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Recommended: History of dance
Historical and Social Origins
Jazz dance came about around the same time as jazz music gained popularity in New Orleans in the early 1900’s. Jazz dance was first used to describe the dances done to new-fangled jazz music. The origin of the jazz dance came from dance originating in Africa, by slaves who were uprooted to America. Over time, jazz dance evolved from a street dance to a theatrical dance performed on stages all around the world. One of the pioneers of jazz dance was Jack Cole; he was called the “Father of Theatrical Jazz Dance”. Jack’s passion for dance originated in modern dance but eventually he ended up on the commercial side of dance, dancing in nightclubs which lead to his love for jazz dance and his choreography of many famous jazz routines. Later in the 1950’s Katherine Dunham, an American dancer and choreographer has been credited as one of the most successful jazz dancers in American and Europe of the 20th century. Katherine used her passion for Caribbean traditional dance and transformed it into a new stream of jazz dance.
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In one Hawaiian legend, Hi’laka danced to sooth her volcano goddess sister Pele. Pele had asked her sisters to dance and sing for her and Hi’laka stepped forward out of all the sisters and danced for Pele. Legend has it that the hula originated from the dance that Hi’laka performed for her sister. (huladancehq.com) As such, Hi’laka is also known as the goddess of hula. Hula dancing has been around since the 19th century and was even recognized by many as a religious ceremony. Hula dancing was also used as a form of prayer to the gods. Hula dancing brought many people together to dance and to worship the gods. Hula has many sub-styles and special chants that went along with the hula and were passed down from generation to
The tradition still takes place today in many areas of Mexico. However, some parts of Mexico do the dance a little differently. The dance is more common in the central regi...
The first appearance of jazz was at the turn of the century in New Orleans and is called “Dixieland Jazz,” or “Classic Jazz.” It developed out of music for street parades in the black community. It also had deeper roots in a style of music called “Blues,” which was used to express the daily experiences of the community (History). Other influences include the combination of West African folk music with the popular classical music of Europe, developing into syncopated rhythms and chord variations on classical pieces (Passion).
Katherine Dunham led a rich and full life not only as a dancer, but as someone who studied the people she loved, wrote extensively, and stood for causes that meant so much to her. Her legacy lives on not only in the great anthropological studies she did or the important political and social stances she took, but in the modern dance of today. Modern dance, or dance in general for that matter, wouldn’t be what it is today without her studies and influence.
Although jazz first appeared in New Orleans in the twentieth century, the music it was derived from has been around for much longer. The roots of jazz can be found in both African and European influences that blend together to create a distinctive musical quality and swing character. It encompasses a wide range of music, including that of ragtime and blues, which are two of the most prominent genres that influenced jazz in its early stages. Although there are many differences between the musical styles and instrumentation of ragtime and blues, there are also some similarities in terms of common origin that helped drive the birth of modern-day jazz.
Katherine Dunham was an important figure in pushing for equality among all races. She became remembered through her unique twist she put on her ballet movements. Instead of pursuing traditional ballet, she choreographed ballets that incorporated African-American movements. Because of this, she has always been referred to as one of the “modern dance pioneers” (Cass 303). Even through struggles, she continued to strive to focus more on the dance traditions of other cultures and slowly help work towards the end of oppression towards particular races.
Since the first emergence of Jazz in the late 19th century, new styles and versions of the genre have been popping up in various locations across the world. Jazz first appeared in New Orleans. This is because New Orleans was one of the only places in the world that allowed the slaves there to play musical instruments, most importantly the drums. People in New Orleans of all social groups attended VooDoo rituals, which was where European horns met African drums. The two sounds joining together was “like lightning meeting thunder”. The locals then put the two styles together and used music they heard in churches or in barrooms for inspiration, thus creating an entirely new style of music; Jazz.
Jazz dance today is presented in many different forms. Jazz history and famous jazz dancers and choreographers have helped influenced what we know today, as jazz dance. It is incorporated in an assortment of styles including, hip hop and Broadway, Jazz dance today has its own movement, while there trendy modern types of jazz, traditional jazz never goes out of style. Over the years, jazz dance has become popular in the media and can be found in music videos, television, movies, and commercials. Jazz dance is always changing with the time periods, and can be found in social dance, musical theater, dance schools, and night clubs.
