1920s Nationwide Dance Craze
The Charleston
The Roaring 20s, a time of much innovation and invention: the radio, toasters, dish washing machines, and of course sliced bread had been recently created. In 1919 the 18th amendment to the United States Constitution was passed, and prohibition laws were enforced. Prohibition in the United States caused a new culture to take root in big cities. A culture of bootleggers, criminal activity, and powerful gangs. Though the youth of the days may have been involved with this illegal underground activity, many were simply inspired to rebel. And thus the flapper was born. The carefree young lady who wore shortened skirts and bobbed hair. She was confident, likely smoked, and genuinely loved the latest
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Webb, who grew up in Charleston, South Carolina is said to have seen young children of African American descent dancing the wild dance. Certainly the Charleston she presented on the set of Runnin’ Wild was not the same as what she learned from these African American youth. How did African dance styles influence the Charleston? What evidence is there in the Charleston of African rhythms, and movements. It is safe to assume that the Charleston underwent a change that we have seen with many other popular dances. It was changed to be danced in a mainly upright position, and later it was of course adapted to be a partner dance. What did remain of the Charleston’s African heritage was the wild flaping arms, however, with the lack of body movement the arms seem to be disconected from the body. I would suggest that the rhythm of the Charleston, with the offbeat of each note accentuated, is the most African characteristic remaining in the dance. “The rhythm was popularised in mainstream dance music by the 1923 James Johnson song The Charleston, from a popular Broadway show Runnin' Wild. “ The original Charleston: danced with, the collegiate Charleston: , the scarecrow Charleston: , the around the world Charleston: and finally, a precision Charleston …show more content…
Southern black culture. The Charleston choreographed by Lyda Webb featured characteristics of these dances, but the steps danced in Runnin’ Wild were likely thought up by her.
How was the Charleston spread to other cities and towns? How did broadway shows change, what could have been, the natural evolution of the Charleston? It noteworthy that each past generation seems to go through a phase of rebellion, yet when these rebellious youth grow up to be adults and become the parents of the next generation they are appalled by the scandalous rebellious nature of their maturing youth. By this pattern new dance styles, music, fashions and ideas can become popularized very quickly and spread all over the country and even the world.
Flapper girls are probably the most well recognized and remembered of anything in the Roaring 20s. Since we know that black culture greatly influenced many dances of the era it is safe to assume that the Charleston as we know it today, and as it was danced by the flappers in the 1920s, is surely not what it was before popularized by Runnin’ Wild. I do not know whether it is even possible for footage of the original Charleston in Runnin’ Wild to exist, but I believe that the main steps and characteristics of the dance as Lyda Webb taught it were accurately described in newspaper articles and dance manuals of the time. One such article describes the Charleston and some of the steps that
In this Chapter, I explore a contemporary venue for belly dance in America, the Arizona Renaissance Festival. I examine how belly dance functions at the festival and how the festival uses the past as an exotic entity. The Arizona Renaissance Festival creates a fantasy culture for entertainment and reinforces America’s ties to a European heritage. Contemporary representations of belly dance are examined, illustrating how this multifaceted dance simultaneously connects to and denies its Orientalist roots in America. I also examine how images of belly dance from the nineteenth century impact contemporary dance through costume inspiration. Due to the numerous styles of belly dance in America today, I focus on only two different forms of belly dance, American tribal style belly dance or as it referred to ATS and Egyptian cabaret.
By the end of World War I, Black Americans were facing their lowest point in history since slavery. Most of the blacks migrated to the northern states such as New York and Chicago. It was in New York where the “Harlem Renaissance” was born. This movement with jazz was used to rid of the restraints held against African Americans. One of the main reasons that jazz was so popular was that it allowed the performer to create the rhythm. With This in Mind performers realized that there could no...
Alvin Ailey played a large role in the diversification and cultural storytelling that can be seen in modern dance today. With the founding of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, his dance company stands strong as one of the most respected and prosperous dance companies because of its artistic representation of the beauty that is otherwise known as the African culture. His work absolutely changed the atmosphere of modern dance because he was able to provide the modern dance community with a wider variety of content that had otherwise not been popularized before. Not only did he draw his inspiration from the African culture, but he also amalgamated this with his personal experience growing up as a black child during times of segregation.
