Watch the dance video:
Then answer:
1. APA citation for video *
2. Jazz dance: Connection to the earth (e.g. dancing low w/bent knees, Upper body bent over at waist) *
Describe a section of the dance that displays this characteristic.
3. Jazz dance: Freedom of movement in the body (Pelvis, torso, and/or head move freely and react to movement.) *
Describe a section of the dance that displays this characteristic. (NOTE: This is a physical characteristic that you can see when looking at an individual dancer’s spine. It does not relate to emotional freedom or moving freely around a space.)
4. Jazz dance: Isolations (Individual body parts move independently from the rest of the body.) *
Describe a section of the dance that displays this characteristic.
5. Jazz dance: Syncopation (Movement emphasizes a beat other than the steady pulse of the music.) *
Describe a section of the dance that displays this characteristic.
6. Jazz dance: Call-and-response (Dance strongly reacts to and “displays” music dynamics and rhythms.) *
Describe a section of the dance that displays this characteristic.
Additional materials:
Jazz dance has:
1. A connection to the earth: In contrast to ballet, where the dancer “pulls up” and elevates, jazz dancers feel a pull from the ground, with moves in extended/consistent bent knee position or with upper body bending towards the ground. Movement is centered in a gravity of the pelvis, which gives jazz dance a sensual aesthetic.
2. Freedom of movement in the spine: Jazz movement makes use of the whole body and exhibits a freedom of movement in the spine that is very different from European dance styles, where the body is held upright, in a restrained posture. [Like the prim and proper Quadrille!] This is a physical, rather than sociological, characteristic. This characteristic shows a physical element that you can see, and it should not to be confused with “free-spirited” dancing or a performer’s feeling free to express himself. It is very specific to the whole body’s movement in dance, especially as that relates to a loose use of the spine. After centuries of rigid, proper, western European posture, African Americans brought upper body and pelvic movement to dance. The head, chest and pelvis respond freely to the movement of the rest of the body as opposed to remaining upright.
3. Isolations: Individual body parts move independently from others, e.g. shoulder rolls or isolated hip pulses. [Note: arms or legs moving are not generally considered isolations.]
4. Syncopated rhythms: Movement incorporates the unexpected emphasis of a beat that is not the steady pulse that keeps the tempo of the song. When you count music with the bass drum beat: “1, 2, 3, 4” an example of syncopation would be a surprise movement between those beats, e.g., “1, 2 & a 3, 4.”
5. Call-and-response: A variety of dynamics [explosive, powerful, percussive, subtle] is incorporated in movement that responds directly to those dynamics in the music. This characteristic speaks to a dancer’s showing the instruments DRAMATICALLY through movement. You can “see” specific notes and rhythms speaking through movement. In “call-and-response,” an individual note, phrase or section of music impacts the movement so strongly, that it looks as if the dancer is channeling the instrument, (e.g., a trumpet BWAP! corresponds to an electric ZAP! in the dancer’s body) OR calling back to it. This characteristic goes beyond matching dancing with music. Dancers from the beginning of time have, hopefully, danced along with the music, matching their steps to the beat and style of the music. “Call-and-response” goes beyond music framing the dancing. It is a dramatic response of the body that displays a dramatic musical impulse so strongly that the move wouldn’t really make sense without the music.
The five jazz dance characteristics are all physical characteristics that you can see, as opposed to something the dancer feels or a message the choreographer tries to convey. For example, “freedom of movement” is a body characteristic, not the feeling of freedom or freely moving around the stage.
