Brief History of Jazz

& Musical Theatre Dance

 Origins of Jazz Dance
• The roots of jazz dance are
found in Africa.
• Found in the rhythms and
movements of African dance
brought to the US by slaves.
• They danced for birth, puberty,
marriage, death, rain, plentiful
harvests, hunting, and historical
events.
• As slaves, Africans were cut off
from families, languages, and
tribal traditions.

Adzido Pan-African Dance Co.

• Slaveowners forbade drumming and African
dancing, yet slaves found ways to express
their cultural identity by stamping, clapping,
and making rhythmic vocal sounds.
• African Americans created new, hybrid
forms of dance that blended elements from
new and old cultures; eventually these
dances evolved into jazz dance.

Characteristics of African Dance

• Bent knees
• Isolation of body parts
• The use of rhythmically complex and syncopated
movement
• Combination of music and dance as a single
expression
 Characteristics of Jazz Dance Today

• Bent knees, low center of

gravity
• Body isolations
• Syncopation
• Pirouettes & high kicks
• Movement emanating
from torso and pelvis
• Percussive movements
• Jazz shoes
1920’s
• After WWI in the 1920’s,
jazz dance and music
became part of the
American social scene.
• Dixieland jazz music was
popular, along with the
Charleston (first use of
isolations in social dance)
• Partnered social dance to
jazz music was the
“popular dance” of the
era.
• Bill Bojangles Robinson
was a master tap dancer of
this era
 1930’s: Swing Era

• The time of Duke

Ellington, Louis
Armstrong, and big bands.
• Well-known dances of this
time were the jitterbug and
the boogie-woogie.
• Ginger Rodgers and Fred
Astaire danced in many
famous movies during this
time.
• Jazz music and jazz dance
were inseparable.
 1940’s: WWII Era
Fred Astaire & Ginger Rodgers
• WWII put a stop to the
popularity of social jazz dance.
• Also, jazz music was evolving
into a style called “bebop,”
which was rhythmically
complicated and hard to dance
to.
• Jazz dance moved from the
dance halls to the stage,
becoming prominent in
Broadway shows and movies.
• Jazz dance became influenced
by ballet and modern dance as it
became more professionalized.
• Jazz choreographers developed
specific techniques to train
dancers for shows.

1944
 Katherine Dunham
• An African-American dancer
who studied towards a doctorate
in anthropology
• Researched Caribbean dance
and brought vocabulary back to
US
• Rekindled an interest in Black
roots of jazz dance
• Had her own dance company
and dance technique;also
choreographed for Broadway Cabin in the Sky

• Her 1939 show Tropics & Le

Jazz Hot was an immediate hit
• Eventually established a school
in East St. Louis
 Mid-century Musicals
• In 1943, Oklahoma marked the
beginning of dance as a major
part of musicals; choreographed
by Agnes DeMille.
• Singin’ in the Rain was
choreographed by Gene Kelly
in 1952, starring Kelly and
Debbie Reynolds. Oklahoma

• West Side Story was

choreographed in 1957 by
Jerome Robbins, also known
for his work in ballet.
• Musical theatre choreographers
blended jazz with other dance
forms to create dances that
worked with a specific story.
 Singin’ In The Rain

Donald O’Connor, Gene Kelly,and

Debbie Reynolds (only 18 at
the time) starred in this 1952
classic movie about the early
days of talking pictures.
Dance (including tap, soft shoe,
ballroom) played a large role in
this movie. The title number
shows Kelly kicking and
splashing in the gutter during a
downpour, brandishing his
umbrella and jumping on a
lampost to express his
exhuberance.
Jack Cole, “Father of Jazz Dance Technique”
• Invented the idiom of
theatrical jazz dance.
• Developed an entirely
personal mode of jazz-
ethnic-ballet that is the
dominant technique for
American show dance.
• Developed an innovative
training technique using
body isolations and
movements borrowed
from Eastern culture.
 The Cole Style
• His highly individual style emphasized isolations, angled
foot placements, quick directional changes, and long knee
slides.
• His mastery of India’s bharata natyam greatly influenced
his style.
• He set authentic Indian dance to contemporary jazz music
and combined the movements with African- American and
other ethnic dance characteristics.
• This was the first formation of a serviceable theatrical jazz
dance style.
• He pursued dance with the
Denishawn Dance Company
led by Ruth St. Denis and Ted
Shawn.
• He also performed with Doris
Humphrey and Charles
Weidman, but left the modern
dance world for commercial
dance career in niteclubs.
• Choreographed for film and
Broadway including the shows
Kismet (1953), Man of La
Mancha (1966), & Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes
• He also served as a movement
coach to Marilyn Monroe and
other actors.
 Luigi

