurants. In addition, Cole gained fame as a choreographer of musicals on Broadway and in Hollywood films. His student Matt Mattocks started out studying classical ballet and tap, so his teaching system uses classical exercise movements along with isolation techniques, the use of various levels and jazz dance steps. nine0003

Luigi (Eugene Louis), who studied with Bronislava Nijinska and Adolf Bolm, was one of the well-known teachers who synthesized the techniques of classical dance and jazz in his methodology.

Another name among the founders of modern jazz dance is Gus Giordano. In 1966, the first textbook written by Giordano and dedicated to the technique of modern jazz dance appeared. Until now, this textbook is the basis in the practice of many teachers around the world.

In the 1960s there was an explosion of interest in modern jazz dance in Western Europe as well. The first seminars for American educators began at 1959, when Walter Nicke, a student of Katherine Dunham, arrived in Germany. He taught here until 1961, when he was replaced by a student, Allan Bernard.

Thus, by the beginning of the 70s, a new phenomenon in dance practice and pedagogy arose - MODERN JAZZ DANCE. This school has won adherents in many countries of the world. It, like no other, allows the most comprehensive education of the dancer's body, which is important in everyday practical work, when the performer has to deal with choreographers of various styles, different directions and systems. nine0003

Origin of jazz dance - online presentation

1. Origin of jazz dance.

Performed by 2nd year students “Choreographic
Art”:
Ksenia Polyushkina, Albina Vasilyeva, Maria Ashisheva
.
*Jazz as an artistic phenomenon is the result of a century of evolution
of the percussion playing of the Negro tribes of Africa. Each
Negro tribe has its own set of dances with
specific rhythms for each specific occasion. Rhythms
change even depending on the season and are clearly differentiated.
It takes more than four
hours to complete many of them.
*Early roots of jazz dance originated in African culture
slaves brought to America. In Africa, the natives danced in honor of the 90,111 cycles of life, puberty, marriage, and death.

The birth of children,
adults and the elderly - everything was embodied in dance, with the goal of
expressing their cultural beliefs. 9 were used in the dance0111 multiple musical instruments - drums, strings
instruments, tam-tams and much more, to the sound of which the dancers moved.

3. Jazz dance is a classification that includes a wide range of dance styles. This dance developed

in parallel with music in the 20s
- 40s of the XX century. The artistic feature of jazz dance is the perfect freedom of movement of the entire body of the dancer and individual parts of the body both horizontally and vertically of the stage space. Jazz dance is
is first of all the embodiment of the dancer's emotions, it is a dance of sensations, and not of form or
ideas, as happens in modern dance.

4. The Development of Jazz Dance

A great influence on the development of jazz dance in
America was the famous "
Minstrel Show", which was popular from
1845 to 1900.

The troupe, consisting of
almost fifty dancers, traveled around
cities of the country, showing performances, in
of which the minstrels were depicted
as "black" in various images - from sick
idiots, to high society dandies.
• Since the 1920s, jazz dance has rapidly developed
as a form of folk and
artistic dance movement,
individuality and improvisation have become decisive in it.

Ragtime is considered to be one of the
founders of jazz. This
is not surprising, since jazz
inherited from ragtime the rhythmic
sharpness that is created by the
mismatch of rhythmically free,
syncopated music. Although the time is
Ragtime's heyday was 1900-1918, and it also came into vogue in
for some time after
World War I as the
salon dance. From the
ragtime, other dances originated, including the
foxtrot.

The 20th century brought with it an explosion in the popularity of everyday dances
that poured from the New to the Old World.

Jazz developed
, and on its basis jazz dances
were born and developed. Music sounded - and people wanted to dance to it
. And here already there are names of more than
familiar: "Shimmy" and "Two-step", "Black Botton" and
"Charleston", "Big Apple" and "Funky Bat" and many, many
others. But, perhaps, the most significant event in
dance history was the appearance of the foxtrot, whose
unconditional progenitors are the keywalk and the
two-step dance, a salon dance that arose in North America in the early
of the twentieth century.

The original foxtrot
had a tempo of approximately 160 beats per minute, and
has been described as "extremely jerky". Now this
the original foxtrot is called
"Rhythm" or "The Blues" or both. This dance was so popular
that for some time even
eclipsed the waltz. Waltz-Boston, barely
appeared, also went out of sight.
However, the foxtrot gave the most significant
impetus to the entire
ballroom dance.

Before him, absolutely all dances
were danced to each count, that is, one
rhythm.

8. What came first: music or dance?

Jazz dance originated not before, but after the appearance of
jazz music. Once upon a time, this music was played in
public canteens, where everyone who wished to
could come and dance, but then
did not have any special name for the dance. Jazz
appeared in Africa as a consequence of the evolution of
playing musical instruments in the tribes.
Each tribe played differently and had
different rhythms. The rhythms also changed depending on the
season. When African slaves were brought into the USA
they began to replace drums with handclaps,
and kicking beats.
The United States of America brought two artistic elements to the world's choreographic evolution
: Isadora Duncan's "free" dance and
African-American jazz dance. The latter was brought by blacks - slaves from Africa, but historically
developed and evolved in the USA.

The artistic feature of jazz dance is the perfect freedom of movement of the entire body of the dancer and individual parts of the body both horizontally and vertically of the stage space. Jazz dance is before
is the embodiment of the dancer's emotions, it is a dance of sensations, not of form or idea, as
is in modern dance. At the same time, another process was going on. Since the main
contingent of the US population consisted of Irish, Scottish and English settlers,
the dances of these national cultures were an important part of art and
everyday life. These dances can be divided into two large groups. The first
belonged to the so-called "country dance", i.e., rural dances that were folklore
character and performed by a group or duet. Irish dances "Jig" and "Clog" were performed by
in special wooden shoes, with which the rhythm was tapped out. The second group of
dances popular at that time included ballroom dancing - the minuet in the 18th century, the cotillon, the
country dance, the quadrille and the gallop in the 19th century.

10. Thomas Dartmouth Rice

At the end of the 18th century,
music shows for white audiences appeared in the large cities of the liberal North, in which white performers,
wearing Negro masks and their costumes, imitated African songs and
dances. Of course, they were not identical to the original, but the
exoticism and grotesqueness of such spectacles was a good
bait for the public. In 1830, at the theater in Louisville, Thomas
Dartmund Rais staged a performance in which
the famous black dancer of the time, William Henry Lane, "Master Juba" took part. This was the first black performer whose name
has been preserved in the history of jazz dance. nine0111

11. Black actors were allowed on stage only after the end of the American Civil War in 1865. However, there were very few black

troupes, and,
, in order to win the
sympathy of white viewers, they had to show themselves
only in a negative-ironic style, therefore, in
, such genres of theatrical art as sketch, vaudeville and
comedy were mainly developed
.

It was in these genres that
jazz dance began to develop as a theatrical dance,
constituting a single whole with singing and music. nine0111 This path of development led in the 20th century to the emergence of
such a typically American genre as the musical.
The only way for a black performer
to get on stage was to participate in
dance competitions, which were hugely popular at that time
. Favorite competitive dances were
Jig and Cakewalk. The first was a solo dance,
the second was a pair dance. Often, the dancers held a glass of water on their heads
, and the white spectators made a bet on which
of the dancers would have more than 9 at the end of the competition0111 amount of water.
Although black performers got access to the
professional stage, there was an opinion
that the "black" dance was a separate
illogical and inept movement. Over time, white
dancers began to understand the charm and complexity of the
dance of this direction.