Old school jazz dance (also known as UK jazz dance) refers to the improvised dancing style that originated in the UK in the 1970s. The style grew in clubs in the UK, mainly in London and in northern cities, with the sounds of bebop, Afro-Cuban jazz, fusion, swing and other Latin-influenced jazz and funk.
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History
It predates hip hop and breakdancing – the American dance culture, which did not reach the U.K. shores until 1982–1983. Jazz dancing has similarities to breakdancing, but essentially it is not the same.
It started in heart of second generation African Caribbean-African homes and community venue preceding the takeoff in the heart of cities, nightclubs and discos all over the country. Built on the dance steps and spirit of celebration of their first generation (1950s, 1960s) immigrant parents; who were connoisseur record collectors; top-dancers and fashion icons who pioneered the underground live music and sound system scene. Second generation were encouraged in early learning (by first-generation parents) to value improvising to their own freestyle music of their day modern and swing jazz; blues; ska; RnB; calypso; soul; rocksteady; rock 'n' roll; reggae; gospel; country 'n' western.
DJ Paul Murphy is generally credited with having begun the trend of playing high tempo jazz, bebop and fusion records to dancers in the early 1980s in London nightclubs such as The Horseshoe (or "Jaffa's") on Tottenham Court Road and the Electric Ballroom on Camden High Street, along with young London DJ Gilles Peterson
It is also believed that the true birthplace of this dance movement was in the northern towns and cities in the late 1970s, driven by a healthy Northern Soul scene that at the time was fragmenting into a more modern soul sound. DJs Colin Curtis, Shaun Williams and others were at the forefront of promoting the scene in Northern England, regularly playing to 3–4,000 club goers every weekend.
The northern jazz dancers were well organised and travelled regularly, frequenting various clubs in the North East and North West of England. It was common place for soul music fans and jazz dancers to make a 200-mile round trip to visit a nightclub.
Some of the crews in the early 1980s included the Birmingham 'Spades' - recognisable from their grey cut-off sweatshirts with the 'barefoot' logos printed front and back. In Manchester there were many jazz dance crews; one of the most memorable were the Manchester 'Riffs' - their trademark look was sunglasses (worn during a dance battle), shaven bald heads and leather jackets, the same outfit as worn by the New York street gang The Riffs in the film 'The Warriors'.
Blackpool (Mecca), Birmingham (Hummingbird, Locarno), Manchester (Ritz,Berlins, Hell, various), Preston, Nottingham, Derby, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Wigan (Cassanelli's) were all notable towns and cities where 'All-Dayers' (All day discothèques) were popular playing both soul music, Jazz-Funk and fast tempo Jazz. Lasting usually from 2:00 pm to 11:00 pm they were staple hangouts for the northern youth of mainly (but not exclusively) black heritage and essential on the Jazz Dancing scene.
Characteristics
The development of the dance style was influenced by jazz, tap and lindy hop. Dancing is often performed with two dancers within a circle of other dancers, each taking a turn to outperform each other. The dance moves are highly energetic with the dancers mainly freestyling with moves akin to tap dancing with funky grooves, floor moves involving the intricate intertwining of limbs. Fast footwork and almost impossible stamina characterised this U.K. home-grown phenomenon.
Some of the more outlandish moves that have become legendary folklore amongst the dancers involved in the scene were the 'wrist watch on the ankle'. A dancer, pre battle, placed a wristwatch on his ankle and after performing a series of energetic moves completed the discipline with a series of floor moves ending up frozen in a pose checking out the time on the watch.
Another battle involved a dancer dancing out of his shoes performing a series of jazz dance moves, then effortlessly dancing back into his shoes.
One dancer even managed to work the illusion of laying an egg – leaving an egg in the middle of 'battle circle' for his opponent to ponder. These stunts were imaginative and a part of the fun.
The Jazz Defektors" were the first to form and perform, IDJ, Jazzcotech, The Floor Technicians, Brothers in Jazz, The Backstreet Kids and other pioneers across the country.
IDJ, or 'I Dance Jazz', were arguably the most successful dance crew of the genre, appearing in music videos, full-length feature films (Absolute Beginners, released 1986), and eventually performing in front of an estimated 44 million viewers worldwide at the Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa (1990 at Wembley Stadium).
Style and clothing
Jazz dancers became quite creative in their style of dress, almost uniform like in attention to detail. Depending on where one was in the country at the time, one would have seen most of the dancers adhere to the basics which included: