Freedom of Expression

As an audience member, dance is the single most freeing and inspiring way to listen and interact with music. Dance allows for the complete emersion of one’s self into music, and proves to be a creative outlet for self expression that will never die. However, in order for dance to thrive, and to keep its place among the many tends that have come and faded over the course of history within American pop culture, it must constantly evolve. This evolution of dance is driven by one key factor, bound within the music itself, steadily driving it forever onward: rhythm. The dynamic evolution of percussion and rhythm over the history of popular music in black america has directly influenced popular styles of dance in the United States beginning with the introduction of new and unique playing techniques and instruments, from as early as the Gospel era, and continues to affect dance in popular styles of music today.

Starting as early as the antebellum period, dance has held a prominent place in culture. Dena Epstein, prominent author on the subject of music in the antebellum south, describes the percussive nature of Afro-diasporic music in her book Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: black folk music to the Civil War published in 1977. “African Survivals” showcases early percussion instruments that may have had an affect on dance, including “a cylinder...headed by a sheepskin,” “two sheep shank bones,” and “a long calabash filled with pebbles,” (Epstein 135). These percussive instruments provided the rhythmic content necessary to stipulate dance in these antebellum Afro-diasporic communities. “The women were shuffling and leaping in a circle clapping,” (Epstein 130). This proves that dance was as much part of popular culture in the 1800’s as it is today.

Choosing to look closer to the present, Ragtime music played an incredibly large role in spurring the evolution of dance in early America. Although Ragtime was not known for its use of drums or percussion, it was its percussive use of the piano that drove dance to progress forward in its remarkable evolution. Scott Joplin’s Ragtime Dance (1901) is a perfect example of this percussive playing style. Playing in this style resulted in style of dance build on syncopation, with fast and beats alternated through improvisation. This link will take you to a video presentation provided by DancetimePublications showcasing this inspired field of dance includes tutorials on several popular dance patterns from 1910 through 1920.

New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, started a dance craze that swept the nation. This new style of dance, referred to as jazz dance, was inspired by the percussive shuffle pattern [0:28] often associated with jazz music. Much of New Orleans Jazz was played along to the clapping of percussionists until the mainstream introduction of the drum set to Jazz music in the mid 1920’s, which resulted in more of a swing dance feel. This revolutionary