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A Glimpse At Two Dances of the Jazz Era

A Cakewalk is a traditional African American form of music and dance which originated among slaves in the US South. A cake or slices of cake were offered as prizes for the best dancers, giving the dance its name (the phrases "takes the cake" and "piece of cake" also come from this practice.)

The dance was invented as a satirical parody of the formal European dances preferred by white slave owners, and featured exaggerated imitations of the dance ritual, combined with traditional African dance steps. One common form of cakewalk dance involved couples (one male and one female, with their arms linked at the elbows) lined up in a circle, dancing forward alternating a series of short hopping steps with a series of very high kicking steps.

Following the American Civil War, the tradition continued amongst African Americans in the South, and gradually moved northward. The dance became nationally popular among whites and blacks for a time at the end of the 19th century. The syncopated music of the cakewalk became a nationally popular force in mainstream music of the USA late in the century, and with growing complexity and sophistication evolved into ragtime music in the mid 1890s. The music was adopted into the works of various musicians, including John Philip Sousa and Claude Debussy, the latter of whom wrote "The Golliwog's Cakewalk".

The term "cakewalk" is often used to indicate something that is very easy or effortless. Though the dance itself was often quite demanding, it was generally considered a fun, recreational pastime.

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From the Cakewalk to the Lindy Hop

Many of the members of the Jenkins Orphanage band went on to play in big bands in New York City at places like the Savoy. Here dance was a major part of the music. Big band tunes were specifically designed to get people up and moving to its swinging beat. Success was determined by the bands ability to get people to dance. This leads to other dance crazes such as the Lindy Hop and the Charleston.

The Lindy Hop as seen at the Savoy involved both a male and a female dancing together in fast moving acrobatic movements. The dance allows the female dancer to be lifted by her partner into a second position scissor and then come down to a seated position on her partners lap. The female can also be helped into the air by her male partner by bumping her buttocks with his knees (the leg of the gesturing knee may be either bent or straight). They along, with many other couples appearing at the Savoy, continue like this for hours at a time.

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One of the most famous lindy hoppers, Frankie Manning, describe the big bands at the Savoy in terms of their ability to "speak to the people". Many of the lindy hoppers give credit to the dynamics of the music for the desire to perfect of the newest dance crazes. Manning states that the bands "generated a more flowing, lifting momentum. The effect of the dancers was to increase the energy and speed of execution.

During the mid-thirties Manning and his partner Frieda Washington introduced the first aerial step into the Lindy Hop. Once performed in a dance contest, it brought about the creation of many more aerial steps and the popularity of the dance increased. This gave Manning the inspiration to develop ensemble routines and, therefore, made it possible for the Lindy Hop to be performed as a stage presentation.

At any moment there could be anywhere from two to three thousand people on the dance floor at the Savoy. It was known as the place to go and dance. The goal of everyone was to have fun dancing in ways to make onlookers think that you made up the steps yourself.

 

Learn more about Dixieland Jazz here

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