Dance Evolution in America

Dances

The dance and jazz music are family - they grew up together and influenced each other and could not exist without each other. EARLY JAZZ WAS DANCE MUSIC. It was not concert music nor was it a solo improvising media.

Early jazz and the various jazz dances were not accepted in polite society and indeed were said to be accompanied by ‘low-lifes,’ criminals, prostitutes and other less than acceptable characters. As the moral levels of society changed, many early standards lowered. With the emergence of better musicians, jazz progressed to an artistic level and was then accepted into the musical scene of first, America, and then the world.

The emergence of the support of the younger generation made this transition from the old dances to the new jazz dances possible. We can also thank the ‘Castles’ for their efforts and indeed by example managed to refine and bring the dance to an acceptable level.

Jazz and the dance, when performed properly, by good artist can and did reach out and continued its artistic progress and development.

The early jazz dances were attempts at self expression.

The Cakewalk - 1899 - Cotton Pickers Rag & Cakewalk - W. J. Braun 

The Quadrille - 1886 - The Black Queen Quadrille - R. Schleperell

The Quadrille was the most popular dance around New Orleans during the birth of jazz. It was a very refined dance and was danced by most of the population of the city - Creole, Black and White dancers). The Quadrille was introduced, via Paris, by Lady Jersey in 1815. The earliest printed description found is in an anonymous booklet entitled Le Maire a Danser, or the Art of Dancing Quadrilles, published in 1820. Quadrilles should be danced by four couples, each couple occupying one side of the square. Quadrilles (sic: a small square) is written in both 6/8 and 2/4 meters, alternating but with no set structure.

The Lancers - 1897 - Woodlawn Lancers - Holst

At once one can see the training that is needed to understand and dance the Quadrille and Lancers, a dance even more complicated. The combination and movements that form the figures of the lancer, are certainly more attractive than those in the plain Quadrille. They are necessarily somewhat more complicated, and require, perhaps, a greater degree of precision in attempting to execute them. They consist of five figures, and can only be danced by four couples in a set.

The Lancers were originally done by mounted horsemen and later brought to the ballroom floor.

The Waltz - 1880 - Comus Waltz - A. Dennis

There is a definition of the Waltz in the Encyclopedia of Dance that states:

"The real origin of the Waltz is rather obscure, but a dance of turns and glides, leaping and stomping appeared in various parts of Europe at the end of the 17^th century and the beginning of the 18^th century. In Italy it was the Volta, France had its Volte, Germany the Weller and Austria had its Landler. These were round dances but at the end of the dance itself there was a short period in which the circle would break up into couples who would whirl madly round and round and finish with a jump in the air. In the Landler the hopping gave way more to a gliding motion and that is why it is considered the forerunner of the Waltz. The Waltz can be traced back as far as 450 years. The Waltz regained its real popularity in the 20^th century. The Waltz blossomed out as the Hesitation Waltz in 1913. Until the development of the hesitation, couples had waltzed in one direction until dizzy and then reversed until ready to drop. The Waltz had degenerated into an endurance contest. The hesitation resulted in the Waltz as it is done today. The slow Waltz was once known as the Boston Waltz. Today the slow Waltz is the American Waltz, English Waltz or just Waltz, and the faster is the Viennese waltz."

Another small article is taken from Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.:

"The Waltz is a turning, gliding dance in ¾ time that overcame initial opposition to revolutionize, and ultimately dominate, social dancing from 1750 to 1900. Its most shocking innovation was the closed hold, in which each couple danced face to face with arms wrapped 'immodestly" around one another, now the accepted ballroom position. A direct outgrowth of the German and Austrian Landler and Deutsche. The Waltz appeared in France after the Revolution (displacing the minuet) and in England in 1812. Its universal adoption marked the first occasion in centuries that mass taste prevailed in dance without the official sanction of either courts or dancing masters. The Waltz required little skill: six evenly accented steps completed a full turn in two bars of music; the turns were repeated endlessly as the couples swiftly circled the dance floor. The brilliant Waltz music of Johann Strauss, Sr., and Josef Lanner inspired the Viennese Waltz, which stressed the first step in the sequence and doubled the prevalent tempo. Today's polite Waltz is virtually identical to the vigorous original."

