African American vernacular dance
Encyclopedia
African-American cultural dance
has developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in studios, schools or companies. These dances are usually centered on folk
and social dance
practice, though performance dance often supply complementary aspects to this. Placing great value on improvisation
, These dances are characterized by ongoing change and development. There are a number of notable African American modern dance
companies
using African American cultural dance as an inspiration, amongst these are the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
, Dance Theatre of Harlem
, and Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
, they mostly likely learned to dance together by drawing on the "grammar of culture" shared across much of Western and Central Africa. Something like a regional Chesapeake tradition, a thing entirely novel in European eyes, arose perhaps not long before the eighteenth century had become the nineteenth. Within one or two generations of establishing these creolized African forms, or perhaps simultaneously, elements of European dances were added.
"Competitive individuality and [probably] improvisation" were also Choreographic Elements of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century West African Dance" that were continued in this region.
Based on the limited pictorial record, the typical African practice of bending emphatically at the waist and hips gave way to a more upright, European like style. This may have reflected the African practice of carrying heavy loads on the head, which requires a strong, balancing spine. Black dancing continued strong preferences of other African characteristics such as angularity and asymmetry of body positions, multiple body rhythms or polyrhythms, and a low center of gravity.
Jig
, Clog
, and Break Down Dancing have been attributed to African Americans, although this is disputed.
African-American cultural dance
has developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in studios, schools or companies. Soul Dancing! The Essential African American Cultural Dance Book, author Frank Russel Ross, National Dance Association, 2010. These dances are usually centered on folk
and social dance
practice, though performance dance often supply complementary aspects to this. Placing great value on improvisation
, These dances are characterized by ongoing change and development. There are a number of notable African American modern dance
companies
using African American cultural dance as an inspiration, amongst these are the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
, Dance Theatre of Harlem
, and Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
, they mostly likely learned to dance together by drawing on the "grammar of culture" shared across much of Western and Central Africa.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2009. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 987-0-25207565-0 Something like a regional Chesapeake tradition, a thing entirely novel in European eyes, arose perhaps not long before the eighteenth century had become the nineteenth.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650 Within one or two generations of establishing these creolized African forms, or perhaps simultaneously, elements of European dances were added.
"Competitive individuality and [probably] improvisation" were also Choreographic Elements of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century West African Dance" that were continued in this region.All the Mazes of the Dance. Jurretta Jordan Heckscher. PhD dissertation. 2000.
Based on the limited pictorial record, the typical African practice of bending emphatically at the waist and hips gave way to a more upright, European like style. This may have reflected the African practice of carrying heavy loads on the head, which requires a strong, balancing spine. Black dancing continued strong preferences of other African characteristics such as angularity and asymmetry of body positions, multiple body rhythms or polyrhythms, and a low center of gravity.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 23. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650
Jig
, Clog
, and Break Down Dancing have been attributed to African Americans, although this is disputed.Jig, Clog, and Break Down Dancing. Ed James. 1873.
African-American cultural dance
has developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in studios, schools or companies. Soul Dancing! The Essential African American Cultural Dance Book, author Frank Russel Ross, National Dance Association, 2010. These dances are usually centered on folk
and social dance
practice, though performance dance often supply complementary aspects to this. Placing great value on improvisation
, These dances are characterized by ongoing change and development. There are a number of notable African American modern dance
companies
using African American cultural dance as an inspiration, amongst these are the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
, Dance Theatre of Harlem
, and Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
, they mostly likely learned to dance together by drawing on the "grammar of culture" shared across much of Western and Central Africa.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2009. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 987-0-25207565-0 Something like a regional Chesapeake tradition, a thing entirely novel in European eyes, arose perhaps not long before the eighteenth century had become the nineteenth.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650 Within one or two generations of establishing these creolized African forms, or perhaps simultaneously, elements of European dances were added.
"Competitive individuality and [probably] improvisation" were also Choreographic Elements of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century West African Dance" that were continued in this region.All the Mazes of the Dance. Jurretta Jordan Heckscher. PhD dissertation. 2000.
Based on the limited pictorial record, the typical African practice of bending emphatically at the waist and hips gave way to a more upright, European like style. This may have reflected the African practice of carrying heavy loads on the head, which requires a strong, balancing spine. Black dancing continued strong preferences of other African characteristics such as angularity and asymmetry of body positions, multiple body rhythms or polyrhythms, and a low center of gravity.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 23. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650
Jig
, Clog
, and Break Down Dancing have been attributed to African Americans, although this is disputed.Jig, Clog, and Break Down Dancing. Ed James. 1873.It should be noted, though, that Irish Jig and clogging were both in existence when, in the 1840s in the Five Points area of New York, occupied in part by many Irish, William Henry Lane, aka Masta Juba, combined the shuffle with the Irish jig, a style called a break-down, attracting attention from Charles Dickens who visited Charles Almakck, later called Pete Williams' place, a black American dance hall.
