Like so many things, The swing dance is African influenced.


Our black African people entertained themselves as well as others

with musical forms and dance crazes like the Cakewalk, Black Bottom

and Charleston. When the Lindy Hop came into Harlem in the

1920s it contained many of these African characteristics. Around

the mid 1930s, Frank Manning showed the angular posture,

after it was danced in a rigid upright manner. Going to the angular

posture gave it African roots.

African dance moves every part of the body.

Sounds like the workout of a lifetime. European moves

arms and legs. Angular bending of arms, legs and torso, shoulder,

and hip movement, scuffing, stamping, and hopping steps,

asummetrical use of the body, and fluid movement are

all involved in the African dance.

The African dancer bends himself and herself toward

the earth and flattens the feet against it in a wide, solid

stance. Yet, the European ballet is upright posture

with arms lifted up and feet raised on the toes.

Along the patterns and traditions of age old

dance forms, Africans felt free to be creative. African

dancers could make a specific individualized expression

or give new meaning to a familiar gesture.

Circle and line formations- Basically

African dances are performed by lines or circles of

dancers. European dances are accompanied

in lines and circles and this common way may have

been important in dance exchange.

Importance of the community- Africans danced

with and for the community. Solo performers were

supported and affirmed by the group through

singing, hand clapping, and shouted encouragement.

Polyrhythms: African music consists of many

rhythms going simulataneously (at the same time).

Africans often danced to multiple beats at once. Dances

could move their shoulders to one beat, hips to another beat,

and knees to another beat. The rhythm complexity,

along with basic ground beat and counterbeats played

against it, formed the foundation for later music such

as ragtime, jazz, and rock n Roll.

Percussion: In a lot of Africa, percussion controls

music and in a lot of cases the drum is the leading

instrument. IN the USA, Black Africans came up with

a broad range of percussive instruments. Hand clapping,

foot tapping, and body patting were indeed important

percussive sounds.

Pantomine: Many African dances reflect the motions

of life. Dance movement even imitates animal behavior

like the flight of the egret, enact human tasks like

pounding rice, or express the power of

spirits in whirling and strong forward steps.

Something in the Hand: AFrican ritual dance

involves using special objects like masks and costumes.

IN America, African Americans keep using sticks or

staffs, cloth, and other objects in dance.

Handkerchiefs, canes, and top hats became a part

of the dance like other objects in stage routines.


Competitive Dance: Competing in dance is

a widespread custom in West and Central Africa.

IN America, the tradition goes on in “cutting”

contests, challenge dances, Cakewalk contests,

Break dance rivalries, Jitterbug competitions,

Step Dance shows, and other events.

So as you see, there are a lot of Types of dances and


styles tied to African roots. So it is truly powerful knowing

your roots. We all know many people want to imitate the

African way. The more we know about our heritage,

the more we learn about ourselves. That movie,
Coming to America with Eddie Murphy goes back

to our African dance roots. You can find the movie

on Amazon.com I’m sure. All this information on African

dance roots is here:

http://www.savoystyle.com/african.html

Charismaallover:

When popular music is examined, it is dominated by the contributions of African descendants all the way back into the 18th century.

That I know.

The influence...undoubtedly...goes even further back.

By the way, the banjo...itself...is of African origin.

A short list:

Jubille
Ragtime
Jazz
Swing
Jitterbug (a dance)
Bebop
R&B
Do-Wop
Soul
Rap
Hip-Hop

To name a few.

PEACE

Jim Chester

You are sooo right Brotha Chester. As you know, I teach African American Music History ....which is a failing subject/field cuz many schools are no longer including it in their curriculm...unfortunately to the dismay of the newer generation of blackfolks who think black music began with hip hop.

The main 6 African American music genres:

Gospel
Ragtime
Blues
Jazz
Swing
Bebop

All set the stage for black music styles thereafter including rhythmn and blues, soul, rock and roll[yes rock and roll and others]...and currently hip hop/rap. Also, along with the evolution in black music comes the evolution in popular dance/dress styles, trends etc. The stories I could tell. And many do not know that the real American music is in fact Black i.e. African American music.

Thanks James Chester. I'm so glad to know
this

quote:

Originally posted by Kocolicious:
You are sooo right Brotha Chester. As you know, I teach African American Music History ....which is a failing subject/field cuz many schools are no longer including it in their curriculm...unfortunately to the dismay of the newer generation of blackfolks who think black music began with hip hop.

The main 6 African American music genres:

Gospel
Ragtime
Blues
Jazz
Swing
Bebop

All set the stage for black music styles thereafter including rhythmn and blues, soul, rock and roll[yes rock and roll and others]...and currently hip hop/rap. Also, along with the evolution in black music comes the evolution in popular dance/dress styles, trends etc. The stories I could tell. And many do not know that the real American music is in fact Black i.e. African American music.