The Waltz became very popular in Vienna, with large dance halls being opened to accommodate the craze. In London, it caused a great sensation, and Lord Byron, when he first saw it, found his lady friend clasped closely by "A huge-hussar-looking gentleman, turning round and round to a confounded see-saw, up-down sort of turns like two cockchafers spitted on the same bodkin."

The Polka - 1893 - Under the Balcony - J. Zimmerson

The Polka was introduced to society around 1844. It is said that it was created by a Bohemian girl (Anna Slezak) in 1834. The basic step consists of preparatory hop followed by a chasse done first to the left then to the right. It is in duple time.

It is said that it was originally a Czech peasant dance. It was introduced into the ballrooms of Prague around 1835. The name means 'half-step.'

 It is also said that in 1840, Raab, a dancing teacher of Prague, danced the Polka at the Odeon Theater in Paris where it was a tremendous success. Dance masters in Paris took the new dance and refined it for their saloons and ballrooms. These dance academies were swamped with pupils and recruited ballet girls as dancing partners to help them teach the Polka. This attracted many young men who, like young men, were not only interested in the dance but also in the attractive teachers. This may be one reason that dancing developed a bad name.

By the middle of the 19^th century it was introduced in England but didn't reach the popularity it had gotten on the continent. By this time it reached the United States. Both the Waltz and the Polka eventually replaced the contradanse and the cotillion.

The Galop - 1902 - Cresceus Galop - W. E. Strong

The popularity of the Polka led to the introduction of other like dances, including the Galop - a dance coming from Hungary. It was in 2/4 and it was a springy step, also with a glissade and a chasse around the room with occasional turns. The music used many times was a fast Polka. The Galop was particularly popular as the final dance of the evening.

The Schottische - 1903 - Dancing Topsy - R. White

The Schottische is similar to the polka. It is characterized by the clapping of hands after having taken three hopping steps. It is written in 4/4 meter. The dance had a considerable vogue in England during the mid-19^th century. First danced in England around 1848 it was a round dance with music somewhat similar to the Polka, but played slower. We State:

'In the year 1850 there appeared in all parts of Europe the 'Schottische,' a round dance which had, as early as 1844, been executed in Bavaria under the name 'Rheinlaender,' and in the Rhemish countries it was known as the 'Bavarian Polka.' It is German in origin and one can only hypothesize that when asked to play the dance a Polka was used in slower tempo."

The Jazz Dances

The Two-Step - 1813 - At The Devil's Ball - Irving Berlin

The Two-Step appeared around 1890, the earliest arrangement I have is 1893. Its origins are unclear but may include the Polka, Galop and/or Waltz. The dance consists of sliding steps to the side in 2/4 meter. It was one source of the Fox Trot, which became its successor about 1920. It is more or less a double-quick march with a skip in each step done as rapidly as a couple can go forward.

The One-Step - 1918 - At The Jazz Band Ball - Nick LaRocca

The One-Step evolved during the turn of the 20^th century. It reached its popularity in the late teens of the 20^th century. In the early 20^th century we find a tutor book of B. Feldman - "How To dance the One-Step."

The Charleston - 1926 - Charleston Hound - Spencer Williams

The Charleston is a dance that uses a frenzied combination of swinging arms, kicking legs, and turned-on toes and knees in a syncopated 4/4 meter. It was the ballroom sensation of the 1920's. It is thought that it was named about Charleston, S.C. and probably evolved from the black dance steps common in the south, specifically the Jay-Bird and the Juba. It took on a fast, flapping kick in Harlem. It was introduced in "Runnin' Wild," in 1922 in an all-black revue and took the U. S. by storm. Those who avoided the Shimmy as too effeminate danced with greater abandon than the women.

