The History of the 1920′s Charleston Dance
The Charleston is a dance that became popular in the 1920 ′s, during the era of jazz music, speakeasies and Flappers. The
Charleston was danced to ragtime jazz music in a quick-paced 4/4 time rhythm, the dance quickly become a craze around the world.
It was a physical representation of the uninhibited enthusiasm many of the young people of that generation wanted to express

• The Charleston dance was particularly popular with the Flappers, rebellious young women of the 1920′s known for wearing short dresses, bobbing hair and listening to Jazz music – all considered scandalous. The Charleston dance was also as precursor to a dance that emerged in the 1930 ′s called the Lindy
Hop. Variations of both dances are still popular in the world of dancing today.
• The Charleston dance can be danced solo, with a partner, or in a group.
While there are many variations on the dance, the basic steps involve kicking the legs and swinging the arms. The Charleston is done with large, loose motions in four basic steps. The arms also play a large role in the Charleston and move in the opposite direction to the legs

The flapper stereotype is one of short bobbed or shingled hair, straight loose knee-length dresses with a dropped waistline, silk or rayon stockings with garters, heavy makeup, long beaded necklaces, and smoking. Flappers are also associated with Jazz and 1920's dances like the Charleston. Up until the early 1900's the pace of change in American lifestyles had been relatively slow with most people experiencing a similar lifestyle to what their preceding generations had also followed. The rate of change started to accelerate in the early
1900's as new influences had an effect that reached even the furtherest parts of the country. This had the effect of creating a new country-wide culture in the early twentieth century. TYPICAL FLAPPERS.
You've heard 'em called that, but did you ever really understand what it meant?
This will straighten you out. It's a picture of a flapper, 100 per cent, from head to foot. Thirteen qualifications. Count 'em:
No.1, hat of soft silk or felt;
No.2, bobbed hair;
No.3, flapper curl on forehead;
No.4 flapper collar;
No.5, flapper earrings;
No.6, slip-over sweater;
No.7, flapper beads;
No.8, metallic belt;
No.9, bracelet of strung jet;
No.10, knee-length fringed skirt;
No.11, exposed bare knees;
No.12, rolled hose with fancy garter;
No.13, flat-heeled, little girl sandals.

• After the Swing Era and World War II, American social dancing cooled down in the late 1940s, in a shift from dance bands to concerts in night clubs.
This was due to many factors — musician union fees that made big bands unaffordable, the aesthetics of bebop cool jazz, and a generation of post-war veterans with the new priority of settling down and raising a family.

The 1960s
• Although many influences from the 1950s hastened a demise of popular and theatrical jazz dance, the effects were most noticeable in the 1960s. The teaching of theatrical jazz dance was flourishing, and there were many avenues for performance in Las
Vegas revues, summer stock, and in Broadway shows. But the feeling of the general population the American society- had shifted away from social jazz dance. The people - from