African-American cultural dance
has developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in studios, schools or companies. Soul Dancing! The Essential African American Cultural Dance Book, author Frank Russel Ross, National Dance Association, 2010. These dances are usually centered on folk
and social dance
practice, though performance dance often supply complementary aspects to this. Placing great value on improvisation
, These dances are characterized by ongoing change and development. There are a number of notable African American modern dance
companies
using African American cultural dance as an inspiration, amongst these are the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
, Dance Theatre of Harlem
, and Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
, they mostly likely learned to dance together by drawing on the "grammar of culture" shared across much of Western and Central Africa.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2009. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 987-0-25207565-0 Something like a regional Chesapeake tradition, a thing entirely novel in European eyes, arose perhaps not long before the eighteenth century had become the nineteenth.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650 Within one or two generations of establishing these creolized African forms, or perhaps simultaneously, elements of European dances were added.
"Competitive individuality and [probably] improvisation" were also Choreographic Elements of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century West African Dance" that were continued in this region.All the Mazes of the Dance. Jurretta Jordan Heckscher. PhD dissertation. 2000.
Based on the limited pictorial record, the typical African practice of bending emphatically at the waist and hips gave way to a more upright, European like style. This may have reflected the African practice of carrying heavy loads on the head, which requires a strong, balancing spine. Black dancing continued strong preferences of other African characteristics such as angularity and asymmetry of body positions, multiple body rhythms or polyrhythms, and a low center of gravity.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 23. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650
Jig
, Clog
, and Break Down Dancing have been attributed to African Americans, although this is disputed.Jig, Clog, and Break Down Dancing. Ed James. 1873.It should be noted, though, that Irish Jig and clogging were both in existence when, in the 1840s in the Five Points area of New York, occupied in part by many Irish, William Henry Lane, aka Masta Juba, combined the shuffle with the Irish jig, a style called a break-down, attracting attention from Charles Dickens who visited Charles Almakck, later called Pete Williams' place, a black American dance hall.
African-American cultural dance
has developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in studios, schools or companies. Soul Dancing! The Essential African American Cultural Dance Book, author Frank Russel Ross, National Dance Association, 2010. These dances are usually centered on folk
and social dance
practice, though performance dance often supply complementary aspects to this. Placing great value on improvisation
, These dances are characterized by ongoing change and development. There are a number of notable African American modern dance
companies
using African American cultural dance as an inspiration, amongst these are the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
, Dance Theatre of Harlem
, and Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
, they mostly likely learned to dance together by drawing on the "grammar of culture" shared across much of Western and Central Africa.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2009. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 987-0-25207565-0 Something like a regional Chesapeake tradition, a thing entirely novel in European eyes, arose perhaps not long before the eighteenth century had become the nineteenth.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650 Within one or two generations of establishing these creolized African forms, or perhaps simultaneously, elements of European dances were added.
"Competitive individuality and [probably] improvisation" were also Choreographic Elements of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century West African Dance" that were continued in this region.All the Mazes of the Dance. Jurretta Jordan Heckscher. PhD dissertation. 2000.
Based on the limited pictorial record, the typical African practice of bending emphatically at the waist and hips gave way to a more upright, European like style. This may have reflected the African practice of carrying heavy loads on the head, which requires a strong, balancing spine. Black dancing continued strong preferences of other African characteristics such as angularity and asymmetry of body positions, multiple body rhythms or polyrhythms, and a low center of gravity.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 23. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650
Jig
, Clog
, and Break Down Dancing have been attributed to African Americans, although this is disputed.Jig, Clog, and Break Down Dancing. Ed James. 1873.It should be noted, though, that Irish Jig and clogging were both in existence when, in the 1840s in the Five Points area of New York, occupied in part by many Irish, William Henry Lane, aka Masta Juba, combined the shuffle with the Irish jig, a style called a break-down, attracting attention from Charles Dickens who visited Charles Almakck, later called Pete Williams' place, a black American dance hall.
