Jazz dance evolved in the early 20th century due to the natural accompaniment of jazz. And because jazz has always been very lively in performance, "Jazz" (jazz up) has the meaning of noisy, manic and lively. . The earliest jazz dance was performed by black social dances accompanied by jazz music. It was popular in the rural areas of the southern United States, especially some amateur dancers in New Orleans, who would perform jazz dances at parties or clubs. By 1917, popular dancers at that time were performing according to the meaning of the lyrics. One man named W. Benton Overstreet wrote a song called "The Jazz Dance", and this song The "Jazz Dance" in the song became a permanent synonym for jazz dance, and the name jazz dance was born.
When jazz dance appeared in the form of "dance music" with improvisation and lively jazz accompaniment, those black and white dancers improved and changed the basic steps, and also inspired the latecomers. Innovative inspiration adds swing of the hips, shake of the shoulders and independent movements of other parts of the body.
Since the black people of New Orleans began to play jazz music in 1920, many mixed rock dances have become popular, such as the Charleston dance and the Western dance. (Shimmy), Lindy (Lindy), etc. were all popular for a while. Later, the birth of Boogie-Woogie (Boogie-Woogie) and Jitterbug (Jitterbug) brought about a big change in the form of dance. The dance, which had always been an embrace, changed into a dance in which dancers and partners danced separately.
From the second half of the 1930s to the 1940s, jazz dance evolved into three types of expressions: the first was modern jazz dance with a strong flavor of classical ballet, and the second was influenced by black and Latin dance. Influenced jazz dance, and the last one is a hybrid jazz dance mixed with humorous music and tap. Although jazz dance was so popular at the time, it began to decline in the late 1940s because new jazz music replaced the big jazz bands of the past. Its music rhythm was too complex and difficult to match the dance steps. Coupled with the invention of the phonograph and the heavy taxes levied by the government (the United States) on dance clubs, many once-famous dance clubs closed down one after another.
With the needs of the times, the old-fashioned jazz dance has gradually declined, but it also represents a kind of ceremony that connects the past with the future. Since the United States is a melting pot of nations, new jazz dance is also very fusion. A generation of innovative jazz dancer Rong Yifei combines the jazz dance steps of the older generation with those of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, which were all the rage in the era. The mixture of new dance steps and the rise of mass media have led to the rise of jazz dance.
In the 1860s and 1970s, hip-hop culture experienced underground development in the United States for about ten years. It gradually became well-known and formed a very important non-mainstream culture among young people ( Relative to the mainstream group of adults) hip-hop culture promotes freedom, rebellion, and unrestraint, and even incorporates many negative cultural factors such as sex, violence, money, drugs, and anti-social factors. At that time, the United States was experiencing turmoil and innovation in the overall social culture. stage, the flood of anti-war sentiment, the public's doubts about the U.S. government after the Nixon incident, the emerging feminist movement, the baby boom with a large population surge, the popularity of hippie culture, sexual liberation, the trend of electronic music, the automobile industry and the rapid population growth brought by The rapid expansion of real estate in the early stage and the ensuing economic depression made the entire American society full of impetuous, violent, and rebellious bad emotions. In this social trend, hip-hop culture quickly took over the extremely empty and empty space of the young generation. The restless mentality directly led to the impact of culture on the upper and lower classes of American society, and paved the way for the subsequent flourishing of various cultures.
In American society, the various cultural atmospheres that are common in music, movies, social occasions and other occasions are mainly divided into three categories: some relatively elegant social activities popular among the upper class, such as cocktail parties, golf, opera, concerts, etc.; The middle-class popular parties, folk societies, and Broadway shows; while the lower-class people mainly enjoy various bars, movies, pop music, rock music, and some simple BBQ. During the invasion of hip-hop culture in the 1860s and 1970s, the lower-class people More and more people are being baptized by the rebellious and liberal spirit it promotes. At the same time, folk music, electronic music, rock and other popular music have developed greatly, making more and more young people increasingly dissatisfied with old-fashioned dance methods. , they prefer more performative circles, tumbling, large wave movements, and some detailed control of small areas of the body. Early break dancing became popular, and its own dance system and professional terms slowly emerged.
Under this situation, music publishers and performing arts organizations quickly followed suit and produced and promoted various music works suitable for young people's tastes, especially in 1981 when American media giant Robert Pitt MTV global music television station founded by Mann. The contents played were all popular songs. Due to the sophisticated production of the program and the excellent selection of songs, the number of viewers skyrocketed and soon reached tens of millions. After that, TV stations in Britain, France, Japan, Australia and other countries also began to produce and broadcast similar programs, and finalized the production of MVs, that is, using the best songs with the most exquisite pictures, turning the songs that were originally just auditory art into It is a new art style that combines vision and hearing, and the dance performances are more inclined to street dance, rather than the early classical, modern, and Broadway dances.
Under the impetus of this emerging cultural atmosphere, jazz dance, which had almost disappeared from the civilian class, has been reborn. Based on the deep grasp of the rhythm and melody of music, a large number of linear movements and movements of hip-hop culture have been added. Body movements, while greatly reducing the difficulty, and absorbing a large number of performance choreography essences from traditional dances such as classical, modern, and Broadway. Later, Latin American reggae culture joined in again, and finally formed the MV performance we see now. Mainly, and combined with the popular jazz dance of European and American pop music.
The jazz dance we have seen retains the melody of syncopated music in the past, the throwing of limbs or the characteristics of independent operation, but it is not only performed with jazz music, it can also be combined with pop music , blues music, rock music or disco music to perform. Today's jazz dance is very inclusive and highly malleable, and can absorb the characteristics of the most popular music and dance at any time. Because of this, jazz dance is extremely entertaining and is welcomed and accepted by the public. There are many categories of jazz dance, such as morden jazz, new jazz, jazz funk, etc. Morden jazz is an early Broadway jazz dance that focuses on sexy movements of the body and the coordination of various props. New jazz emphasizes the coordination of music and movements and the alternating fast-paced movements. Jazz funk emphasizes the explosion of power and Control requires relatively high body coordination, muscle control and movement speed. The well-known wacckin (or wacking) is actually not jazz, but an independent dance type. Like vogue, it is used by dancers as an element of jazz dance choreography.
The essence of jazz dance movements is a free and simple expression, which directly expresses inner feelings through the bumps, shakes and twists of the body. Just like when we hear the music we like, we can naturally express our emotions from the heart, and our bodies can’t help but move with the rhythm of the music, such as snapping our fingers, moving our heads and stamping our feet, sometimes with excitement and intensity, and sometimes slowly and gently blending into the music. among.
Jazz dance is a fast and dynamic rhythmic dance. It is an extroverted dance, unlike the introverted dance shown in classical ballet or modern dance.
Jazz dance is mainly a dance that pursues happiness, liveliness and vitality.
Its characteristic is that it can be danced freely. It does not have to be limited to one form and adhere to inherent postures like traditional classical ballet. However, it is different from disco dance, which is a completely self-enjoyed dance. It is in freedom. There is still a modern rhythm. For example, it will cooperate with jazz music to express emotions, and also use or imitate other dance techniques; for example, in footwork and movements, the action positions and principles of ballet, the sensitivity of tap dance techniques, and the body structure of modern dance are applied. Contraction and relaxation, Latin dance steps and hip swings, and Eastern dance upper body moving positions, etc.