Crazy 1920's Dances

"Dancing began to actively involve the upper body for the first time as women began shaking their torsos in the Shimmy. Young people took to throwing their arms and legs in the air with reckless abandon and hopping or "toddling" every step in the Foxtrot, and soon every collegiate was doing a new dance; the Toddle. No dance epitomizes the spirit and exhuberance of the 20's for us more than the Charleston. The Charleston was introduced to the public in the Ziegfield Follies of 1923 by the all black cast of a show called "Runnin' Wild.", which was written by James P Johnson. From its theatrical origins the Charleston became immensely popular all across America. The overwhelming popularity of the Charleston inspired choreographers and dance teachers to fabricate and promote several new fad dances to a public hungry for novelty. On the heels of the Charleston followed the Black Bottom, which like many jazz era dances was adapted from black theater dance and the Varsity Drag which was introduced in the Broadway musical "Good News."

Attn Viewers: I believe all audio and visuals on this video to be in the public domain. This video is being presented as a history on dance in the 1920's. It is not meant to infringe on anyone's copyrighted material. I will remove the video if you hold the copyright on any material presented or will post a statement crediting the party for the material, whichever is best.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• 1920's
• Dance
• Shimmy
• Toddle
• Black
• Bottom
• 78rpm

[Uyusanis]

Hello there and thanks for a great clip.

Would anyone like to please write a tracklist for this? As I am quite interested in getting hold of some of the songs which were played.

[pax41]

@Uyusanis Most of the song titles are in the video. They are: I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate, Chicago, The Charleston, The Black Bottom and Varsity Drag. That is the order of the songs. I think the first 3 are all by Paul Whiteman, 2 and 3 for sure. The Black Bottom is by Annette Hanshaw and the Varsity Drag I don't remember off hand right now.

[PyraBurns]

Great music, but the title is really misleading. There is no dancing, only still pictures. :(

[pax41]

@PyraBurns The photos still depict the various dances being performed. I wanted to match the music to the dance but don't have films of these dances.

[emersontotalyconfuse]

This is an encyclopedia of (great) music, very good ! :)

[pax41]

One of my early posts and had not quite perfected the transfer technique but glad you enjoyed this.

[TCDS75]

Adoro este tipo de música. ¡Deliciosa! Recuerda aquellos años. (los 20)

[southwestpiano]

Please credit the great James p. Johnson, the composer of Runnin' Wild including The Charleston !

[pax41]

This is not from any album Jim. These songs are taken from 78's in my collection and put together for this presentation.

[kaskostl]

The story about the shimmy is that Gilda Gray was dancing in the Ziegfeld Follies. Someone asked, "What's that dance you're doing?" "I'm shaking my chemise," Gray answered. Hence the shimmy, the shimmy sha-wobble and many more vivid and X-rated versions. (Well, suggestive anyhow.)

See streetswings dance archives on the web. There was always a dance team in the Follies, and in many a sports movie, too. See "Pride of the Yankees." That couple filmed a history of dance and did a great maxixe.