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
has developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in studios, schools or companies. These dances are usually centered on folk
Folk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
and social dance
Social dance
Social dance is a major category or classification of danceforms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing...
practice, though performance dance often supply complementary aspects to this. Placing great value on improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
, These dances are characterized by ongoing change and development. There are a number of notable African American modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
companies
Dance company
A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a spectacle or entertainment.-Members:*Artistic Director*Choreographers*Dancers*Board of Directors*Education administrator...
using African American cultural dance as an inspiration, amongst these are the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company based in New York, New York. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey...
, Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company and school of the allied arts founded in Harlem, New York City, USA in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook...
, and Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
History
The Greater Chesapeake area embracing Virginia, Maryland, and much of North Carolina was the earliest and perhaps most influential location of the black-while cultural interchange that produced "African American" dance. Captive Africans from numerous societies in several African regions began pouring into the area as slaves from the late seventeenth to the late eighteenth centuries. Given their cultural heterogeneity, including music and danceAfrican dance
African dance refers mainly to the dance of Sub-Saharan Africa, and more appropriately African dances because of the many cultural differences in musical and movement styles...
, they mostly likely learned to dance together by drawing on the "grammar of culture" shared across much of Western and Central Africa. Something like a regional Chesapeake tradition, a thing entirely novel in European eyes, arose perhaps not long before the eighteenth century had become the nineteenth. Within one or two generations of establishing these creolized African forms, or perhaps simultaneously, elements of European dances were added.
"Competitive individuality and [probably] improvisation" were also Choreographic Elements of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century West African Dance" that were continued in this region.
Based on the limited pictorial record, the typical African practice of bending emphatically at the waist and hips gave way to a more upright, European like style. This may have reflected the African practice of carrying heavy loads on the head, which requires a strong, balancing spine. Black dancing continued strong preferences of other African characteristics such as angularity and asymmetry of body positions, multiple body rhythms or polyrhythms, and a low center of gravity.
Jig
Jig
The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
, Clog
Clogging
Clogging is a type of folk dance with roots in traditional European dancing, early African-American dance, and traditional Cherokee dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create audible percussive...
, and Break Down Dancing have been attributed to African Americans, although this is disputed.
African-American cultural dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
has developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in studios, schools or companies. Soul Dancing! The Essential African American Cultural Dance Book, author Frank Russel Ross, National Dance Association, 2010. These dances are usually centered on folk
Folk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
and social dance
Social dance
Social dance is a major category or classification of danceforms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing...
practice, though performance dance often supply complementary aspects to this. Placing great value on improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
, These dances are characterized by ongoing change and development. There are a number of notable African American modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
companies
Dance company
A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a spectacle or entertainment.-Members:*Artistic Director*Choreographers*Dancers*Board of Directors*Education administrator...
using African American cultural dance as an inspiration, amongst these are the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company based in New York, New York. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey...
, Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company and school of the allied arts founded in Harlem, New York City, USA in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook...
, and Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
History
The Greater Chesapeake area embracing Virginia, Maryland, and much of North Carolina was the earliest and perhaps most influential location of the black-while cultural interchange that produced "African American" dance.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2009. page 19. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650 Captive Africans from numerous societies in several African regions began pouring into the area as slaves from the late seventeenth to the late eighteenth centuries. Given their cultural heterogeneity, including music and danceAfrican dance
African dance refers mainly to the dance of Sub-Saharan Africa, and more appropriately African dances because of the many cultural differences in musical and movement styles...
, they mostly likely learned to dance together by drawing on the "grammar of culture" shared across much of Western and Central Africa.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2009. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 987-0-25207565-0 Something like a regional Chesapeake tradition, a thing entirely novel in European eyes, arose perhaps not long before the eighteenth century had become the nineteenth.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650 Within one or two generations of establishing these creolized African forms, or perhaps simultaneously, elements of European dances were added.
"Competitive individuality and [probably] improvisation" were also Choreographic Elements of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century West African Dance" that were continued in this region.All the Mazes of the Dance. Jurretta Jordan Heckscher. PhD dissertation. 2000.
Based on the limited pictorial record, the typical African practice of bending emphatically at the waist and hips gave way to a more upright, European like style. This may have reflected the African practice of carrying heavy loads on the head, which requires a strong, balancing spine. Black dancing continued strong preferences of other African characteristics such as angularity and asymmetry of body positions, multiple body rhythms or polyrhythms, and a low center of gravity.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 23. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650
Jig
Jig
The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
, Clog
Clogging
Clogging is a type of folk dance with roots in traditional European dancing, early African-American dance, and traditional Cherokee dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create audible percussive...
