Part 1 : 

https://blackthen.com/history-behind-term-cake-wal…

Read the introduction through the discussion about Vaudeville. Stop before reading about Latin Jazz.

Watch/Read the next three links then answer these questions:

1) What is the connection of African slaves to jazz dance and music?

2) Blackface was first worn by who when performing?

3) At least 3 perspectives on why blackface was used by black performers were discussed in your text and the video. Give two.

4) What is the “cakewalk”? What is another name for this competition? What were your impressions of the movement in the cakewalk (link to video was at the end of the article linked below)?

5) What was vaudeville?

6) Within the quote from Richard Kislan, the vaudeville circuit is mentioned. What was a “vaudeville circuit”? You will need to do a little research and inferring on this one.

Part 2:

Continue reading the chapter. Stop before Musical Theater.

Answer these questions:

1) Latin Jazz was a fusion of what?

Clave sound

2) How were the clubs of the “Harlem Renaissance” described in your text?

Dances mentioned:

Charleston

Black Bottom

3) How did dancers/writers Mike Moore and Liz Williamson define jazz dance? (Do not quote; restate in your own words)

4) The author of your text notes that there is a misconception of what jazz dance is that many commercial choreographers fall into. What is it? 

5) What is meant by “syncopated rhythm” in jazz dance?

6) How does a dancer develop personal style?

Part 3 :

Read the Musical Theater section of Chap. 9

Answer these questions: 

1) Why was The Black Crook significant to dance?

2) What was the significance of Shuffle Along?

3) What was Seymour Felix’s contribution to musical theater?

4) Who choreographed the dream sequence of Oklahoma? Why was this an important work within musical theater?

5) After watching the dream sequence from Oklahoma (linked later in the module), what do you believe the storyline of the dream was?

Part 4:

READING:

From the very first feature length “talkie”, 1927’s The Jazz Singer, Hollywood was all musicals all the time. These early musical films featured little of the naturalism that defines most contemporary cinema; instead they served up grand, theatrical affairs for audiences that were already well-accustomed to stage musicals, radio shows, and vaudeville. The movie musical was a way for audiences and creators alike to ease into an unfamiliar medium with a familiar genre.

Film studios in the early 30’s competed to outdo one another with over the top spectacles, churning out a glut of formulaic musical revues. However cash strapped audiences suffering through the Great Depression quickly tired of such repetition and demanded more. Enter Busby Berkley, a Broadway dance director snatched up by Warner Brothers to save the movie musical from obscurity. Berkley’s major innovation was to set his cameras in motion using custom built booms and monorails, making the audience/camera a part of the choreography. This new technique stunned and excited audiences as a part of Warner Brothers’ hit 1933 film Forty Second Street.

Busby Berkeley, original name William Berkeley Enos, (born November 29, 1895, Los Angeles, California, U.S.—died March 14, 1976, Palm Springs, California), American motion-picture director and choreographer who was noted for the elaborate dancing-girl extravaganzas that he created on film. Using innovative camera techniques, he revolutionized the genre of the musical in the Great Depression era.

The quintessential Berkeley frame depicts a circle of dancing girls – scantily dressed, perfectly synchronised, beaming from ear to ear – making kaleidoscopic patterns for a downward-facing, God’s-eye camera.

The Musical Magic of Busby Berkeley | Watch His Best on Warner Archive!

*Busby Berkeley

As other studios replicated the Berkley style throughout the 1930’s dance became a more important component of movie musicals than ever before (or ever again). This focus on dance also increased the importance of the individual dancers. Each Hollywood studio had its own stars on contract, perhaps none more remembered than RKO’s Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. This dynamic duo starred in movie musicals throughout the 1930’s, such as The Gay Divorcee and Top Hat, setting the standard for movie musicals, and inevitably establishing a new formula.

TOP HAT, Mark Sandrich, 1935 – Heaven

Movie musicals hit their peak popularity in the 1940’s when a war weary populace flocked to the theatres for a fun and glamorous diversion. In 1945, the year of the war’s end, six of the top ten box-office hits were musicals. But the 1940’s were also a golden age for the craft of the movie musical. A new generation of talent, both in front and behind the camera, crafted complex characters and stories that increasingly used song, dance and music as an integral part of the narrative, rather than a mere diversion.

At the center of all this talent and innovation was the famous Arthur Freed unit at MGM Pictures. Freed built his initial reputation in 1939 with the legendary film The Wizard of Oz, and went on to supervise forty more musicals over the next twenty years, including classics like On the Town, Bells are Ringing, and Gigi. Freed’s success was due not only to his individual talent, but also for his ability to put together teams of diverse abilities in order to create films “the total film musical experience.” One of his most fruitful partnerships was with the former Broadway director Vincente Minnelli, whom Freed lured to MGM in 1940. Freed and Minnelli’s collaboration yielded a lengthy list of legendary films, including the 1944 classic Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), with its immortal standards “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “The Boy Next Door,” and “The Trolley Song.”

