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Jazz dance is a performance style which originates from Africa in the 19th century. The movement was influenced by the sounds of jazz music and jazz bands by creating movement to match the sound. when African slaves arrived in Americans they bought their rhythmic influenced dance style with them. jazz dance is a more free flowing and experimental than other known styles at the time. The style mostly resembles ball room features such as the big arm movements.

Jazz dance came to popularity within minstrel shows in the early 19th century, much like tap dancing, which were shows used as a form of entertainment. The popularity of jazz dance was then spread from vernacular dances, stage performances, celebratory gatherings and night clubs.

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The History and Evolution of Street Dance - LiveTheDance is a dance blog - Guides, Reviews, Tips for Dancers - history of jazz dance

Jazz Dance - History of Jazz in a Dance Form (dancefacts.net) - history of jazz dance

https://gotta-dance.com/brief-history-of-jazz-dance/#:~:text=Although%20jazz%20dance%20is%20thought,dance%20movements%20to%20jazz%20accompaniments. - where did jazz dance originate

https://academic.oup.com/florida-scholarship-online/book/15919/chapter-abstract/170838160?redirectedFrom=fulltext# - Katherine Dunham effect on jazz dance

The Jazz Master: Jack Cole – Dance Direct Blog. News, Reviews & Advice About Dance Jack cole research

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Dunham - Katherine Dunhams history

https://nbcuacademy.com/harmful-ableist-racist-language/#:~:text=Cakewalk%20%E2%80%94%20%E2%80%9CCakewalks%E2%80%9D%20were%20dances,t%20show%20them%20enough%20respect. - cake walk history

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxtrot - foxtrot history

A Century of 70's Jazz Dance by Samaraa Brown on Prezi Next - jazz dance in 1970s

Jazz Dance History & Timeline – What you need to know! (danceparent101.com) - time line of jazz dance.

Bob Fosse | Biography, Style, Musicals, Movies, Awards, & Facts | Britannica - Bob Fosse research.

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Bob Fosse was an American actor, dancer, choreographer and film/ stage director. He choreographed and directed popular musicals such as Chicago, pippin, sweet charity and all that jazz. Fosse was so influential as he was the first person to show dance through a camera lens, this lead to the rise of MTV music videos in the future. However the main thing fosse became popular for was his unique style and interpretation of jazz dance. He introduced movements and stillness to jazz dance which he continued to teach all over the country. This unique style quickly became popular and was being taught all over the world in the 1950s. His reshaped style of jazz can be recognised by the curved shoulders, sideway shuffling, finger snaps and the most popular move being jazz hands. He often used props in his dances such as hats, gloves and sticks. Fosses style is still taught today in a lot of jazz classes and he often inspires fun upbeat show dances.

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Katherine Dunham was a American dancer and choreographer born in 1909 in Chicago who had one of the most successful careers in the performing arts industry in the 20th century. She also directed her own dance company for many years where she gained the nickname “matriarch and queen mother of black dance.

She attended the university of Chicago while she also performed as a dancer she was awarded an academic fellow ship where she studied in the Caribbean however she don’t complete her degree but she found her passion for choreographing. She then went on to create her own dance company (Katherine Dunham dance company) for 30 years which was one of the only companies supporting American black dancers. Over her career she choreographed over 90 dances.

She went on to develop jazz dance introducing the Dunham technique which involves using isolations of the body. She merged techniques from ballet and African dances into jazz dance to form a new style of jazz dance.

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By 1940 jazz dance had expanded and was starting to be seen within other dance styles such as modern and was starting to be seen on Broadway. During 1930 and 1960 known as the golden age jazz dance flew with popularity because it was such a fun and upbeat style which people enjoyed which matched the era of happiness.

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jazz dance is known for its unique use of high energy and fluid movement as well as the common use of isolation within different body parts. The style is very expressive and improvisational, it incorporates various different dance styles such as ballet, modern dance and African dance.

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Jazz music originated in the state of America New Orleans Louisiana near the Mississippi River, in the early 20th century. New Orleans was know as the city of vibrant music introducing jazz music. Jazz music was the inspiration for jazz dancing as the movements match the rhythm of the songs.