, and Break Down Dancing have been attributed to African Americans, although this is disputed.Jig, Clog, and Break Down Dancing. Ed James. 1873.
African-American cultural dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
has developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in studios, schools or companies. Soul Dancing! The Essential African American Cultural Dance Book, author Frank Russel Ross, National Dance Association, 2010. These dances are usually centered on folk
Folk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
and social dance
Social dance
Social dance is a major category or classification of danceforms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing...
practice, though performance dance often supply complementary aspects to this. Placing great value on improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
, These dances are characterized by ongoing change and development. There are a number of notable African American modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
companies
Dance company
A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a spectacle or entertainment.-Members:*Artistic Director*Choreographers*Dancers*Board of Directors*Education administrator...
using African American cultural dance as an inspiration, amongst these are the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company based in New York, New York. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey...
, Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company and school of the allied arts founded in Harlem, New York City, USA in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook...
, and Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
History
The Greater Chesapeake area embracing Virginia, Maryland, and much of North Carolina was the earliest and perhaps most influential location of the black-while cultural interchange that produced "African American" dance.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2009. page 19. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650 Captive Africans from numerous societies in several African regions began pouring into the area as slaves from the late seventeenth to the late eighteenth centuries. Given their cultural heterogeneity, including music and danceAfrican dance
African dance refers mainly to the dance of Sub-Saharan Africa, and more appropriately African dances because of the many cultural differences in musical and movement styles...
, they mostly likely learned to dance together by drawing on the "grammar of culture" shared across much of Western and Central Africa.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2009. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 987-0-25207565-0 Something like a regional Chesapeake tradition, a thing entirely novel in European eyes, arose perhaps not long before the eighteenth century had become the nineteenth.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650 Within one or two generations of establishing these creolized African forms, or perhaps simultaneously, elements of European dances were added.
"Competitive individuality and [probably] improvisation" were also Choreographic Elements of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century West African Dance" that were continued in this region.All the Mazes of the Dance. Jurretta Jordan Heckscher. PhD dissertation. 2000.
Based on the limited pictorial record, the typical African practice of bending emphatically at the waist and hips gave way to a more upright, European like style. This may have reflected the African practice of carrying heavy loads on the head, which requires a strong, balancing spine. Black dancing continued strong preferences of other African characteristics such as angularity and asymmetry of body positions, multiple body rhythms or polyrhythms, and a low center of gravity.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 23. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650
Jig
Jig
The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
, Clog
Clogging
Clogging is a type of folk dance with roots in traditional European dancing, early African-American dance, and traditional Cherokee dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create audible percussive...
, and Break Down Dancing have been attributed to African Americans, although this is disputed.Jig, Clog, and Break Down Dancing. Ed James. 1873.It should be noted, though, that Irish Jig and clogging were both in existence when, in the 1840s in the Five Points area of New York, occupied in part by many Irish, William Henry Lane, aka Masta Juba, combined the shuffle with the Irish jig, a style called a break-down, attracting attention from Charles Dickens who visited Charles Almakck, later called Pete Williams' place, a black American dance hall.
African-American cultural dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
has developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in studios, schools or companies. Soul Dancing! The Essential African American Cultural Dance Book, author Frank Russel Ross, National Dance Association, 2010. These dances are usually centered on folk
Folk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
and social dance
Social dance
Social dance is a major category or classification of danceforms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing...
practice, though performance dance often supply complementary aspects to this. Placing great value on improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
, These dances are characterized by ongoing change and development. There are a number of notable African American modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
companies
Dance company
A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a spectacle or entertainment.-Members:*Artistic Director*Choreographers*Dancers*Board of Directors*Education administrator...
using African American cultural dance as an inspiration, amongst these are the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company based in New York, New York. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey...
, Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company and school of the allied arts founded in Harlem, New York City, USA in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook...
, and Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
History
The Greater Chesapeake area embracing Virginia, Maryland, and much of North Carolina was the earliest and perhaps most influential location of the black-while cultural interchange that produced "African American" dance.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2009. page 19. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650 Captive Africans from numerous societies in several African regions began pouring into the area as slaves from the late seventeenth to the late eighteenth centuries. Given their cultural heterogeneity, including music and danceAfrican dance
African dance refers mainly to the dance of Sub-Saharan Africa, and more appropriately African dances because of the many cultural differences in musical and movement styles...
, they mostly likely learned to dance together by drawing on the "grammar of culture" shared across much of Western and Central Africa.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2009. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 987-0-25207565-0 Something like a regional Chesapeake tradition, a thing entirely novel in European eyes, arose perhaps not long before the eighteenth century had become the nineteenth.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650 Within one or two generations of establishing these creolized African forms, or perhaps simultaneously, elements of European dances were added.
