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The steps and essential style of jazz dancing, originated from dances of Africans brought to the Americas as slaves. Originally, the term jazz dance encompassed any dance done to jazz music, including both tap dance and jitterbug.
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Over time, a clearly defined jazz genre emerged, changing from a street dance to a theatrical dance performed on stage by professionals. Some scholars and dancers, especially Swing and Lindy Hop dancers, still regard the term jazz dance as an umbrella term which includes both the original and the evolved versions: they refer to the theatrical form of jazz dance as modern jazz.
History
The term jazz dance was first used to describe dances done to the new-fangled jazz music of the early 20th century, but its origin lie in the dances brought from Africa by slaves shipped to America. At that time, it referred to any dance done to jazz music, which included both tap dance and jitterbug. A defining feature was its "free conversation-like style of improvisation."
Beginning in the 1930s and continuing through the 1960s, jazz dance transformed from its street form into a theatre-based performance art. During this time, choreographers from other genres experimented with the style., including George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, Jack Cole, Hanya Holm, Helen Tamiris, Michael Kidd, Jerome Robbins, and Bob Fosse. All of these choreographers influenced jazz by requiring highly trained dancers, and introducing steps from ballet and contemporary dance. In the 1950s, jazz dance was profoundly influenced by Caribbean and Latin American influences introduced by Katherine Dunham.
Elements
(This section refers to elements of Modern Jazz Dance. The elements of other jazz styles can be found in detail on their own entries (Tap Dance, Jitterbug, Swing (dance), Lindy Hop)
Isolations are a quality of movement that were introduced to jazz dance by Katherine Dunham.
A low center of gravity and high level of energy are other important identifying characteristics of jazz dance. Other elements of jazz dance are less common and are the stylizations of their respective choreographers. One such example are the inverted limbs and hunched-over posture of Bob Fosse.
Modern dance is now competed and performed through North America and many other countries across the world. There are many different stylistic preferences seen in jazz dances, such as a slow or fast pace, approach, and even music. Jazz can be performed to any type of song and can be characterized by the technical and sharp movements.