[ Clogging and Tap  |   Swing ]

At some point in their ancestries, almost all Americans either immigrated or were forcibly brought to this country. By studying traditional American music and dance, and its roots, students can come to understand the development of American traditions, and the roles of their ancestors and themselves in the creation of American culture.

While perceived as a "melting pot," politics and economics have always influenced who mingled with whom in the formation of this nation. A variety of cultures did influence one another, including Northern European, African, and Caribbean, forming the first American fusions. It is important to note, however, that Native Americans were consistently excluded from much of the cultural interactions, therefore usually figure into what is called traditional American music as subject matter, and not stylistically.

Along with European step dancing traditions such as clogging, a remarkable influence on American traditional music and dance was the forced migration of Africans. People from a wide variety of ethnic groups all across Africa were brought, often through the Caribbean, and thrown together to work as slaves on the plantations of the South, causing an amalgamation of many African traditions there.

Two specific restrictions on slaves spurred the development of new styles of percussive expression. First, laws in 1740 prohibited slaves from drumming, and second, slaves were prohibited from dancing in church. But the Church's definition of dancing, probably based on English and Irish step dance traditions, was any movement where your legs cross each other. Moving through this restriction, and using hands, feet and voice to fill a gap left by the absence of drum rhythms, slaves continued to create new styles of percussive movement, such as patting juba, or hambone.

Slaves held their own square dances when they could, imitating the quadrilles they saw and adding to the style. The Cakewalk, later popularized by whites, was originally a mimicry by the slaves of the high stepping done by the masters when performing quadrilles and other social dances.

Minstrelsy began in the mid 1800's, and for the next hundred years was one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Black minstrels often performed dances familiar to the whites, such as the Jig and Clog, but added syncopated rhythms that were reflective of an African sensibility, some of the first widely popular fusions of white and black cultures.

Musically, black musicians borrowed the guitar, harmonica, fiddle and mandolin from white immigrants, and added the banjo, washtub base and percussion to the music. The blues that was written on the plantations of the South with these instruments took on a very different character as blacks began moving north and to urban areas after the Civil War in the late 1800's. Increasing urbanization and, therefore, increasing contact between the races and various cultures in the nation sped the creation of new music and dance styles.

Throughout the twentieth century there were enormous population shifts of both black and white people from South to North, East to West and rural to urban. The music and dances of the Southeast, conglomerations of the melodies of the British Isles with the rhythms of Africa and the Caribbean, influenced new styles in the rest of the country.

In the 1920's and 30's, nightclubs opened in major cities, and the minstrelsy era gave way to vaudeville. The substitution of metal taps on leather shoes for the clogs, traditionally worn in clog dancing, spawned the name of clogging's more theatrical cousin, tap dancing, born on the vaudeville stage by black performers. Also in the 1920's, with the advent of the recording industry and commercial radio, previously isolated communities were subjected to a barrage of musical styles and influences. Blues from the deep South, minstrel tunes, sentimental songs of the 1890's and Tin Pan Alley all found their way into the old-time repertoire of the Southeast. The commercialization of old-time music spawned bluegrass and country music.

Dance halls began opening in cities in the 1930's and 40's and the syncopated rhythms of tap were reproduced in big band or swing music. In the Savoy ballroom in New York City, black dancers invented the Lindy Hop, where the syncopation was in the movements of the partners and their steps, rather than the sounds of the feet. This couple dance took on acrobatic dimensions, and this style led directly to the Jitterbug, a fad in white communities in the 1940's. From the 1950's into the 60's, following the impact of World War II, swing dances and big bands declined, dance halls closed, and the cooler jazz music and rhythm and blues became more popular. Rock and roll music was a direct offspring of black rhythm & blues.