"Competitive individuality and [probably] improvisation" were also Choreographic Elements of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century West African Dance" that were continued in this region.All the Mazes of the Dance. Jurretta Jordan Heckscher. PhD dissertation. 2000.
Based on the limited pictorial record, the typical African practice of bending emphatically at the waist and hips gave way to a more upright, European like style. This may have reflected the African practice of carrying heavy loads on the head, which requires a strong, balancing spine. Black dancing continued strong preferences of other African characteristics such as angularity and asymmetry of body positions, multiple body rhythms or polyrhythms, and a low center of gravity.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 23. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650
Jig
Jig
The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
, Clog
Clogging
Clogging is a type of folk dance with roots in traditional European dancing, early African-American dance, and traditional Cherokee dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create audible percussive...
, and Break Down Dancing have been attributed to African Americans, although this is disputed.Jig, Clog, and Break Down Dancing. Ed James. 1873.It should be noted, though, that Irish Jig and clogging were both in existence when, in the 1840s in the Five Points area of New York, occupied in part by many Irish, William Henry Lane, aka Masta Juba, combined the shuffle with the Irish jig, a style called a break-down, attracting attention from Charles Dickens who visited Charles Almakck, later called Pete Williams' place, a black American dance hall.
African-American cultural dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
has developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in studios, schools or companies. Soul Dancing! The Essential African American Cultural Dance Book, author Frank Russel Ross, National Dance Association, 2010. These dances are usually centered on folk
Folk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
and social dance
Social dance
Social dance is a major category or classification of danceforms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing...
practice, though performance dance often supply complementary aspects to this. Placing great value on improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
, These dances are characterized by ongoing change and development. There are a number of notable African American modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
companies
Dance company
A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a spectacle or entertainment.-Members:*Artistic Director*Choreographers*Dancers*Board of Directors*Education administrator...
using African American cultural dance as an inspiration, amongst these are the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company based in New York, New York. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey...
, Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company and school of the allied arts founded in Harlem, New York City, USA in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook...
, and Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
History
The Greater Chesapeake area embracing Virginia, Maryland, and much of North Carolina was the earliest and perhaps most influential location of the black-while cultural interchange that produced "African American" dance.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2009. page 19. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650 Captive Africans from numerous societies in several African regions began pouring into the area as slaves from the late seventeenth to the late eighteenth centuries. Given their cultural heterogeneity, including music and danceAfrican dance
African dance refers mainly to the dance of Sub-Saharan Africa, and more appropriately African dances because of the many cultural differences in musical and movement styles...
, they mostly likely learned to dance together by drawing on the "grammar of culture" shared across much of Western and Central Africa.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2009. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 987-0-25207565-0 Something like a regional Chesapeake tradition, a thing entirely novel in European eyes, arose perhaps not long before the eighteenth century had become the nineteenth.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 21. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650 Within one or two generations of establishing these creolized African forms, or perhaps simultaneously, elements of European dances were added.
"Competitive individuality and [probably] improvisation" were also Choreographic Elements of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century West African Dance" that were continued in this region.All the Mazes of the Dance. Jurretta Jordan Heckscher. PhD dissertation. 2000.
Based on the limited pictorial record, the typical African practice of bending emphatically at the waist and hips gave way to a more upright, European like style. This may have reflected the African practice of carrying heavy loads on the head, which requires a strong, balancing spine. Black dancing continued strong preferences of other African characteristics such as angularity and asymmetry of body positions, multiple body rhythms or polyrhythms, and a low center of gravity.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader.Julie Malnig. Edition: illustrated. University of Illinois Press. 2008. page 23. ISBN 0-252-07565-X, 9780252075650
Jig
Jig
The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
, Clog
Clogging
Clogging is a type of folk dance with roots in traditional European dancing, early African-American dance, and traditional Cherokee dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create audible percussive...
, and Break Down Dancing have been attributed to African Americans, although this is disputed.Jig, Clog, and Break Down Dancing. Ed James. 1873.It should be noted, though, that Irish Jig and clogging were both in existence when, in the 1840s in the Five Points area of New York, occupied in part by many Irish, William Henry Lane, aka Masta Juba, combined the shuffle with the Irish jig, a style called a break-down, attracting attention from Charles Dickens who visited Charles Almakck, later called Pete Williams' place, a black American dance hall.