Taylor .B T.Burgess 1
Ms. Lobsinger
ADA 10 th April 7 2015

Jazz
History of Jazz
Jazz originated in the close of the nineteenth century in the unpleasant dance halls of the South and Midwest.
World War 1 had ended and a social revolution was underway.
Costumes and values of previous generations were rejected, and life was supposed to be enjoyed. This was the era of the “Lost Generation”.
Only one kind of music suited this generation­ jazz. The music for dancing the foxtrot, shimmy, rag, Charleston, the breakaway, and one not many people know about the collegiate.
Jazz has many birthplaces some of its birthplaces include: New
Orleans, St. Louis, Memphis and Kansas City. Today New Orleans remains an important jazz centre. The ethnic rainbow of people who were attracted to the bars were a major factor in the whole development of jazz.

T. Burgess 2 Jazz Bands
The first jazz bands contained a “rhythm section” consisting of a string bass, drums, and a guitar or banjo. It also contained a “melodic section” with one or two cornet, a trombone, a clarinet, and sometimes even a violin. Years later, jazz was taken over by Orchestras; a “society jazz band” it contained fifteen or more musicians.

True Jazz True jazz is characterized by certain essential features. The first essential feature is to stress the weak beats in the 2nd and 4th bars, in contrast to traditional music which stress the 1st and 3rd beats. The second essential feature is syncopation through extensive repetition of short and strongly rhythmic phrases or as they are also called “riffs”.
The third essential feature of jazz is swing. swing is a regular but subtle pulsation which animates 4/4 time. The swing must be present to make any jazz performance a good jazz performance.

T. Burgess 3

Costumes Jazz costumes are almost always never the same. they usually depend on the dance. If you were doing a dance based on a broadway musical the costume for the dance would usually portray a character or the main idea of the musical. If you were to do a jazz dance to grease you would probably wear a scarf around your neck a pink shirt and black tights or maybe even a poodle skirt and you would either have big hair or a high ponytail.

Styles of Jazz Dance

There are many different styles of jazz. Some of the most commonly known styles are modern jazz and street jazz.

Modern Jazz:
In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance emerged with roots in caribbean tradition, it was called Modern Jazz. It drew demands for studio instructors and created a rival to the classical ballet. Modern jazz dance was are also infused with Broadway musicals. It gained its mainstream popularity with Chicago and