However the dance style originated in Africa but during slave trades the style of jazz dance was bought over to America. On plantations slaves would perform jazz dance to try and keep them selfs entertained and content. After this the dance style started to become popular in America and continued to evolve and inspire people of all different age brackets. Jazz dance then rose to popularity within the state of New Orleans along side the music. A very common style of jazz music was “the blues” which is a more sad style of jazz music to reflect on what slaves went through which would create a more soft variation of jazz dance than the usually upbeat jazz dancing.

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The evolution of jazz dance was down to 3 main practitioners; Bob Fosse, Jack Cole and Catherine Dunham who all adapted jazz dance in their own way.

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In the early 20th century jazz styles can be seen in the cake walk where people would walk around to music and when the music stops they would land on a number which would be pulled from a hat, if you were on the number pulled you would win a slice of cake. This was mostly seen on plantations so slaves could have a moment of fun.

Another early version of jazz dance was the foxtrot which would be performed to a popular music style at the time being ragtime. The foxtrot is usually a dance performed as partners containing flowing movements moving across the dance floor together.

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In 1920 the Charleston was a very popular dance style which later when on to inspire jazz dance. It was much like the foxtrot as it was often done in partners but it mostly consisted of partner work.

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In 1970 a popular variation of Jazz dance was hustle dance which became part of most disco dances. A popular jazz move at this time was "the bump" dance which was when dancers in partners stepped together while bumping their hips, This move could have been done to any upbeat song with a pumping rhythmic beat.

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In the 1980s jazz dance gained a lot of popularity from famous movies at the time such as footloose, flash dance, staying alive and dirt dancing. All these movies included a variety of jazz dance moves. In the 80s there was also a underground movement of dancers creating a more wild and savage version of jazz dance.

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in the 1990's dance competitions were becoming popular within dance company's to push dancers to dance their best. During this time the fusion of different styles was beginning to rise, lyrical dance was starting to be merged with jazz to create a more emotional interpretation of jazz.

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Within the 2000's jazz dance was becoming what we know it as today with big kicks and jumps and it became a very common style and was taught at dance school to young children. Within this time jazz was being used on the west end in numbers such as footloose and hair spray. Jazz dance was also seen in music videos as well.

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From 2011 a dance reality tv show was aired called dance moms which became very popular especially to younger generations. The show showed young dancers learning and competing dances one of the styles being in jazz. As the show was very popular at the time this bought more attention to jazz dance.

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Jazz dance has developed today to have many sub genres of different fusions such as contemporary jazz which has more of a relaxed feeling and includes more floor work. There is also a fusion of commercial jazz which brings a more sassy and sexy feeling towards jazz dance. Modern day jazz has evolved to show case big jumps and leaps, fast turns and deep plies. Jazz dance can be interpreted as a smiley and free style as well as a very technical put together style.

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Jazz dance is often practised and performed in jazz shoes because they make it easy to move on dance floor they make it easier for dancers to do turns and jumps without any hindrance. The shoes are made of leather and are very flexible to create the most comfort for dancers as they are on their feet all the time.

Another style of footwear worn are warm up boots but these are worn before dancing or after dancing when you have a break. The point of these shoes are to keep your feet and ankles warm so when you dance you are are less likely to get injured. These shoes are warm in many other dance styles as well not just jazz like jazz shoes.

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Jack Cole was an American dancer and choreographer who also directed theatre. He was known as the "father of theatrical jazz dance", He introduced jazz to how we know it today with big kicks and jumps, isolations of the head, arms and fingers. He also introduced the idea of swift changes in direction. It is thought that very popular practitioners such as Fosse were influenced by Coles technique. He became a very popular choreographer due to his new twist on jazz dancing, his work was seen in a lot of Broadway shows such as "a funny thing happened on the way to forum", "alive and kicking" and " man of la Macha".

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Practitioners such as Bob Fosse have influenced me in the way that jazz is one of my favourite dance styles and I have performed on stage in Fosse styled numbers. These routines included the use of jazz hands, hip roles and turned in knees and toes which are all technics that fosse introduced to jazz dance. Within my study of Bob Fosse and learning his style of jazz dance I have gained a deeper understanding of body control and movement quality because the style includes a lot of strength and control. Bob Fosse is also very inspirational to me due to his intense level of creativity which created the Fosse style, When choreographing in the future I would like to try to be as creative as him and explore new movements and concepts.