 

Clogging and Tap

Southern Appalachian dancing - clogging, flatfooting and buckdancing, is an amalgamation of a variety of older percussive dance styles marked by complex footwork. They are really dialects of the same form. American step dancing, and the old-time string band music that accompanies it, arose from the combination of cultures that lived in the Southern Appalachian mountains as this country was born. The community arts of those English settlers, Scotch-Irish farmers and African slaves created what we now call clogging, and other forms of American social dancing, such as square and contra dancing. Clogging and old-time music were born of the hybrid culture that shaped the United States

In the British Isles, from the 1720's through the turn of the century, various forms of step dancing were practiced. But it was from the onset of the Industrial Revolution, in the latter part of the 18th century, that clog dancing took firm hold. Workers in the wool factories in Lancashire, Northern England, wore clogs, thick soled wooden shoes, to keep them above the mud of the factory floor. It is said that the rhythmic workings of the machines, coupled with the sound of the hard soled shoes on the floor inspired the creation of the dance.

Both the quadrilles (predecessor of square dancing) as they originated with the upper classes, and the clog dancing of the lower classes were accompanied by various types of fiddle music, and followed immigrants to the New World starting in the 1600's.Fiddle music remained at the center of the later development of American old-time music in the Southern Appalachian mountains into the 20th-century.

As Northern Europe gained its foothold in North America and other regions throughout the world in the 18th century, there was a massive increase in world trade, including the peak of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Africans were brought from their lands in Africa, and from the Caribbean, to work as slaves on plantations in the South, subjecting them to restrictions and conditions that inadvertently spawned new dance and music expressions.

The fusion of European and African styles on plantations and on the minstrel stage influenced American clogging practiced in both white and black communities. Stylistically, the common posture of African dancing (wide stance, bent knees) influenced the more rigid and elevated clogging practiced in the British Isles, making American clogging more relaxed and looser than its European predecessors, while maintaining many similar steps.

Throughout the 20th-century, there were enormous population shifts of both black and white people from South to North, East to West and rural to urban. The instruments, music and dances of the Southeast melded with the melodies of the British Isles and with the rhythms of Africa and the Caribbean, influencing new styles by fusing regional styles. Those new styles were carried by radio, recordings, and live performance throughout the U.S.

In the 1920's and 30's, nightclubs opened in major cities, and the minstrelsy era gave way to vaudeville. Metal taps on leather shoes instead of the clogs worn in clog dancing spawned clogging's more theatrical cousin, tap dancing. Dance halls began opening in cities in the 1930's and 40's and the syncopated rhythms of tap were reproduced in big band or swing music.

Then, in the 1970's, Southern square dancing spread, and precision clogging teams developed; cloggers choreographed their steps into square dance patterns and competed for prizes. Tap was revived as performance dance on Broadway, and continues to enjoy a resurgence of creativity and popularity. Tap is notable for its flexibility as it is mixed and performed in combination with other contemporary styles of dance. Clogging is now performed not only in social dance scenes and competition, but on stages in music festivals nationwide, and is considered one of North America's traditional dance treasures.

 

Swing / Lindy Hop

Lindy Hop was born in Harlem in the 1920's at the legendary Savoy Ballroom, danced to lively Big Band music. The styling became more and more refined, as popular Saturday night dance competitions pushed dancers to greatness. New steps were born every day, and in the mid-1930's, when the first acrobatic lifts, called "airsteps," were created, the Lindy Hop soared. It became a dance craze worldwide, and evolved into many forms such as Jitterbug and Swing.

It is enjoying a resurgence today, with many new Swing bands on the music scene. Many Swing and Lindy classes are offered at ballrooms and dance studios around the nation, as well as in the Bay Area. Local resources include Rhythm and Motion and Metronome Ballroom in San Francisco, Allegro Ballroom in Emeryville, and Ashkenaz in Berkeley, to name a few.

Swing is an American dance form, with European and African influences, and it continues to evolve and incorporate new styles of dance to this day. Watch carefully and see if you can spot moves that look like breakdance, hip hop, and other contemporary styles.

Some old Swing bands to listen for include:

Duke Ellington, Count Bassie, Glenn Miller, and Benny Goodman

Hot new bands to hear include Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Acme Swing Company, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Jelly Roll.