Brief History of Jazz & Musical Theatre Dance By Wendy Oliver Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Co.
Legends Jazz Dance · 2018-05-29 · History of Jazz Dance By Susan Gehringer ©, Rev 3/24/2017...
Transcript of Legends Jazz Dance · 2018-05-29 · History of Jazz Dance By Susan Gehringer ©, Rev 3/24/2017...
History of Jazz Dance By Susan Gehringer ©, Rev 3/24/2017
Jazz dance is an umbrella term that can refer to several related dance styles. All of them
are connected via common roots namely; immigrant traditional dance, jazz music, tap,
ballet and African-American rhythms and dance. As we look at the dance landscape today
it is exciting to recognize that jazz dance in its many manifestations is a truly American
dance form that is deeply ingrained and ever-present in our culture.
Short History: Quick snapshot
Jazz dance is generally accepted to have originated
from a combination of the African-American vernacular
dance and immigrant folk dance of the late 1800s.
Some people are loyal to the authentic jazz of the
“Jazz Era” started in New Orleans in the 1900-1930s
(pictured left) when dance and music were inseparable
entities that stood firmly in West African roots.
Meaning jazz dance could not be done without jazz
music. Other people identify jazz dance as a theatrical
style heavily reliant on ballet-based movement and
suited for Broadway and concert dance stages. This style came through the tap and
vaudeville influences of the 1800s. The term "Jazz" was first applied to a style of music
and dance during World War I, specifically out of the jazz south.
Long History: Evolution of American Vernacular Dance
Tracing the beginnings of many of our dance forms we use the term “vernacular dance”
(meaning of, relating to, or characteristic of a period, place, or group). An abbreviated
understanding of the term would be to call it social dance or cultural dance. It relates back
when music and dance were functional aspects of everyday life; celebrating joy, sorrow or
specific passages of time. So using that term we are tracing the beginnings of dance that
made an impact on American culture.
All dance forms are interrelated. Jazz in its dance form, originates from both the immigrant
cultures, specifically Irish, British and the African cultures during the early 17th century.
One academic observation was that slaves were exposed to the national dances of British
culture like the jig, reel, hornpipe and others, during their voyage from Africa to the West
Indies. The Captains would force the slaves to dance on the ships to keep them healthy,
being that dance was active and it was known to the sailors. These European dances
would blend with the native religious dances of their African cultures. Most of the ships
would stop in the West Indies to give the slaves a chance to regain their health before
heading to American slave auctions. There they would be exposed to European social
dances and native West Indies dances which
created a bigger melting pot of the origins of
American vernacular dance.
Opportunities to share these new found dances,
loosely called performances, started early as small
slave or immigrant gatherings that allowed people
to share. These were still mainly improvisation
dances, with a heavy storytelling quality. Slowly
opportunities to perform for others started in the
form of traveling “Medicine shows” or “Gilly Shows”
(pictured above) which started in the 1700s and expanded into tent shows, or “Jig Tops” of
the early 1800s. Medicine shows combined various forms of popular entertainment with
sales pitches from a fake doctor selling an astounding cure-all medicine or device.
A popular performer in Vaudeville; Dewey “Pigmeat” Markham (1904-1981) explained
show business and the increasing importance of
various performance venues in this way;
“Kindergarten would be a Medicine show,
elementary would be a Gilly Show. You’d work
through high school in Carnivals, Circuses then
Minstrel Shows. College was Vaudeville and
then you graduated to Broadway”. (Pictured left,
seated in the center) Not very many dancers
made it all the way to Broadway. Most never
made it out of the tent shows. This was a
descriptive way to understand all the different
early performance options for dance.
Irish jigs and clogs started appearing on stage by 1840. All sorts of social dance started to
creep into the performances at that time but were still heavily influenced by the African-
American culture. It was not until after the Civil War that audiences started to see more
blending of styles and a more integrated cast and audiences. And segregation still
remained to some extent until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Burlesque, Vaudeville and Broadway
Soon the country was scattered with talented dancers using all kinds of movement. The
venues were starting to gather into circuits for control of the better performers and the
more successful locations. This also encouraged the growth of agents to help control the
talent. The largest: T.O.B.A.; Theater Owners Booking
Association or “Toby” for short started in 1920. TOBY booked for
hundreds of theaters in the U.S. The performers had to get in with
the booking agents to work. The shows provided the music. It
came in many forms for the early performers. It was not until
around 1910 you started to have recognizable songs as
danceable songs. This allowed, in some part for dance to make
its way to Broadway.
The European social dances, ball room and smooth dancing,
were still dominating Broadway. The strictly vernacular dance
styles of the African-American performers was considered too
rough for the Broadway audiences. But acrobatic dance and
Russian dancing were being slowly added to the choices. Soon
ballroom style partners started to make their way from the vaudeville to Broadway.
Specifically around 1910 came Vernon & Irene Castle (pictured left); a famous dance duo
that dominated Broadway early in the twentieth century. They started to set a dance
standard that utilized songs of the day and styles beyond the European social dancing.
The so called “animal dances”; Turkey Trot, Buzzard Lope,
Grizzly Bear (pictured right), Bunny Hug, Fishtail, Foxtrot,
among others used many patterns of the African movement.
The Castles’ took some of the exciting dances of African roots
and smoothed them out making them more dignified for
Broadway audiences. Jazz dance transformed from this
African based vernacular form into a theatre-based
performance form of dance that required a highly trained
dancer. This blending with multiple sources and influences
allowed the development of jazz dance throughout the first
half of the twentieth century.
Broadway Revolution
Broadway really pushed the need to use dance directors, or choreographers as they are
now known. Up until that time most performers worked up their own dances. Some found
the use of dance directors’ extremely limiting or irritatingly unknowledgeable. But the push
for big shows and larger choruses needed these people to help get the shows ready.
Early twentieth century saw variety shows and
spectacles hit Broadway. Ziegfeld Follies
(pictured right) and the like utilized dancers in
increasing numbers. Early on they were little
more than slightly moving lines, very
unimpressive. These dance directors would
pull from acts they had seen or their own dance
styles to try to make the shows work. As they
incorporated different dance acts into the whole,
you started to see style categories: eccentric,
buck & wing, flash & grin, legomania, just to name a few. Large precision dance
presentations were becoming common forms of dance too. These groups were much like
The Radio City Music Hall Rockettes of today. The Dyerettes, (pictured left) the
Roxyettes, the Cotton Club Chorus Line and the Whitman
Sisters were only a few of these large precision dance groups
that cropped up during the 1920s. (The Whitman Sisters were
at one time the highest paid act in the Vaudeville circuit).
The 1920s – 1930s Broadway had a marked increase in the
African-American musicals. Most notably Shuffle Along
(1921). It was generally accepted that the African-influenced
dancing was more exciting, spectacular and the dancers more
energetic than the safe, traditional chorus dancers of the era.
This was a star packed musical (Eubie Black, Josephine
Baker among others) that was a smash hit! The show's
energetic dancing and catchy jazz score drew enthusiastic
and famous audience members. The show was credited with helping to unite the white
Broadway and black jazz communities. It was a landmark musical for two reasons. It was
not only the first all-black musical to open on Broadway but would become the gold
standard of excellence by which all other musicals were compared. Recently the show
would see another generation. The revival, of sorts, was called: Shuffle Along, or, the
Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed. It used much of the
original score and script. Based on the original book
of the 1921 musical Shuffle Along, the story focuses
on the challenges of mounting the original
production of Shuffle Along and its effect
on Broadway and race relations.
The 1920s-30s saw fast changes. Nine black
musicals followed Shuffle Along but none compared
to the original. Even Bill “Bojangles” Robinson’s hit
Blackbirds of 1928 couldn’t sustain. The decade
also gave audiences a choice. Radio and “talkies”
were making their way into Middle America. By
the early 1930s vernacular dance, jazz and tap
were fading from Broadway shows. Tap, jazz and
vernacular dance could no longer carry a musical.
The advent of the “dream ballet” in shows, started
by the 1936 On Your Toes choreographed by
George Balanchine and Oklahoma!
choreographed by Agnes de Mille (pictured left) in
1943 pretty well closed the chapter for a while on
the strictly American dance form of tap and jazz.
This era of dream ballets is credited, or blamed
depending on your viewpoint, for the demise of tap and vernacular jazz dance on
Broadway for the next 40 years.
Development of Jazz Technique
During the mid-twentieth century, several prominent figures in
dance made their mark and technical stamp of style on
movement that still remains today. Syncopated rhythm is a
common characteristic in jazz music that was adapted to jazz
dance in the early twentieth century and has remained a
significant characteristic. One important dance trail blazer
was Katherine Dunham (pictured right). Katherine was a
pioneer in taking the traditional style and essence of
Caribbean folk dance, including the isolated torso, and bring it
into a dance performance art. Dunham was the trail blazer to
research and document the beginnings of the Afro-Caribbean
movement. When she applied for a fellowship to try to find the
roots of this style of dancing she was thwarted by the men
who didn’t understand there was a difference between ballet
and this other type of dance. She demonstrated a bit of ballet movement and then a tribal
war dance to show the difference. She commented; “I want to go where they dance like
that. I want to find out why, how it started and what influence it had on the people. I want
to learn something that will help me teach people”. She would go on to bring this style of
dance back to America and develop what would be called the Dunham Technique. The
Dunham Technique blends polyrhythmic Afro-Caribbean movement, modern and ballet
with a focus on strengthening the core and creating a versatile torso. Isolations of the
head, shoulders, torso and hips occur frequently as do back undulations and contractions.
It would become integrated with other new jazz forms for the newly emerging genre.
George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, Jack Cole (pictured
left), Peter Gennaro, Michael Kidd, Jerome Robbins and
of course Bob Fosse (pictured below) also heavily
influenced the standardization of the jazz technique. More
common characteristics from these pioneers emerged as
trademarks of jazz in addition to the primary syncopated
rhythm is: grounded swing quality, articulated torso,
syncopation, isolations, energy, force, rhythm and the
aesthetics of cool.
Paralleling the development of the performance side of the movement were the teachers
that helped develop the jazz dance art form. Matt Maddox, Luigi, Eugene Loring and Gus
Giordano were pivotal to the development of technique.
Giordano was the creator of the Jazz Dance World
Congress and the author of Anthology of American Jazz
Dance, the first text book on jazz dance. His Chicago
based dance studio would be the annual destination for
all serious jazz dance performers, educators,
choreographers. It continues to this day as the longest
established jazz dance education center in the world.
Jazz Today
Jazz dance is many things to many people. It looks different with a modern technique base
as opposed to a ballet or tap base. But today the term jazz dance is somewhat of an
enigma. It’s a classic American dance style, yet it has become something more varied. It
reflects other influences such as Latin jazz, street jazz and Afro-jazz. Some see jazz as a
commercial or contemporary form of dance that reflects popular culture or television
categories and online content. The term “Classic Jazz” is starting to take root pushed by
dance educators and choreographers who wish to preserve the base of the art. But no one
can dispute that Jazz Dance is a uniquely American art form.
Sources:
• Giordano, Gus; Anthology of American Jazz dance, Orion Publishing House, 1975 pp. 86-87, 109
• Mrozowski, Cheryl, Jazz Dance; A History of the Roots and Branches; edited by Lindsay Guarino and Wendy Oliver 2014, pp 93, 109, 127-128, 157.
• Stearns, Marshall & Jean; Jazz Dance, the story of American Vernacular Dance, 1968
• Boross, Bob; Comments on Jazz Dance 1996-2014,
• http://www.ndeo.org/content, advancing dance education
• http://dancelessons.net/dancehistory/HistoryofJazzDance.html
• Latimer, Chelsea, History of Jazz dance, May 22, 2014, Udem
• Dominy, Jeannine, Katherine Dunham; Dancer and choreographer 1992
• McNamara, Maggie, The Jazz Breakdown, DanceSpirit Magazine, April 1, 2014
• Images: NoLa History, Alamy Stock Photos, Jered Marin, Dance Heritage Coalition, Getty Images,
Name_____________________________________________ Per_______________
Legends in Dance History of Jazz
Dance Standard: Understanding the historical contributions and cultural dimensions of dance. Study dancers from various cultures and historical periods. (3.3, 3.4) Common Core: CCRST #1; Cite specific textual evidence to support text, attending to the precise details of the descriptions.
Highlight (do not underline) the answers in the attached text to support the response. Circle words in the text you are unfamiliar:
1. What is the “jazz era”? What two components make up this combination? What are
the years noted?
2. In your own words, what is vernacular dance? What could be an example of a
vernacular dance in life today? (Think of a social construct where a dance is
expected.)
3. Why would Africans be exposed to British social dancing? Where were the two
places they might have learned it?
4. Which is the more important show: A Gilly Show or Minstrel Show?
5. What did “Pigmeat” Markham compare to “college” in the performing venues?
6. Why were the T.O.B.Y. agents so powerful?
7. Why was there not many opportunities for the strictly African influenced dance to
appear on Broadway in the early 1900s?
8. Name two of what was called the “animal dances”?
9. Why were choreographers, or dance directors becoming a necessity for shows?
10. Why was Shuffle Along (1921) so important to Broadway?
11. How did the “Dream ballets” become important for jazz style dancing on Broadway?
12. Why was Katherine Dunham important to the jazz movement?
13. Name four (4) common characteristics that emerged from the jazz pioneers. There
are over 10 mentioned.
14. What social influences does jazz dance today reflect?
15. List three words that are unfamiliar to you from this text. Be sure you have circled
all the words that might not be familiar to you.