Musically and culturally, the black community impacted America. Musicians, like Duke Ellington, King Oliver, and Louis Armstrong, spiced up the
The Sambo was a childlike black man who enjoyed song and dance. He was happy with his life on the plantation. Due to his childlike nature, he requires discipline. Ethnic Notions went into detail about the origins of the Sambo. A white comedian, dressed in black face, performed before audiences an exaggerated, crippled man’s Jim Crow dance. The success of the show carried on, and soon groups of men in black face where performing all over the country. Songs, dances, and fictional stories all projected the happy Sambo, lucky to be a slave in paradise on the plantation. It was all a big
Both ragtime and blues originated from African musicians that incorporated the music and dance of Africa with European music and culture. Some aspects of African music that influenced both styles was emphasis on percussion and the use of an overlay of beats and rhythms to create an additive process (Waldo 9). The work songs of slaves as well as hymnals from African churches influenced both styles, as well. Also, the “suspended” tones that characterize jazz music were devised from the influence of black folk singers who tended to slur or break the third and seventh notes of the musical scale (Haskins). In addition, many of the musicians that played either ragtime or blues was influenced by other musicians they heard. Because there was a lack of musicians and a large amount of work available, musicians who played one style of music often chose to perform other styles in order to make some extra money. In this way, all styles influenced each other and there was a blending of popular genres that influenced the way each style was performed. Although blues and ragtime are two very different styles of music, they emerged around the same time and had an influence on each other’s growth in popularity all throughout
Flappers were women who were characterized by their choice of bobbed hair, short skirts, and their enjoyment of jazz music. Flappers usually had bobbed hair styles, usually wore heavy make-up, loose fitted dresses and to be considered the perfect flapper they usually had a pale skin tone. The roaring 20s was a time of change in which the way society had chosen to view women. This was the beginning of the "flapper". A flapper was a woman who was extremely willing at parties with little to nothing as far as regret went. They’d tend to smoke, drink, dance, drive cars, have casual sex and usually couldn't hold onto a man. Flappers usually feigned to do everything the men would do while attending parties. While thinking of flappers, Chicago would have been a very common place to find them.
In the 1920s, a new woman was born. She smoked, drank, danced, and voted. She cut her hair, wore make-up, and went to petting parties. She was giddy and took risks. She was a flapper.
In the 1920's the term flapper referred to a "new breed" of women. They wore short skirts and dresses which were straight and very loose. The arms were left bare and the waistline was dropped to the hips. By 1927 the length of the skirts had rose just below the knee which when they danced would be shown. The chests appeared to look very small and women would tape themselves to look even smaller. Bras were also sold to make them appear very small. Their hairstyles were cut very short and were known as a bob, another popular style that was later introduced was the "Eaton" or "Shingle". These styles had slicked the hair back and covered the ears with curls. Women started wearing "kiss proof" lipstick in shades of red, their eyes were ringed a dark black color, and their skin was powered to look very pale. One of the big things with the flappers were that they smoked cigarettes through long holders and drank alcohol openly in public now. They also started dating freely and danced all night long very provocatively. Jazz music was rising in population and the flappers brought it out even more. Not all women changed into becoming a flapper, yet the little numbers impacted the 1920's in a huge way.
Prohibition in the 1920s America sits for its portrait through an era of wonderful nonsense as stated in the book, This Fabulous Century 1920-1930, describes the Roaring 20s, which was a frivolous, free wheeling decade when ladies. wore flapper gowns and bobbed their hair. Men started to engage in business affairs, such as the Stock Market and many sports events. held like a derbie. Many new dances like the Charleston were invented.
A club known as the Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers possibly began this trend in 1935 when they formed their group of 12 dancers (Swingin’). This group of dancers began, and performed the majority of their lifetime as a group in the Savoy Ballroom. They created the Lindy Hop quite simply, using movements from the Charleston as well as basic tap movements. And because of their dance, they had the opportunity to perform both on Broadway, and even in some movies. First, two partners would dance around together in various ways. Then, the man would complete a series of lifts with the girl, usually ending with them apart. Finally, a section of solo footwork would occur to bring the couple back
African-American culture was spread through several artistic forms and mediums through the decades that the Harlem Renaissance took place in. One of the biggest and arguably the most important forms that Black culture was spread in was the form of music. During this era, music was an indispensable form of artistic expression that conveyed the thought and feeling of the Black people occupying Harlem and the surrounding areas. Music was an important art form at the time as “No aspect of the Harlem Renaissance shaped America and the entire world as much as jazz. Jazz flouted many musical conventions with its syncopated rhythms and improvised instrumental solos.
These forms of music and art had been practiced by some people but had not gotten a large amount of exposure because they were done by African Americans who were not respected as intellectuals or even human beings at this point in time. With the new found freedom, many of the whites, especially in the North, developed a respect for the African culture as a whole.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Enslaved Africans have always brought music, dancing, and singing to the plantation life. It has always been apart of African-American culture to resemble theatre with traditions. Theatre traditions are a great way to be able to express yourself and given the history of African-Americans they always loved the rituals of music, dancing, and singing. It was a great way to be able to keep their mind off dealing with slavery and the lack of rights they were given within America at that time. In 1820 William B...
Dancing skyrocketed during the 1920s. Many styles of dance that were created before the era did not become popular until the 1920s. For example, the Charleston did not swept the world until after the moves appeared in “Running Wild”, a show on Broadway. The Charleston dance was a fast paced dance that went with the song “The Charleston” by James P. Johnson. Many dance clubs banned the Charleston because the dance was unsuitable for the youth to be dancing. Also new dance styles were being created, for example, the Foxtrot. The Foxtrot was one of cherished dances during the era. The Foxtrot is a partner dance and many disapproved of how close the partners were to each other while dancing, often cheek-to-cheek.