History of American Jazz Flashcards
Where did the origins of jazz dance come from?
1600s Transatlantic Slave Trade - Africans were sent to America and Europe on boats and became slaves for white plantation owners.
- With this they brought their own tribal traditions and their native music and dance.
What were the tribal native dance based on?
> complex rhythms
earthy weighted and grounded actions
hand clapping and foot stomping
pulsating body movements
What was the 1740 Slave Act?
Prohibited African Dance and Music being performed as the Protestant Church in America regarded it as morally wrong to allow such aa fervent means of expression
How did African slaves keep their tribal traditions alive?
> would perform these dances
would combine with varied white European influences of folk dances which grew into the first stylisations of Jazz Dance that were seen performed on plantations
What did slaves do after the 1740 Slave act?
> many performers migrated from America to Europe where these limitations were not in place and performances were popular and more accepting
this steadily grew in African Dance and Music making its way into popular culture and entertainment through ‘minstrel shows’ performed by white performers.