The Fall From Grace

By the late 50’s, the invention of television was cutting into the popularity, and thus the profits, of Hollywood. For better or worse, the studios became reluctant to invest in original musicals and the trend of Broadway adapting movie musicals began to reverse itself as Hollywood increasingly looked to the stage for source material.

To be fair, Hollywood’s reliance on Broadway resulted in more than a mere recycling of old material and in a number of instances resulted in enduring films that rivaled the stage version in the public’s imagination. In 1968, Barbara Streisand won an Academy Award when she reprised her role as Fanny Brice in the film adaptation of Funny Girl. And Bob Fosse repeatedly demonstrated the stage musical’s cinematic potential by directing film adaptations of Sweet Charity and Cabaret, for which he won an Academy Award as well.

However, despite a number of film musical gems to emerge in the 60’s and 70’s, film studios mostly struggled to translate the magic of Broadway onto the silver screen. Man of La Mancha, Finian’s Rainbow, and Mame all stalled at the film box office.  Cinematic sensibilities were beginning to diverge from those of the stage musical. Popular films such as Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate and Easy Rider defined a new era of Hollywood that was grittier, darker and more naturalistic. By the 1980’s, the only film characters to break out into spontaneous song were of the animated variety. Disney built a film musical empire, often featuring the music of acclaimed Broadway writers like Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken, but in regards to an adult audience it was once again looking like the movie musical was done for.

Question of this reading:

1) How did Busby Berkley “save the movie musical”?

2) Why were people “flocking” to musicals during the 1940s?

3) Why did musicals lose popularity in the 1950s?

Part 5:

Choose one of the following musicals. Watch the entire musical then discuss: (You can write or record) Please, watch these musicals keeping in mind WHEN they were made. They may not espouse current cultural views.

1) how the dancing was integrated into the storyline of the musical – give examples

2) which dances were your favorites and why (at least two)

3) general comments about the musical that show you watched the entire musical

Google to find a site to watch the musical. If you have netflix or amazon prime or … you may be able to find one of them there. All of them can be watched online but some of the sites you have to register for. 

Here are your choices: (Please, watch one you have never seen or one you have not seen in a long time)

Stormy Weather

Singing In the Rain

7 Brides for 7 Brothers

Gypsy

Guys & Dolls

High Society

Cabaret

42nd Street

Royal Wedding

Pajama Game

Kismet

West Side Story (1961 version)

Part 6:

• The following teachers codified the instruction of jazz technique.
• 1) What is the meaning of “codify” as it applies to dance technique? You will need to google this.Katherine Dunham (“The Grand Master of Jazz”)Use the following video to answer thee questions
• :2) What was Katherine Dunham’s college degree? (level and field)
• 3) What styles of dance did she incorporate into her jazz dance technique?4) “In her final years” she received honorary degrees in Fine arts from where?
  • Biography 
  • Jack Cole
    • “Father of Jazz Dance” (Broadway Jazz)
    • Influenced many choreographers of musical theater
    • Focused on the kinds of dance that were more at home in dance clubs than the ballet studio 
  • Watch and answer:Jack Cole5) What are some of the elements that Jack Cole “fused” into his style of jazz?6) Name the female dancer who Jack Cole is credited with shaping, who later was called his muse. “You have to get the person out of the way before you can bring the dancer out.” -Jack Cole7) What was the Cole trademark that Vernon displayed in On the Riviera?Bob Fossihttps://dancespirit.com/legendary-moves-nov-2011/#:~:text=Fosse%20is%20best%20known%20for,toes%20and%20specific%2C%20detailed%20movements.8) What types of movement does Fossi’s style include?9) In the article you just read, his style is described as “deceptively simple”, includes “theatricality”, and incorporated “Fosse action words”. Watch the following videos, then discuss in a couple of sentences using examples from each video of how you saw these demonstrated.

Part 7 : 

Finish reading the chapter.

Answer these questions:

1) What cultural dances were blended to create tap dance? Note: The author does not state that this blending was intentional. The blending occurred as different cultures mixed and influenced each other.

2) How does the author define tap dance? How is the sound created? 

3) List and describe the different styles of tap. 

All dance that creates rhythms and have metal on the bottom of the shoe are NOT tap. Other styles that are based on rhythm and have metal on the shoe to create sound: flamenco, clogging, Irish dancing

Part 8:

Watch the following tap videos. Write a one to two sentence reaction to each. Each of the dancers or styles is mentioned in your text.

Part 9:

Write a paper summarizing your thoughts after taking dance appreciation.

Discuss how your thoughts on dance have changed or evolved through this course. Did you discover things about dance that you did not previously know? Would you be interested in seeing more dance performances? Did your opinion of any styles change? These are prompts; you do not have to address them all.