---Kocolicious

PRECISELY!!!!

It occurs to me that 'Jubliee Singing' was benchmark music in America...as well.

'In That Great Gettin' Up Morning'...

It preceeded 'Gospel'

A writer named Dorsey was a major influence in the genre...,and indeed may have been the first...the creator of the genre.

I guess this genre gets lost in the broad category...listing...of 'The Spirituals'.

One or the other...,or both should be on that list indicator music styles for American Music...

Certainly, for African American Music.

You may not know about 'The DePaw Infantry Chorus'.

DePaw University is the alma mater of Vernon Jordan, Esq., and notable others.

Then there was 'The Fisk Jubilee Singers' of world renown.

And...'Wings Over Jordan'

These were contemporaty with 'The Golden Gate Quartet' whose lead singer Calvin Ginyard, 'The Delta Rhythmn Boys', 'The Swan Silvertones' of Pittsburgh.

Cal Ginyard was a native of Wilkes-Barre, PA.

His son Cal, Jr., and his family, are still residents.

'The Fairfield Four' are the last of that era, and are still performing...based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

PEACE

Jim Chester

Wow...Brotha Chester...I didn't know. See. We learn somethin' EVERY. DAY! thanks for the additional info.....I will definitely use it in my classroom.

'...thanks for the additional info.....I will definitely use it in my classroom.'---Kocolicious

Thank you!!!

So much of our history is lost for the lack of being 'passed on'...taught.

Thank you!!!

P.S. A story I've told on this site before.

In the late 70s, I went to see the movie 'The Sting'.

The soundtrack for the movie is all 'Ragtime'.

It gave an odd 'flavor' to a movie set in the 20s...30s.

Ragtime was almost over, if not over.

The 20s was the era of Dixieland.

Certainly being over was true in the 30s.

Then one night I'm watching 'The Johnny Carson Show', and there is this old guy, and I mean old.

He was in his late 80s, maybe early 90s.

His name was Eubie Blake.

EUBIE BLAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't know who he was.

Johnny Carson introduced him as one the writers of Ragtime...in the 1890s!!!!!!!!

I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THE RAGTIME WAS A CREATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN-AMERICANS!!!!!!!!

I was ashamed and pissed with my own ignnorance.

NOBODY TOLD ME.

AND HAD NOT KNOWN TO LOOK.

Thanks again.

PEACE

Jim Chester

This morning while at breakfast a song came on the 'house system' that reminded me of the evolution of America's music...and I thought of your post and your profession.

It was 'Stand By Me'...the original.

You probably don't know the significance of this song in evolution of African American Music, and there the music of America.

This song was the first in African American Music (popular) music to have strings in the arrangement.

Besides the fact that the arrangement, itself, was benchmark with that TEMPO!!!!

When you next have the opportunity to hear this, pay attention to the 'thinness' of the arrangement.

It is primarily bass, maracas, and those fantastic strings...and of course the voice of Ben E. King.

The song changed American music.

You should also note: THERE ARE NO BACKGROUND VOICES.

If there are...IT IS NOT THE ORIGINAL!!!

PEACE

Jim Chester

Will do. As I am always discussing and pointing out that American music i.e. African American music began with the GOSPEL...and was used as a tool to escape from slavery...many blackfolks don't know this as well as each genre reflects the social struggle for example the "blues"....after slavery ended in several states...many blackfolks were sad or blue cuz although they were free they did not have the skills or civil rights to make it on their own or they were always in fear running from the klan or being victimized by Jim Crow...they spent many hours singing about how blue they felt in regards to their situation.... "ragtime" as time moved on many blackfolks found themselves in rags cuz they did not have money to buy clothing and sung about how hard times were as they drifted from place to place in "rags".... jazz/swing/bebhop have their own stories about how they evolved from Gospel..

Music is a mirror image/reflection on social changes or occurrences which has an impact on civilization...it is seen/expressed in how cultures around the world define themselves....and it all started with the "drum."

'...African American music began with the GOSPEL...'---Kocolicious

I find that I have to 'take issue' with this conclusion.

Gospel, as a music genre, did not exist before Thomas A. Dorsey ("Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993, composer of such standards as "There Will Be Peace in the Valley"), is considered by many gospel devotees to be the "Father of Gospel Music."

I submit that 'Spirituals' which preceded even 'Ragtime' is as integral to 'Black Music' (meaning the music of Americans of unknown African ancestry) as 'Gospel'.

Gospel did not ocme on the scene until the 1920s, at the earliest.

