The Story Jazz Dance

According to (Mc Coy) family is very important in the African American community. Without a family bond, this community would have struggled to make it through trying times such as the violence and exploitation of racism throughout this country’ history’’

Jazz is a style of music composed of various instruments. Originating in New Orleans, Louisiana it is believed that jazz rose up from the traditional African American style of dance music. As Jazz progressed it became very adaptive including styles from Spanish, blues, folk, and orchestral. “Anthropologist call this process ‘Syncretism’— the blending together of cultural elements that previously existed separately.” (www.nytimes.com) This new style of music would soon start to catch the ears of those in the northern region of the United States. Jazz would make its way up to Chicago, New York, and Charleston branching out throughout the US.

Jazz has always been a part of the American tradition. Some may say they like Jazz for its rhythmic twist and turns. Others may love the soothing melodies from an improved Trumpet solo. All in all, Jazz has been an American staple and has molded today’s popular music, into what it is today. It’s very different from classical music, which is written out and strict. Jazz is much more. It’s made up of spontaneity and improvisation, which makes up an idea on the spot. There are many wide varieties in Jazz. There is Bebop Jazz, Avante Garde Jazz, Acid Jazz, Free Funk Jazz, Soul Jazz, Swing Jazz, and many, many more! These forms of Jazz can be seen and heard in some of your favorite music of Today. It’s been widely used by the world. There is an important reason as to why this genre contributes to the growing of music. We first take a look into the root of all Jazz. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the country of Africa was the first known country to use rhythm primarily for the element of musical expression, and ensembles composed entirely of percussion instruments created extended polyrhythmic works. These polyrhythms, which means the “layering of multiple rhythms.”, were record in Western music. African music did not use paper, or sheet music. Instead, they relied on Aural rituals, learned by ear and also used” spontaneity, which is later said to be known as improvisation”. In Africa, most of the music that was expressed was for religious

Jazz music is a blend of white middle class thoughts and African American traditions. Jazz originated in New Orleans in the beginning of the 1920’s. The Jazz Age was from 1920 through 1929. During the 1920’s, the First World War had just ended in 1918 and the Great Depression was affecting the citizens of the United States. Jazz music and dancing helped people forget about the terrible Great Depression. It gave the citizens a reason to be happy and love life during the 1920’s. The new form of music allowed people to express themselves in new ways. Jazz music was influenced by African American musicians, changed the music industry all over the world, and affected the society.

Jazz emerged towards the beginning of the 20th Century, but didn 't just spring up out of nowhere. Instead, it was a creation that developed from popular music styles of the 1800s that blended and combined them to entertain the nation and social dancers. The two main music styles that jazz consisted of were ragtime and the blues. Both ragtime and the blues had their beginnings in African-American communities. While both of these music styles strongly contributed to the creation of jazz and have a lot of similarities, they do have their differences. These differences lie within their origins, their elements that make up their styles and how these elements influenced jazz, and their artists and composers.

In the book A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman, Veda is in a car crash and suffers a below-the-knee amputation of her right leg. She is a dancer who lives in India and is not going to stop just because of this roadblock. After she gets a new fake leg, Veda goes to a new dance school and doesn’t agree with the teaching approach. Worst of all, Veda’s mom doesn’t like Veda dancing from the start. With the support of her grandmother, Veda conquers challenges and realizes she is a stronger person than she originally thought.

The folk songs and plantation dance music of black Americans have much to say about the early jazz. These types of music came about all the way through the Southern United States at some point in the eighteen hundreds.

Jazz music was originated in Africa. It was brought to America in the 20th century. Also many artist prevailed during this time. Jazz is a form of music that can be personalized. Many performs change or makeup parts right on the spot.

Jazz which had originated in New Orleans has spread very quickly through the country. Jazz during this time was really popular with famous artist Louis Armstrong playing in jazz groups. It made new dances such as the Charleston and Black Bottom. According

During the early 20s to late 30s “Swing” dancing and music quickly became popular across America. The swing era was about dancing, without dancing there would have been no swing era. According to the video “Swing Thing” people thought said Swing was labeled as dangerous music white adults thought that it made you have sex with people. Swing has thrown up some of the most iconic stars of the 20th century. With people like Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, and George Gershwin, this music style developed into one of the catchiest and most popular style of the mid 1900s. Even though that was more than 70 years ago, Swing continues to influence modern music today. The catchy beats, improvisation, and scat are all still a huge part of modern Jazz

I got a lot of information and facts from an article from Issitt Micah. She gathered so much information on the genre Jazz. She explains where it originated and how it became a mighty part of American culture. Jazz started in the late 1800’s and early in the 1900’s and originated by

Through the usage of an exotic dancer in “The Harlem Dancer,” Claude McKay is able to juxtapose the preconceived notions of both the Harlem Renaissance and the Roaring Twenties, identifying them as interlocking entities that have merely been glamourized. Lines 7 through 14 illustrate the ways in which McKay is able to bridge the gap between the Harlem Renaissance and the Roaring Twenties. The poem’s beginning sets the stage of a nightclub. Coming in at line 7 the poem reads: To me she seemed a proudly-swaying palm Grown lovelier for passing through a storm.

When it comes to jazz dance, we very often ask “what is jazz dance?” With jazz dance, it is a complex genre of dances. Each day we evolve as a human, and so does jazz dance as well. If you would look back in time, you would see jazz dance is different than to how it is now. Many struggles through history that had to face that had led to what jazz dance is today.

The poem "The Harlem Dancer" is specifically about a women who dances. This is evident from the first two lines "applauding youth laughed with young prostitutes and watched her perfect, half clothed body sway." Despite the fact that the woman is a dancer the speaker finds beauty in her. He compares her voice to "blended flutes" given her an elegant qualities that seems to contradict the environment she is in. The speaker notices the way in which she carries herself on stage, with grace and calm. Even though she's a dancer she carries her self with pride, and in a way this shines more of her beauty. In line 10 reality finally sets in for the speaker when he acknowledges the "tossed coins in praise". He had been so mesmerized by the woman's elegance

The term "jazz" was first coined during the late 19th and early 20th century in African American communities in the United States, initially as a music genre. Jazz dance, albeit embodying a broad range of dance styles, originated from the vernacular dances of Africans during the Atlantic slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries. The inception of jazz dance is attributed by historians to African Americans in the United States in the early 20th century, originally being danced alongside native African music. The radical jazz dance,