By William Yamaguchi, Kapolei
Dance crazes have been a part of social dancing for some time. In the Renaissance and after, European monarchs and nobles played host to a long succession of dance fashions, many of which spread into the wider society. And many peasants had their own and they helped to establish many of the basic moves that we have in dancing now.
The minuet, the allemande, the schottische, the mazurka and the waltz had their day - though in many cases such dances endured for decades or even centuries before passing out of general use. You could notice that after three centuries, the Waltz is still there and it should make it to the end of the 2lst. The tango began from the Milonga of the Incas and swept the world in the late 1910s and early 1920s. It was further diversified everywhere and was soon appropriated to the standard dance repertoire in the US and another in England.
After WWII, the evidence was there, the young were more for the new and the experience dancers preferred what they had enjoyed for so long. In the early 1920s there was a string of dance crazes including the jitterbug and the Charleston. Many came and many were soon eliminated. In the 20th century the advent of records caused novelty dances to arise and disappear much more frequently, spurred by printed media, radio, movies, television and late in the internet.
In one of the first in a series of 20th century Latin music dance crazes, the Rumba arrived. Then the Samba, the Mambo, the Cha-Cha-Cha, the Merengue arrived, many of which became standardized styles of western social dance and exerted influence on western popular music. Jazz, for example, was profoundly altered by Latin music from the 1940s on. More than a dozen dances since then have come and gone.
Dance crazes have been a part of social dancing for some time. In the Renaissance and after, European monarchs and nobles played host to a long succession of dance fashions, many of which spread into the wider society. And many peasants had their own and they helped to establish many of the basic moves that we have in dancing now.
"Most social dancers realize that we may have an unspoken commitment, to make every important aspect of our fellow dancers' experience a little bit better."
The minuet, the allemande, the schottische, the mazurka and the waltz had their day - though in many cases such dances endured for decades or even centuries before passing out of general use. You could notice that after three centuries, the Waltz is still there and it should make it to the end of the 2lst. The tango began from the Milonga of the Incas and swept the world in the late 1910s and early 1920s. It was further diversified everywhere and was soon appropriated to the standard dance repertoire in the US and another in England.
"Moon of Manakoora” by Nohelani Cypriano
After WWII, the evidence was there, the young were more for the new and the experience dancers preferred what they had enjoyed for so long. In the early 1920s there was a string of dance crazes including the jitterbug and the Charleston. Many came and many were soon eliminated. In the 20th century the advent of records caused novelty dances to arise and disappear much more frequently, spurred by printed media, radio, movies, television and late in the internet.
"Wild Flower" by Jimmy Borges
In one of the first in a series of 20th century Latin music dance crazes, the Rumba arrived. Then the Samba, the Mambo, the Cha-Cha-Cha, the Merengue arrived, many of which became standardized styles of western social dance and exerted influence on western popular music. Jazz, for example, was profoundly altered by Latin music from the 1940s on. More than a dozen dances since then have come and gone.
So what do we see in the 21st century as being our social dances?
It sure as hell wont be the latest pop dance.
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