PEACE

Jim Chester

Sorry Brotha Chester. Didn't see your reply. You are welcome to take issue with this. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. However, gospel i.e. spirituals was born during the slavery period and is why MANY slaves were able to convey messages regarding their plans i.e. information to escape from the planatation through gospel i.e. spiritual songs. For example: Massa thought slaves were singing about god and going to heaven but in fact they were telling folks time and place to meet. Also, the underground railroad was part of this ritual. And was how many slaves found freedom in the north.

quote:

Originally posted by Kocolicious:
Sorry Brotha Chester. Didn't see your reply. You are welcome to take issue with this. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. However, gospel i.e. spirituals was born during the slavery period and is why MANY slaves were able to convey messages regarding their plans i.e. information to escape from the planatation through gospel i.e. spiritual songs. For example: Massa thought slaves were singing about god and going to heaven but in fact they were telling folks time and place to meet. Also, the underground railroad was part of this ritual. And was how many slaves found freedom in the north.

You know, ...what you describe is what I thought Spirituals contained as well.

I have always understood the genre of 'Gospel Music' to have been created in the 20th century circa the 1920s.

Can you help my understanding with some reference that talks about Gospel...as a genre...in the era of Spirituals..., or even as a style of performance?

I am not...am not...just 'arguing'.

I...like you...think it is important that we know the things that belong to us, and, of course, as much of their beginning as we can.

PEACE

Jim Chester

No problem Brotha Chester. It is IMPORTANT to know that so called America Music derived from African Americans as a direct ramification of slavery. An it is NOT uncommon for massa to take credit. Which he has for EVERYTHING dynamic we have done since forced to live in this country. So here we go:

GOSPELS [AKA SPIRITUALS] PERIOD 1610-1863

The "genres" started what we know now as Gospels ie. Spirituals:

. (1) Slave Songs
. (2) Field Hollering
. (3) Recreational Songs
. (4) Work Songs

The reason:
. to make the hard labor easier
. to give hope for a better life
. to make fun of the master
. hidden messages
. underground railroad
. freedom
Example of a work song: The Big Bee Flies High

"The big bee flies high
The little bee makes the honey
The blackfolks make the cotton
And the whitefolks gets the money"

An example of a religious song is "Let my people go."

Many times massa thought slaves were singing about heaven but most times they were making fun of massa or talking about the hope of freedom.

All these songs had double messages/meaning were used during the crucial time during the escape from the plantation. Another example is Swing Low Sweet Chariot...these are just a few off the top of my head. There are many others. When there was a plan to escape, songs were created to tell when and where. Why? So that massa or his snitches wouldn't know.


What else was happening during this period?

. 1630-1656 Queen Nzinga of Angola leads
the first fight against the
Portuguese slave traders 150 years
after the first arrival of the
European Portguese[1480]


. Slaves began using the secret code
[used on the ships] of hand clapping
and foot stomping to communicate,
thus the creation tap dancing and if
you will "the morse code" [created]
by the use of hands and feet.

. In the1740s America pass a slave law
forbidding the use of the African
drum

. 1776 Congress adopts the Declaration
of Independence and the United States
of America which freed the settlers
from British rule however did not
free slaves
from slavery

. 1849 Harriet Tubman [underground
railroad foot soldier] helped
slaves reach the north

. 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act was
passed
. 1863 President Lincoln signed the
Emancipation Proclamation


Harriet Tubman was famous in the slave camps for singing slave songs to announce her arrival or departure. There is much much more....but! Here's a start.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kocolicious,

Kocolicious:

I really appreciate this exchange on our music.

As a child, I listened to many quartets, and choirs, and individuals singing spirituals, gospel, and jubille styles...genres.

I never heard them being mixed one with the other.

Thus my understanding.

Sometimes...sometimes...our music is identified to us by others...as you pointed out in your post.

I don't know the source, but I think this is wrong.

GOSPELS [AKA SPIRITUALS] PERIOD 1610-1863

Please note this source is identifying our music as originating withinj one year of arrival in the Jamestown Colony.

That's curious.

Also...the person says gospel were also 'known as' spirituals.

Like I said...,and I could be wrong...the common knowledge of my experience has never heard the two genres presented interchangeably.

Also for you research, there is recording of music of African Americans.

I heard it several years ago on WTPI 'Temple University Radio'.

It even contained examples of 'shaped-note' singing which was used for the illiterate.

That program also differentiates the genres.

I really...really...think this source is seriously flawed.

I hope I am being helpful.

