Jazz
Jazz Dance
Put on your dancing shoes, do the Jazz and show off your dance moves. Jazz came about near the end of the nineteenth century in the mid western and southern states of the U.S.A. and was at the time mainly seen in the many dance halls and brothels. It had evolved from the free slaves who just a few decades earlier had mixed the European music with African music. The dance evolved from African dances and European dance movements of the day.
Jazz dance is one of the dance styles that have been passed down through generations. From classic to modern, jazz has also evolved much through the years. The jazz dance had experienced several changes and innovations in terms of dance steps and music accompaniments. As a dance style, jazz is classified as a dance that requires creativity and originality on the part of the dancers. Jazz dancers are encouraged to make their own style or innovation of the basic jazz moves. The dancers have their own way of interpreting and executing the steps in jazz dancing.
The jazz dance is known to be a dance style that is full of fun and energy as showed in fancy footwork, quick turns, big leaps, and unique personalized moves of the dancers. Jazz dance also showcases other elements from other dance styles such as the balance and grace that are most emphasized in ballet. The jazz dance is named after the type of the music that was originally used to accompany the classic jazz dances. The jazz dance has also inherited the jazz music’s key elements like individual style, improvisation, and the syncopation. The syncopation spices up both the dance and the music by giving unexpected changes along the way and breaking the monotonic character of the music. The jazz dance greatly depends on the music. Every change in the music means a change in the dance step.
The basic dance steps, moves, and positions used in jazz are almost the same as those used in ballet only with some variations and innovations. The basic moves of the jazz include chaines, pirouettes, piques, jazz turns, and some of the turns that are used in ballet. Other moves include the contraction and the leaps such as turning jumps, tour jetes, and grande jetes. Jazz is more known because of the jazz walk that has several variations of styles and execution.
The use of good dancing techniques enables a jazz dancer to make almost any move that he/she may think of. The jazz dancers are free to dance their own or to have their own interpretation of the music through their unique dance steps. Creativity, individuality, balance, grace and agility to make sharp moves or transitions, and ability to blend with the music—these are all the elements that a good jazz dancer must have.
The Jazz music was very popular during the early 1900s and this was also the time that the Jazz dance started to gain its popularity. The Jazz dance’s origin roots from the African American vernacular dances during the late 1800s. During the 1910s, performers like Joe Frisco have contributed much to the growing popularity of Jazz. The tap dance using the jazz music was very popular during the mid 1950s and it was also known as jazz dance. From then different jazz dance forms were invented and became popular. These are the Black Bottom, Boogie Woogie, Cakewalk, Charleston, Jitterbog, Lindy Hop, and Swing dancing. Katherine Dunham incorporated the Carribean traditional dances into the performing arts. This brought the jazz dance into the Broadway that added to its popularity. Broadway shows especially the Bob Fosse’s works emphasized the jazz moves making the dance very widely popular.
The modern Jazz became a very broad dance style that has several unique forms. This dance is always a part of most musical theater shows, music videos, television shows, and dance competitions. More and more dancers are embracing and enjoying this type of dance. Several dancers, dance insrtructors or teachers, and dance schools are making dancing especially the jazz dancing as their profession. Hundreds of dancers who want to learn jazz enroll in different dance schools from around the world. The Bob Fosse dance school alone has over 2000 students. These schools have special programs for the students to easily learn the basic moves of Jazz dancing. Every student is encouraged to use his/her own creativity to make his/her own modification or interpretation of the basic Jazz moves. Most of the common Jazz moves have the influences of other dance styles such as the ballet, acro, lyrical, contemporary and hip hop dances. These dance styles and jazz dance have several steps in common.
Learning jazz dancing is very easy if you just have the will to learn. You can learn the basic jazz dance moves including ball change, battement, barrel turn, jazz square, jazz walk, and more. Jazz dance schools are also available to give broader and more extensive jazz dance training. These dance schools have special programs that focus on the jazz dancing. A dancer who knows all the jazz moves will have a wider choice of steps to use in every dance. A wide knowledge on jazz steps and techniques is very important since a good jazz dance is the one that does not repeat a single step in the entire duration of the dance.
Every dance program in jazz schools includes warm up activities such as stretching before doing any dance routine. Warming up prepares the muscles of the dancer for more extensive and energetic dance steps such as quick turns, and leaps. After the dance session dancers are also required to have a cool down exercise to avoid problems such as muscle sores. They also require the use of the right dance attire in jazz dancing. Using the right dancing attire enhances the beauty of jazz dancing that’s why it is greatly encouraged in almost all dance schools. Jazz dancers usually wear tight fitting but comfortable clothes to highlight their body lines. They can use the jazz pants, dance pants, or the ballet tights or leotards. Jazz shoes are also important but jazz dancing can be done even using socks only or barefooted.
From the early age of jazz dancing several people became known to have contributed in the development of the dance. These people include Jack Cole who is referred to as the father of jazz techniques. His techniques are commonly used in films, musicals, and videos. Bob Fosse, a theater and movie director and choreographer, was also noted for his inward knees, full-body isolations, and other dance styles. Modern Jazz dancing practices more of the influences of Gus Giordano’s style. Gus Giordano is known as the founder of jazz dancing. Other noted dance choreographers and dance masters who are known for their contributions on jazz dancing include Katherine Dunham, Jerome Robbins, and Eugene Louis Facciunto.
As time goes by the number of jazz dancers and enthusiasts are increasing. This number results to an endless development or modification of the Jazz dance moves and steps.