JAZZ HISTORY What is Jazz Dance A highly

JAZZ HISTORY

What is Jazz Dance? • A highly rhythmic theatrical dance. • Jazz dance has a close unique relationship between the music and the dance. • Its expressive, an internal reaction to rhythm and mood of the music. • Jack Cole, the father of Jazz Dance, calls Jazz Dance; “America’s folk dance”. – Started as a modern dancer, he later incorporated jazz movements to the modern technique of low, grounded steps. He codified jazz dance “By using an ultra smooth transition of weight from foot to foot, a slinky, sensual feel was given by him and his dancers”. Jack Cole.

Jazz Energy Defining characteristic of jazz: The impulse to move called kinetic energy comes from the music. Jazz choreographers amplified the feeling and the mood of the music and the internal rhythms of the dancers. High energy, clean and cool movements.

The Jazz Culture • Western African culture lived in collective society. When Africans were brought to America they found their physical, personal, and social strength became necessary for their survival as slaves. • Africans were restricted from dancing and singing therefore they used reserved means to celebrate by using hands, feet, mouth and bodies. • The owners taught them European- style music and songs to dance and sing yet they never forgot their culture. • What we call jazz today has an African soul but a strong European influence. • Jazz Dance is ever changing and developing with time/culture.

Answer the Following: Quiz Is jazz dance a serious art form? Is jazz dance an American art form? Jazz Dancers get energy from ______. What two cultures fused together to create what we know as Jazz Dance? Who is Jack Cole known as?