In chapter 9, Nora Ambrosio describes the approach and style of jazz dance. Dance writers Mike Moore and Liz Williamson describe jazz dance by saying, “Basically jazz is an approach. It is everchanging, but vitality is a constant…no movement is ever dull, there is an unabated theatricality about jazz. No movement is perfunctory…In jazz dance, one works toward an individual style that builds from traditional jazz origins and strikes out boldly in the contemporary. Jazz was born in America, of African parents.”
Link :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtMKquSqBko&feature=youtu.be
Watch this clip of Shuffle Along, a musical that put jazz expression on the map, and made jazz dance the center of popular entertainment in the 1920’s. In at least two paragraphs, discuss what makes this musical the epitome of jazz. Address the styles, qualities, and elements of jazz expression that you notice in this performance!
