Factors in the Development of Swing

During the jazz age the Lindy hop might have been one of the most influential dances of that time. According to the article, "the Lindy hop originated in Harlem, New York" (Smith). Like many other dances this required footwork. For example, "Lindy Hop is a social dance." (What is Lindy hop?). This dance could be performed solo or as a group, which was similar to many other dances of that time. The Lindy hop was danced to Swing most of the time, but a person with coordinated footwork could step to any beat. As stated in the novel, "Daisy and Gatsby Danced the Foxtrot" (Fitzgerald 112). This was a dance that was originated around the Jazz age and may have influenced the Lindy hop.

“Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, and excerpt from Moving History/Dancing Cultures: A Dance History Reader, was written by Brenda Dixon Gottschild. Gottschild is a well-known author, dance historian, performer, and choreographer as well as a professor of dance studies at Temple University. She has also written multiple books including The Black Dancer Body, Waltzing in the Dark, and Digging. In her article “Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, Gottschild explores the similarities and differences in the characteristics of Africanist and European technique, and how they draw from each other.

The quotes “For most people, social dancing begins in pleasure,” and “Of course, people sometimes feel pressure to dance in ways that are otherwise associated with pleasure; social dancing can serve many functions in a society,” from Chapter 4 of Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement (Jonas 2003), peaked interest in me when thinking of all the various dance forms that we have talked of in class and even those outside of class. One in particular that has interested me the most is swing dance. With family member involvement in the past and having multiple friends take part in the Swing Dance Club here on the Wayne State University Campus for pleasure, enjoyment and social interaction has made me want to go more in depth about it. With the help from academic sources and knowledge from class lectures I will be researching the history of swing dancing, the forms of swing dancing, and what gender roles take place within these movements.

Dancing skyrocketed during the 1920s. Many styles of dance that were created before the era did not become popular until the

With the new jazz sound that came blazing out of the roaring twenties came one of the greatest jazz musicians, Edward “Duke” Ellington. Duke Ellington played a big role in the fame of the Cotton Club and eventually persuaded the club to repeal its whites-only rule. Ellington had contributed to the jazz sound by creating a new style of performing band which he called the “Big Band” sound. Although he was a jazz musician he had a very different style and technique including the new setup style made him a hit for for his long lasting time at the Cotton Club. His uniqueness struck a chord with the people of Harlem and in our own history. The Cotton Club also featured performers like Cab Calloway, Adelaide Hall, Ethel Waters, and Earl “Snakehips” Tucker. These performers are the reason the Cotton Club had so many top revues and it stayed in business for years after the boom of the roaring

Harker, Brian. “Louis Armstrong, Eccentric Dance, and the Evolution of Jazz on the Eve of Swing.” Journal of the American Musicological Society, University of California Press Journals, 1 Apr. 2008, jams.ucpress.edu/content/61/1/67. Accessed 13 Apr. 2017.

The Harlem Renaissance embraced all types of art forms. Jazz, literature, art, film, and dance were some of the main forms. But jazz, literature, and art is what really kept the African Americans going. At this time jazz was known to be the people’s music. It had originated in New Orleans and soon found its way into the nightclubs in Harlem. For the ones who would go out and experience this lively music they would go out to night clubs. Some of the most popular clubs during

Yet another famous dance that evolved was the “Big Apple”, which originated in a small southern town. A group circle dance, it gave couples the opportunity to show off, or “shine”. It incorporated swing early swing steps and originally required a “caller”. Frankie Manning is accredited to bringing the Big Apple to New York and popularizing the dance with white culture.

“Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, an excerpt from Moving History/Dancing Cultures: A Dance History Reader, was written by Brenda Dixon Gottschild. Gottschild is a well-known author, dance historian, performer, and choreographer as well as a professor of dance studies at Temple University. She has also written multiple books including The Black Dancer Body, Waltzing in the Dark, and Digging. In her article “Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, Gottschild explores the similarities and differences in the characteristics of Africanist and European technique, and how they draw from each other.

One thing that contributed to the popularity of dancing in the 1920s is how universally simple they made the dances. If these dances would have been harder to learn, not as many people would have been doing them. Many people know that, during the “Jazz Age, almost everyone danced so they did a dance almost anyone could do”(Nelson). When Billie Putman was growing up, there were dances every weekend at the big auditorium in the middle of town. Everyone in her small town would show up to dance. She remembered going to the dances with her mom to help her serve refreshments downstairs, while most of the town was upstairs dancing. If dancing was so popular in such a small town in Idaho, it’s unimaginable how influential it must have been in big cities(Nelson).

During the Harlem Renaissance, dance by African Americans was becoming increasingly popular. White Americans would go into Black ballrooms and watch African Americans dance, like in the Savoy Ballroom, despite the belief of segregation. This ballroom was a place for African Americans to express themselves and their dance, and as some mentioned in the video, 'it felt like the African Americans were white walking into their ballroom and whites were blacks'; African Americans were the ones who owned the establishment. One of the dances performed by African Americans was the Lindy Hop. This dance was fast paced and very acrobatic.

Theory Illustrations Swing Kids offers excellent depictions of many persuasion concepts, including fear appeals, source credibility, and foot-in-the-door/door-in-the-face approaches. It also illustrates three familiar persuasion theories: Cognitive Dissonance, Social Judgment, and Elaboration Likelihood (for discussion of these theories, see Gass & Seiter, 1999; Griffin, 1997; Larson, 1995; Woodward & Dentón, 1996). The foUowing is a brief summary of how these three theories are illustrated by the three primary characters. Cognitive Dissonance. Arvid stands firmly against values and beliefs that are inhumane and evil. His behaviors are consistent with his attitudes. He recognizes that even small inconsistencies in behavior can lead to changes in attitudes. He declares, "Anytime you go along with them [the Nazis], you just make it easier for them." Peter begins the movie with anti-Nazi sentiments but becomes confused once he is forced to join the HJ. The more he engages in HJ activities, the more his attitudes change. In a conversation in the middle in the movie, he defends the Nazis and puts down his father, reducing the importance of his previous cognitions. When he comes to his senses near the end of the movie, his monologues suggest that he has decided to stand by principle rather than reduce his cognitive dissonance by rationalizing his behavior. Thomas spends much of the movie rationalizing his behavior and overturning his attitudes and values. He denies volition about

Thomas, Peter, and Arvid were teenage boys growing up in Nazi Germany in 1939. They were considered swing kids. Swing Kids were the “rebels of the German youth in 1930s who refused to join the Hitler Youth” (“Swing Kids”). They liked American Swing music, had long hair and opposed the Nazis. Swing Kids would sneak off to clubs in the night to dance to swing music, which was banned by the National Socialist Party because it was not German as particularly because it was made by African Americans or Jews. As the number of small individual choices that cause a change in behavior are made increase, they slowly add up to cause a larger change in a person behavior. That could be due to the notion that the collective change of all the parts combine to make a new whole.

Just when social dancing was at its height, World War 2 put a stop to its popularity. Lack of attendance, plus the intricate rhythmic patterns of modern jazz music, which were too complex for social dancing, led to the closing of dance halls and ballrooms. With the demise of social dance, the growth of jazz dance as a professional dance form began. During the 1940’s, jazz dance was influenced by ballet and modern dance. By blending the classical technique of ballet with the natural bodily expression of modern dance, jazz developed a sophisticated artistic quality. Unlike early jazz dance, which was performed by talented entertainers without formal training, modern jazz dance was performed by professionals trained in ballet and modern dance.

Swing was the dominant idiom of the 1930s and much of the 1940s. Basically, it was a form of dance music played by a large band, and was the medium through which most white Americans first heard Jazz (Schuller,1989). Although the decade 1935-45 was called the Swing Era, swing arrangements had been played by large bands beginning in the 1920s. Bandleader-arrangers Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and, later, Count Basie, worked out arrangements for their 10 to 12 piece bands, which, unlike traditional jazz bands, were divided into instrumental sections.