Jazz dance is completely new to me, though I’ve been a longtime jazz music listener. I am very excited and interested to explore this new form of dance and expression. My plan for this blog is to dive into the history and evolution of jazz dance through film. I hope to be able to answer the ultimate question of "what is jazz?" I’ve always loved the classic musicals and old movies, so to dive into the dance and the culture behind each of those beautiful dance scenes will be a fascinating process. From what I’ve read, jazz dance seems to be expressed in a few ways; tap dance, the jitterbug, swing dance, theatrical jazz, and contemporary jazz. Dance is something that is constantly evolving, and I think that jazz dance is one of the most transformative forms of dance today, which is demonstrated by the form’s history. Jazz dance came to be back in the 1900s in the diverse hub of New Orleans, Louisiana. The foundation of jazz dance came from African dance, but over the years has expanded and evolved into a more mainstream and popular dance form. This really came to be during the 1920s through 1950s where the jazz form took on many different identities, as I mentioned above. With the form now into the mainstream, like so many other dance forms, it was essentially “dumbed down” and repackaged and sold to society through films, music, radio and television. Multiple types of jazz dancing became accessible and popular because of the new packaging on the once more traditional African jazz dances. However, during the 1950s, the foreign and international dances and themes, though not where jazz dance originated, became more popular and novelty as shown in the clip of “I Left My Hat in Haiti.” I’m excited to dive into the history of jazz dance through film as I continue to explore what jazz is and where it has come from. Please enjoy the clips of Fred Astaire and Jane Powell dancing and singing in “I Left My Hat in Haiti” from Royal Wedding, 1951 and Mitzi Gaynor performing Cole Porter’s classic song “Anything Goes” complete with a jazz dance number, and “father of jazz” Jack Cole in a clip regarding the ultimate question; what is jazz? Thanks for joining me, BKN
0 Comments
|
|