Sunday, June 12, 2011

Information on Modern Jazz Dance

By Sandy Fe


Jazz is not just music, but is also a dance routine. Its popularity stems in many places -- television shows, live performance, movies, and even in commercials. In truth, there is no fixed style in jazz dancing. The moves are based on the person's interpretation of the music. It is mostly punctuated with highly energetic moves, swings, and leaps that can easily catch and enthrall the audience in rapt attention -- moves similar to that of a ballet dancer but with more energetic movements.

History Of Jazz Dancing

It all began in the year 1950 with the famous jazz music at the time. The form of dance originated in the 18th to 19th century by African Americans when they performed local dances during the arrival of African prisoners in their country.

The first jazz dance steps were definitely taken from tap dancing. However, during the 1950's, the classical dance movements of jazz changed to accommodate the various dance forms such as the Swing, Cakewalk, Boogie and other renowned dance moves during the mid 19th century.

It then later emerged entering the 20th century when dance artists included it in the theatre business. The classic dance changed to accommodate Broadway performances and was then renamed to modern jazz that was incorporated to dance events and musical plays.

What to Wear?

Modern jazz dance requires the right footwear to execute complicated footwork with ease. Considering that the dance involves a lot of swings, leaps, and pirouettes common in Ballet routines; the shoes have to be light and sturdy. Jazz shoes are often made from high-quality leather with flat soles for smooth turns and leaps. The soles are also made flat without any protrusions to incorporate the sliding maneuver that many jazz dancers tend to perform on stage. You can imagine this as a leather made ballet shoes if you like.

Learning the Technique

Jazz dance is a combination of diverse styles of dancing, mostly ballet. Strength in your lower body is essential to perform this type of dance. If you notice from watching, Jazz dance movements have a lot of influences from different popular styles such as ballet and hip-hop.

Jazz dance lessons usually begin with basic ballet movements that are aimed to enhance the person's ability to control and stabilize the body. Dancers are also taught spotting, which is the ability to make complicated turns without losing balance.

Although lessons are given, there are no definite or structured dance movements in Jazz. They are encouraged to use their own creative side as well as their interpretative ideas to create steps. Although, choreographers of Jazz always make their students go through difficult practices to enhance the dancer's leg power as well as body stability.




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