1. History of Jazz Dance Definition of Jazz Dance
Contemporary dance style
Popular and creative dance movement
Represents popular culture
Most evolving dance form
Often identified with an era
What do you notice about the pictures?

2. Characteristics of Jazz Dance
Constantly evolving form of dance
Represents human movements and interest
Specific to time period (era)
Up beat rhythm

3. Origins of Jazz
Style influenced by the African slaves brought to America
African dance was used to celebrate and interpret the cycles of life and express cultural beliefs
Even their dance underwent cultural influences from the European
In New Orleans, slaves were allowed to practice their traditions through dance
The French and Spanish Catholics believed that by letting the slaves dance and celebrate their culture would make the slaves happier,supervise any attempts for revolts and “voodoo” practice

4. Origins of Jazz
Style influenced by the African slaves brought to America
African dance was used to celebrate and interpret the cycles of life and express cultural beliefs
Even their dance underwent cultural influences from the European

5. The beginnings of Jazz dance
Jazz exists since the 18th century when white entertainers began imitating movements observed from the slaves, some even blackened their faces
First well known entertainers of the time were John Durang and Thomas Rice
John Durang imitated the shuffle, a movement observed from the slave dancers
Thomas Rice imitated a crippled slave names Jim Crow, the dance became known as
the Jim Jump Crow

6. The beginnings of Jazz dance
The Minstrel shows, a dance troupe of up to 50 performers, traveled from one city to another portraying black slaves dancing
From the 1920s, jazz dance began to evolve more consistently
In the 1940s, jazz dance began to appear in films and Broadway musical comedies
Tap dance was often the main form of jazz dance in the 1940s

7. The beginning of Jazz dance
By the1950s a variety of Jazz dance were known such as the Cakewalk, Black Bottom and Charleston of the 20s, Lindy Hop of the 20s & 30s,Jitterbug and Boogie Woogie of the 30s & 40s, and Swing of the 40s & 50s
Cakewalk:
Black Bottom:
Charleston:
Lindy Hop:
Jitterbug:
Boogie Woogie:
Swing:

8. The beginning of Jazz dance
After the 1950s, jazz dance took on a new smoother style on Broadway referred to as Modern Jazz
In addition to keeping traditional styles like tap, Jazz dance continued to take on new influences such as Caribbean traditional dance

9. What does it take to be a better Jazz dancer?
Studying ballet will help to strengthen the body through slower movements and work on correct posture for jumps and turns
Ballet also helps with the execution of strong and sharp movements
The study of ballet allows to adapt to others styles of dance from lyrical to contemporary
The jazz dancer also needs to be creative and original and be able to improvise