•In the 1960’s, dancer Luigi became famous

•Developed his technique as result of a car
accident which left him paralyzed on right
side. Doctors said he’d never walk again, but
operations, physical therapy, and his own
dance technique brought
him back to health.
•His technique requires extreme muscle
control, and grace; it is influenced by ballet.
•In his youth, he danced in many movies
including “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Annie Get
Your Gun,” and “White Christmas.”
•Known as a master teacher rather than a
choreographer
Bob Fosse
• Performed in vaudeville and
Broadway beginning as a child
• Became famous in the 1970’s
for shows such as Sweet
Charity (1967) and Chicago
(1975).
• Movie All That Jazz (1979) was
about his life in the fast lane
• First director to win an Oscar,
Tony, and Emmy in one year
(1973).
• His style has been called “slick,
and intense.”
 Jazz Dance & Music
• Most jazz choreographers today
work with current popular music,
not jazz music; jazz dance has
mostly separated from its original
source
• However, there are a few jazz
choreographers who believe that Danny Buraczeski

jazz dance should be done to jazz

music
• Danny Buraczeski says “Jazz is
such rich music. I don’t use it as
atmosphere or background. The
music is the subject matter.”
 More About Music
• Billy Siegenfeld says that jazz
dance must have “swing,” which is
a syncopated rhythm (accents on
the offbeat)
• He says “jazz dance must be
judged for its “jazzness” by the
same criterion applied to jazz
music…It’s the rhythm…not the
melody, and not the harmony.”
• “As a proponent of swinging jazz
dance…I feel that this yoking of
rock music and jazz movement
constitutes a paradox. I am
interested in challenging this
practice.”
• His company is the Jump Rhythm
Billy Siegenfeld Jazz Project
Mia Michaels
• Has her own company, Reality
at Work (R.A.W.), and
choreographs musicals
• Has toured Korea, Europe, and
US
• Unisex style which sometimes
requires women to lift men
• Uses huge dynamic range, ear-
high extensions, and balletic leg
beats.
• Is a judge and choreographer
for the reality television show
So You Think You Can Dance
 Twyla Tharp
• Choreographer/director of Movin’
Out, (opened in 2002) on Broadway,
with music by Billy Joel; about a
group of friends as they move
through the decades
• Named “Best Show of the Year” by
Time Magazine
• Tharp also has her own modern
dance company, and has
choreographed for ballet companies
• She has choreographed films
including White Nights with
Barishnikov and Gregory Hines, and
Amadeus
• She has been awarded 17 honorary
doctorates
 Susan Stroman
• Directed & choreographed
Mel Brooks’ The
Producers, winner of the
Contact
2001 “Best Musical” Tony
Award
• Created Contact (1999), a
Broadway musical based
on three stories told in
dance; she says, “Every
step I do is plot-oriented.”
• Has also choreographed
for the Martha Graham
Dance Co. and the New
York City Ballet
The Producers
 Savion Glover
In 1996, at the age of 22,
Glover created (with
George Wolfe) Bring in
Da’ Noise, Bring in Da’
Funk. This show traced
the history of Black
Americans including
slavery, chain gangs, and
street life, but didn’t have
a plot or characters.
Dancing was the primary
focus of the show.
 Jazz & Musical Theatre Dance Today
• Musical Theatre Dance today is
still strongly based on jazz
dance, although other
influences are also apparent
• There are many varieties of jazz
dance today, including African,
lyrical, modern, and rock
• Jazz dance has responded over
the decades to the needs and
desires of those doing it, from
social dance to professional
performance
• Related trends like break
dancing and hip hop have also
influenced jazz dance
• Jazz dance remains strongly
linked to the popular music of
our time
 References for Images
http://www.adzido-pan-african-dance.co.uk/images/sepdanc.jpg
www.miracosta.cc.ca.us/Dance/jazz.gif
http://www.lindyhopping.com/pics/charleston.jpg
www.swingdanceuk.com/Simon.htm
http://membersaol.com/movieboy3/bin402.jpg
http://members.aol.com/mgmfanatic/stlouis1.jpg
www.rnh.com/news/spring2002/graphics/oklahoma.gif
Hometown.aol.com/starwarse/fan/images/honesty-image(1).jpg
www.theatredance.com/choreographers/jcole.gif
www.100megstree4.com/csministries/moviepics/gentlemen.jpg
www.encoremusic.com/piano/1700516.htm
www.streetswing.com/histmain/gif/1lndyhp2.gif
http://www.lcqworks.com/movies/pictures/singing%20in%20th
e%20rain.html
www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/behind/images/4a.gif
http://www.luigijazz.com/images/testil.gif
http://www.uttyler.edu/cowan/season/gifs/fosse.jpg
www.imagination.com/moonstruck/chicago.gif
Web2.htrigg.smu.edu/…/Fall97/DC.09-10-97/jazz.gif
 References cont.’

• www.talentcastmodels.com/images/mia_dance.jpg
• http://www.dancespirit.com/images/backissues/ang01/ontap.jpg
• http://www.arborweb.com/images/twylatharp.jpg
• www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/moving_out.jpg
• http://citypaper.net/articles/012402pcis/th.contact.jpg
• http://www.jorgeplace.com/SusanStroman_producers2.jpg
• http://www.dance-centre.com/images/opening
• http://www.richardavedon.com/editorial2004 (Glover)
• Reynolds, Nancy & McCormick, Malcolm. No Fixed Points. New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2003.
• Stearns, Jean and Marshall. Jazz Dance. New York: Schirmer Books, 1964.
• Ambrosio, Nora. Learning About Dance. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt
Publishing Co., 2003.
• Sigenfeld, Billy. “If Jazz Dance, Then Jazz Music!” in Dance Teacher Now,
October, 1990, pp 50-54.