Just like Gene Kelly, Martha Graham was a sensational dancer and choreographer. She cleared the way for young, aspiring modern dancers, and created techniques that are still used today. She also used to be overweight, but she kept pursing her dream, and became the amazing dancer that people know today. Miss Graham eventually started a company, and became an influential teacher to her students. Even though Martha Graham is amazing, so is Gene Kelly, because he was also perseverant and highly recognized for his
To understand the genesis of Jazz one must also understand the setting of its origin, New Orleans. The city was founded by the French in 1718, then in 1763 the city ceded to Spain and remained under Spanish control until later being returned to the French in 1803, and then was immediately sold to the United States under the Louisiana Purchase. New Orleans was also heavily populated by African slaves making up 30% of the total population of the city at this time; so New Orleans was experiencing a lot of cultural diversity and was being shaped and molded by the many different fashions of people who lived in the city. These different social groups along with their culture also brought with them their deep rooted musical traditions, the fusion and combination of these traditions would give rise to what we know today as modern day Jazz. Jazz is a genre of music that could only have formed in America; it draws from many different cultures and art forms creating a cocktail of traditional European and African music, mixed with a blend of Spanish tinge, with a strong base of blues filtered through the American experience.
Overall, a legendary woman of many traits had known for her many remarkable achievements throughout her life. Changed and impressed the world for over fifty years with her fabulous work choreographed over ninety pieces. Exposed the world to the awareness of different fusions of cultures, mainly African culture though her amazingchoreographies. Revolutionized modern dance by recreating a whole new dance form. Katherine brought innovation to the world of dance. Her love for the art of dance was really shown by her ideals and terrific ways of creating. Katherine Believe that dance was much more dance just movements, one must know that roots of those movements to truly express the
Have you ever wondered where Jazz music originated from, or how it became a well-known genre of music? Well, Jazz music has been around for many decades. The United States derived Jazz music from the African American culture. According to the New Orleans Official Guide, Slaves practiced rituals that were well attended by African Americans and Caucasians. The African American’s music traveled to New Orleans where the spark met the plug.
Hula dancing today is connected with an image of beautiful woman who nearly naked moving her hips to flowing rhythm of nice radio music. Usually with coconuts on their breasts as a top, and grass on her hips as a skirt. There are many schools of hula today on Hawaii as well in many countries in the world. A school where they teach Hula is called Halau. Students can be any age from small children to adults, and they are taught the ancient forms of Hula Auana. Hula Dancers wear fresh flower leis for the enjoyment of the viewer. Traditional Huna dance was a sacred temple dance. It was traditionally performed by younger women and men before they were introduced into adulthood. The traditional Hula dance was not preformed for humans but for Gods. Traditionally Hula is the language in which Kahunas of a certain type would talk to gods.
Ironically, it is nearly impossible to find the pinpoint of where jazz got started. Many early types of music, such as: Blues, Afro-Latin Caribbean rhythms, work songs, Protestant church hymns, Jewish songs, silly contemporary tunes, English and Irish dance music, gospel and spiritual, and ragtime, all went into the creation of jazz. A lot of credit goes to the African Americans for the creation of jazz. (Taborelli, Giorgio). “Jazz was born out of the cultural experience of African Americans and can be traced in a direct line to the slave songs of the plantations through the Negro Spirituals, Ragtime, and the Blues”("Jazz Musicians as
It’s separated into two categories, Hula Kahiko and Hula Auana. Hula Kahiko is the ancient and traditional form of hula, while Hula Auana is the modern version. Hula Kahiko was a dance invented and used by the Hawaiians for the worship of their deities. Only the men were practitioners of hula in ancient times. They crafted instruments with animal skin, wood, and plants for the music such as drums made from shark-hide or gourds, rattles from bamboo, and rocks that clicked together for sound like castanets. The dance drastically changed from the 18 to 1900’s when the Americans gradually took control over the Hawaiian Islands and her people. When the missionaries arrived in Hawaii and began to convert the natives, they called hula as a lustful pagan dance. Soon after that, hula started to fade into obscurity, until the early 1900’s when foreigners from the around the globe started to visit Hawaii and the Hawaiian people traveled off the islands via steamship. A lot of people from different cultures began flooding into the Hawaiian archipelago, so the style of hula began to change. The Hawaiian people began to modify traditional hula with more and more western inspirations, and eventually, Hula Auana was created. The modern version of hula has significant differences from its traditional counterpart, but it was mostly in the
Folk dance is also a popular types of dance. Folk dance is a variety of dances that reflect a certain culture. There are many types of folk dance including aboriginal dance, clogging, irish dance and square dance. Folk dancing started in the 18th century, the steps were then passed through the generations. Many children songs and games today come from folk