"African-American dance" in the vernacular tradition (academically known as "African American vernacular dance") are those dances which have developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in dance studios, schools or companies. African American vernacular dances are usually centered on social dance practice, though performance dance and concert dance often supply complementary aspects to social dancing.
Placing great value on improvisation, African American vernacular dances are characterized by ongoing change and development.
The term 'vernacular dance' is often critiqued by dancers within a tradition as being unnecessarily 'technical'. Despite these issues, the term is commonly used in dance studies literature internationally.
There are a number of notable African American modern dance companies using African American vernacular dance as an inspiration, amongst these are the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Dance Theatre of Harlem.
History
The Greater Chesapeake area embracing Virginia, Maryland, and much of North Carolina was the earliest and perhaps most influential location of the black-while cultural interchange that produced "African American" dance. Captive Africans from numerous societies in several African regions began pouring into the area as slaves from the late seventeenth to the late eighteenth centuries. Given their cultural heterogeneity, including music and dance, they mostly likely learned to dance together by drawing on the "grammar of culture" shared across much of Western and Central Africa. Something like a regional Chesapeake tradition, a thing entirely novel in European eyes, arose perhaps not long before the eighteenth century had become the nineteenth. Within one or two generations of establishing these creolized African forms, or perhaps simultaneously, elements of European dances were added. "Competitive individuality and improvisation" were also Choreographic Elements of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century West African Dance" that were continued in this region.
Based on the limited pictorial record, the typical African practice of bending emphatically at the waist and hips gave way to a more upright, European like style. This may have reflected the African practice of carrying heavy loads on the head, which requires a strong, balancing spine. Black dancing continued strong preferences of other African characteristics such as angularity and asymmetry of body positions, multiple body rhythms or polyrhythms, and a low center of gravity.
Jig, Clog, and Break Down Dancing have been attributed to African Americans. It should be noted, though, that Irish Jig and clogging were both in existence when, in the 1840s in the Five Points area of New York, occupied in part by many Irish, William Henry Lane, aka Masta Juba, combined the shuffle with the Irish jig, a style called a break-down, attracting attention from Charles Dickens who visited Charles Almakck, later called Pete Williams' place, a black American dance hall.
The phrase African American vernacular dance is commonly used to refer to those dances which have developed within the African American communities of the United States from the 1600s.African slaves brought to America from the 1600s were representative of a wide range of ethnic groups, and their dance and cultural lives were similarly diverse. To speak of an 'African American vernacular dance' without qualification is to ignore the vast range of dance practices and traditions which developed from these African roots in communities across the United States. Afro-American dance in the earliest days was a response to the conditions of slavery.
New and different cultural traditions developed not only in different cities across America, but on the properties of different slave owners. There were distinct regional variations in dance in African American communities even in the 1600s, developing as a combination of traditions from different African ethnic groups, the culture of slave owners and other groups within the immediate society, as responses to the musical and social lives of individuals in that community, and in response to different experiences under slavery.
New York and the Harlem Renaissance
Just as the Harlem Renaissance saw the development of art, poetry, literature and theatre in Harlem during the early 20th century, it also saw the development of a rich musical and dance life. Clubs (Cotton Club), Ballrooms (Savoy Ballroom), rent party and other black spaces as the birthplaces of new vernacular dances.
Theatres and the shift from vaudeville to local 'shows' written and choreographed by African American artists. Theatres as public forums for popularising African American vernacular dances.
Genres by period
19th century
Dance genres :
- Tap dancing
- Cakewalk
1930s and 1940s
Main article: Swing eraDance genres :
- Swing
- Lindy hop
- Charleston
- Texas Tommy
1960s
Music Genres :
- Northern Soul
- Motown
Dance moves and genres :
- Hustle
- Monkey
1970s
Music Genres :
- Funk
- Disco
1980s
See also: Hip hop musicDance genres and moves :
- Break dancing
- Popping
- Locking
- Voguing
- Cabbage patch
- The Worm
- The Robot
- Moonwalk
1990s and 2000s
Dance moves and genres :
Krumping, Hyphy, Snap dance, Cha Cha Slide, Lean wit It, Rock wit It, Walk It Out, Breakdance Footwork, Chicken Noodle Soup, Crip Walk, Gangsta Walking, Tootsee Roll, The Roosevelt, Poole Palace, Butterfly Dance, Joc-in, Crank Dat Soulja Boy, A-Town Stomp, Harlem Shake, Aunt Jackie, Heel Toe, D-Town Boogie, Jerkin', Stanky Legg, Botty Dew, Bird Walk.Performance, competition and social dance
In a vernacular dance culture there is often no distinction between 'dance' spaces and 'non-dances spaces'. Dance and rhythmic movement are as much a part of everyday life as language. In many cases dance has played a more central role than literacy (especially during slavery), particularly in the communication of history, tradition and culture between generations, much as has oral culture. Competition has long played an important role in social dance in African and African American social dance, from the 'battles' of hip hop and lindy hop to the cake walk. Performances have also been integrated into everyday dance life, from the relationship between performance and social dancing in tap dancing to the 'shows' held at Harlem ball rooms in the 1930s.
Social dance spaces
- Juke joint, street parties, rent party and the importance of the front porch
- Ballrooms, cabaret clubs and church halls
Competitive dance
- Cake walks, the Harvest Moon Ball, Breakdance
Learning to dance in an African American vernacular dance tradition
In most African American vernacular dance cultures, learning to dance does not happen in formal classrooms or dance studios. Children often learn to dance as they grow up, developing not only a body awareness but also aesthetics of dance which are particular to their community. Learning to dance - learning about rhythmic movement - happens in much the same way as developing a local language 'accent' or a particular set of social values. Children learn specific dance steps or 'how to dance' from their families - most often from older brothers and sisters, cousins or other older children. Because vernacular dance happens in everyday spaces, children often dance with older members of the community around their homes and neighbourhoods, at parties and dances, on special occasions, or whenever groups of people gather to 'have a good time'. Vernacular dance traditions are therefore often cross-generational traditions, with younger dancers often 'reviving' dances from previous generations, albeit with new 'cool' variations and 'styling'. This is not to suggest that there are no social limitations on who may dance with whom and when. Dance partners (or people to dance with) are chosen by a range of social factors, including age, sex, kinship, interest and so on. The most common dance groups are often comprised by people of a similar age, background and often sex (though this is a varying factor).
African American vernacular dance in the mainstream
Film, Theatre and Video Clips
- Hollywood musicals and stage (theatre)s: the Nicholas Brothers and Gene Kelly; Frankie Manning and Dean Collins
- Music videos: Madonna and Missy Higgins: black dancers in people of non African descent clips, black dances in people of non African descent bodies, black music and dance in black bodies
Black dances in white communities
- Contemporary swing dance communities
- Contemporary tap dance
- Hip hop classes and white b-boys
African American vernacular dance and a continuum of creative cultural expression
Lee Ellen Friedland and other authors argue that to talk about dancing in a vernacular tradition without talking about music or art or drama is like talking about fish without tal
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