My Relationship with Jazz
Jazz dancing has been a part of my life since the fourth grade when I first started my journey as a dancer. I was very familiar with traditional jazz music from a young age growing up in a home which heavily valued older forms of music. That music was upbeat and funky and loud and swinging; elements of expression that are rooted in African and African American culture. So the jazz dancing that accompanied the music was along the same lines. The movements were very high energy and loose, breeding variations on the form like swing, ragtime, and even tap. As a young fourth grader being introduced to the traditional dance form, I was very excited, intrigued, and ready to learn. Albeit, when I started to experiment with it, I wasn't the best :p. However, with practice came improvement and I was eager for more.
It wasn't until much later, in high school, that I even found out about modern jazz dancing. Today, it seems that on shows like Dance Moms and Dancing with the Stars modern jazz dancing is the most popular style. Then in mainstream movies and plays like Chicago "theatrical" jazz dancing is the form that has taken the main stage (pun intended). Since I have such a limited relationship with these variations on the form, the former specifically, modern jazz dance and it's evolution from the jumping and jiving traditional form is what I would like to explore. Like all forms of popular culture, the evolution of things therein has much more political and homogenized roots. So it will be interesting to see where the shift began.
It wasn't until much later, in high school, that I even found out about modern jazz dancing. Today, it seems that on shows like Dance Moms and Dancing with the Stars modern jazz dancing is the most popular style. Then in mainstream movies and plays like Chicago "theatrical" jazz dancing is the form that has taken the main stage (pun intended). Since I have such a limited relationship with these variations on the form, the former specifically, modern jazz dance and it's evolution from the jumping and jiving traditional form is what I would like to explore. Like all forms of popular culture, the evolution of things therein has much more political and homogenized roots. So it will be interesting to see where the shift began.