As a Musical Theatre Major, I have had to learn about all kinds of different dance techniques and I have had to perform all of them, including Jazz.
Jazz dance was first incorporated into the dancing world during World War 1 and was developed in New Orleans along the side of Jazz music. Originally, Jazz dancing was a form of tap dancing, simply because the tapping was set to Jazz music, but Jazz dancing eventually began to grow. Jazz dancing was brought to the states from the African Americans on slave ships during the late 1800s. As it is becoming more popular, Jazz is beginning to rival against Ballet, one of the most famous and widely known forms of dance. Jazz followed the Great Migration after World War 1 and found a new home in the city of Chicago, specifically in the South Side. Jazz was performed at nightclubs and cabarets and on the stages of Vaudeville, especially during the Prohibition Era in the 1920s. Jazz began to grow in the city so people began to take classes in the form. As of right now, any neighborhood you go to in Chicago has some sort of Jazz class or club. Aside from New Orleans, Chicago is one of the main capitols of Jazz in the country. Although it began as a form of dance that originated from African Americans, white people soon began to catch on. So now you see a lot of Jazz musicians that are African American, but you really only see white people performing the Jazz dance style. Most costumes worn for Jazz are sparkly and flamboyant and sexy, as Jazz is looked at as a sexy form of dance and music. The dance style is very loose and easygoing, leaving room for mistakes to be okay. Jazz is a very fun and interesting form of dance to watch and perform!
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