The Grizzly Bear - 1910 - Grizzly Bear Rag - G. Botsford

This is a dance that the woman threw and wrapped herself around her partner in what at that time 1900-1910 was considered very shocking. A simple ragtime dance followed its daring overture.

The Shimmy - 1922 - Shimmy Like My Sister Kate - A. J. Piron

The Shimmy was probably the most controversial dance of the 20's. It was a shaking of the shoulders and the whole body. Two of the vaudeville gals that featured the Shimmy were Gilda Gray and Bee Palmer.

Fox Trot - 1920 - I'm A Jazz Vampire - A. Swanson

The Fox Trot is said to have originated in the summer of 1914 by Vaudevillian Harry Fox) born Arthur Carringford in Pomona, California in 1882). In early 1914, Fox appeared in vaudeville in the New York area. His troupe was hired to provide vaudeville between shows at a theater. As part of the act Fox was performing trotting step to ragtime music and people began to refer to his strutting as "Fox's Trot." It was G. K. Anderson to settle the style of the Fox-Trot. The popularity spread and evolved into a ballroom dance. It was a dance that could be adapted to the slow syncopated 4/4 rhythm of early jazz. The Fox Trot probably was the most significant development in all of ballroom dancing. The combination of quick and slow steps permitted more flexibility and gave much greater dancing pleasure than the One-Step or Two-Step which it replaced. There is more variety in the Fox Trot than in any other dance. Variations of the Fox Trot include the "Peabody," the "Quickstep," and the "Roseland Fox Trot."

The original dance had a tempo of about 160 beats per minute. It rapidly became popular in New York and a year later in London. It was fashionably regarded as a rebellion against 19^th century dancing, as it used parallel feet (rather than the turned out feet of the Victorian dances). Around 1922, the trotting steps were discarded for a less energetic movement called the "Saunter." By 1927 the dance was called the slow Fox Trot and was characterized by smooth gliding movements. Since that time, the dance has been developed into two derived forms internationally: the "Quickstep' and the "slow Fox Trot." The slow Fox Trot is performed to slower music (120 beats per minute), and retains the walks and pivots of its predecessor. It was made popular also by the dance team of Vernon and Irene Castle.

The Tango - 1923 - Round the Hall - P. Biese

The Tango evolved in Buenos 'Aires, Brazil at the end of the 19^th century. It is said that it evolved from the Milonga, a lively, suggestive Argentinean dance, and the Habanera of Cuba. By the 1920's it had become a standard ballroom dance in Europe and the United States. It evolved into a flowing, elegant dance accompanied by somewhat melancholy music with a characteristic tango beat. The Tango caused a sensation in dancing circles and is danced in both the closed position and in various types of extravagant dance relationship which incorporate a particular freedom of expression.

The Tango uses some of the same step patterns as other 'walking' dances, including the Fox Trot and the Quickstep. No other dance but the Tango connects two people more closely and emotionally as well as physically, part of this is the dance position. Partners face the same direction (the women's right, the man's left) and so dance almost cheek to cheek. You also keep your arms around each other for the entire dance. The dance begins in a standard dance position, keeping your upper body straight, then shift your weight onto the balls of your feet. This will push you and your partner together.

Lindy Hop & Jitterbug - 1933 - Harlem Rhythm Dance - Clarence Williams

Ray Bolger, a famous dancer named the dance after Colonel Lindbergh after his flight over the Atlantic. This 'swing' dance had as much 'air time' as possible. However the acrobatic style of exhibitionist was toned down for the regular dancers. There are many varied steps and it is not a dance that stations the partners together, many of the steps being done by holding your partner's hand  extended and doing dance steps apart, swinging in circles, going under the held hands and inventing new step in various hand positions. In the mid 1930's a bouncy six beat was named the Jitterbug, being introduced in 1934 by bandleader Cab Calloway in a tune called the Jitterbug. By the end of 1936 the Lindy and Jitterbug were sweeping the country.

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