Again, I offer this from a google-search: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-DorseyTh.html

PEACE

Jim Chester

I misunderstood your post...Brotha Chester. Sorry about that. I read it again however....and you're ABSOLUTELY right it is FLAWED. He is not the Father of Gospel. What a joke! Even the song Amazing Grace has a heart wrenching story behind it. Can't trust massa. I'm telling ya. He'd steal you...if you 're not lookin'...wait a minute. He did!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kocolicious,

quote:

Originally posted by Kocolicious:
I misunderstood your post...Brotha Chester. Sorry about that. I read it again however....and you're ABSOLUTELY right it is FLAWED. He is not the Father of Gospel. What a joke! Even the song Amazing Grace has a heart wrenching story behind it. Can't trust massa. I'm telling ya. He'd steal you...if you 're not lookin'...wait a minute. He did!

Oooo...Are you telling me Thomas Dorsey was not among the first, if not the originator, of the Gospel genre??

If so, please give a reference to research, because that guy is imbedded in my mind with a long list of gospel benchmark songs.

PEACE

Jim Chester

I know the first Africans came to Jamestown in I think 1619 or so...but slavery was going on prior to those reaching the "new world." Many slaves went to nearby islands for deprogramming purposes. They were stripped of their identity and beaten into submission. I'm going by traditional black folklore...not by "standards" created by massa. To hear him tell it...we did nothing but swing from trees until he came along.

The whole reason behind American Music i. e. African American Music is as a result of how slaves, then free slaves were treated AND it was reflected in their music. Back in the day, blackfolks couldn't own property, couldn't patent their ideas, why would one think they could copywrite their music? Even chubby checker had to have a white manager and that was in the sixties. Plus Blacks could NOT have their faces on albums covers even though they were the group to sing the songs.

Because many blacks back then could not read and going to the library was AGAINST the law. It was not feasible that they could document anything.

But! Our music....African American music is a our legacy we created...based on the evolution of our experience...but! Massa took the credit as usual and called it American Music...but it is a LIE. As I stated earlier our music legacy began with the Gospel i.e. Spirituals: slaves singing [to God and for hope to obtain] their freedom...after they were free...they were STILL treated harshly and to express how blue they were feeling... we did what we usually do....sing about it..thus the creation of the Blues period [early 1864-1890 early 1900s] (not to be confused with bluegrass) "which evolved from slave songs and spirituals. The songs have lyrics that talk about hard times and personal troubles" from there the Ragtime period [1890 - early 1900s] (cuz we wore rags and were extremely poor) from there the Jazz Period [early 1900s -1920s]...from there the Swing Period [early 1920s - 1940s] from there BeBop created by Dizzy Gillispie and Charlie Parker [1940s-1950s].

Special Note: All the genres emerged/blended with each other so the dates are NOT exact but approximate.

In addition, there is a children's book entitled "I see the rhythm" by Michele Wood and Toyomi Igus [in your local library in the children's section]. This explains quite nicely the evolution of African American music from Gospel-Hip Hop.

Behind the history of "White" music [in this country] is a Black face [that's what the minstrels shows were all about..white man mocking/minimizing black people's musical/theatrical talent...actually jealous of it...AND TAKING FULL CREDIT for its creation]. Dorsey I'm sure is like of a lot of whites in those days who heard the amazing sound of Black choirs....or just plain blackfolks singing in the fields...and singing walking down "the dirt" road in the south and decided to copy it and called it "theirs." Doris Day is another who tried to steal the sound of Billie Holiday by singing her songs....cuz she knew Billie was banned from playing clubs that served alcohol....Doris made bank on many of Billie's songs.

Also Glen Miller, during the Swing Period, was one of many famous band leaders who mimick the sound of black band leaders like Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway....He embraced the music and a few blacks played in his orchestra....but he disappeared under great suspicion cuz back then "n" lovers were not tolerated under ANY circumstances....

BTW: The Beatles became famous NOT cuz they were WHITE but because they had a BLACK sound. "I wanna hold your hands" is an example of the type of "cut" a "negro" singer would have put out during the sixties-which instantly made them extremely popular around the world.

Very well said Sistah Koco.
I am so glad You wrote that in
response.

Dorsey I'm sure is like of a lot of whites in those days who heard the amazing sound of Black choirs...---Kocolicious

I am on your side.

You have some things wrong, but I agree with much of your analysis.

It is important for you to know that Thomas Dorsey... who generally considered 'The Father of Gospel Music'...was not a 'white' man.

Thomas A. Dorsey was an African American-American.

Again, I am offering a link to his biography.

http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608001679/Thomas-A-Dorsey.html

Thomas A. Dorsey is to African American religious music as W. C. Handy was to 'The Blues'.

In fact, Thomas A. Dorsey and W. C. Handy were contemporaries.

Thank you for helping our children know the men and women who have /lifted them up'.

PEACE

Jim Chester