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Supplementary Readings
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The Chalk Line Walk as it was originally known became popular around
1850 in the Southern Plantations. It originated in Florida by the
African！American slaves who got the basic idea from the Seminole
Indians (couples walking solemnly). Many of the special movements
of the cake！walk, the bending back of the body, and the dropping
of the hands at the wrists, amongst others, were a distinct feature
in certain tribes of the African Kaffir dances. The Breakdown and
Walk Around a Minstrel parody later to be named the Cakewalk was
one of the main sources of the Chalk Line Walk.These "Walkers"
as they were called, would walk a straight line and balance buckets
of water on their heads. Over time the dance evolved into an exaggerated
parody of the white, upper class ballroom figures who would imitate
the mannerisms of the "Big House" (masters house) with
such dignified walking, bowing low, waving canes, doffing hats,
and high kicking grand promenade.
！！
By the 1890's, the Cakewalk was the hottest thing around and Charles
Johnson & Dora Dean are said to have introduced the Cakewalk
in 1893. However in 1889 The Creole Show would feature the Cakewalk
and in 1892 the first Cakewalk contest was held in a New York ballroom.
Williams and Walker Inspired a Cakewalk in the play "Clorindy"
origin of the Cakewalk. The Cakewalk sheet music would also list
the March and Two-Step as dance options to the song so white audiences
would be interested in buying it even if they did not know the Cakewalk.
It was first introduced upon the Broadway stage by Dave Genaro.
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The Idea of the Cakewalk was that of a couple promenading in a dignified
manner, high stepping and kicking, mimicking high society. Some
of the better plantation owners would bake a cake on Sundays and
invite the neighbors over and have a contest of the slaves, different
prizes were given but originally it was a cake and whoever won would
get the cake´ thus the term "That Takes The Cake!" and
the name "Cakewalk" was now set. The Minstrel shows of
the time would paint their faces black and at the end of the show
would do a "Grand Finale," which often times was the Cakewalk.
！！
The competition dancers were called "Walkers" and these
dance contests grew very big, such as the National Cakewalk Jubilee
in New York City as well as others, where the champions would receive
gold belts and diamond rings.
There were two categories of contests:
1) the "Grand Straight Cakewalk" ( regular type) and
2) the "Fancy Cakewalk", (Dressed up type)
the doors would open at 7:00p.m., contest at 11:00p.m., and dancing
would continue till 5:00am. These Cakewalk dance contests eventually
would be held in big cities as Tin-Pan Alley would make a fortune
off of the dance and the Rag- time music they would produce.
！！
The Cakewalk was the first American dance to cross over from black
to white society as well as from the stage (Minstrel shows) to ballroom.
The Cakewalk would be the window for other African-American dances
to enter white society in the future. The Cakewalk eventually died
in the 1920's, but there were still traces of the Cakewalk in the
newer, more modern forms of dance, even the Lindy hop had the Apache
and the Cakewalk thrown in as can be seen in the "Shorty George"
video clip in "At The Jazz Band Ball" Video.
！！
In Ireland, There was a practice of offering a cake to the best
Jig Dancer on the Sunday get togethers. These dancers would do a
Penny Jig, which the dancer would pay the Fiddler a Penny after
dancing, trying to win the cake. Qouting from Mrs. Lully's Book:
"Although the fare of Sunday seldom rises beyond the accustomed
potatoes and milk of the rest of the week, some few halfpence are
always spared to purchase the pleasures which the Sunday cake bestows.
This cake set upon a distaff is the signal of pleasure and becomes
the reward of talent; it is sometimes carried off by the best dancer,
sometimes by the archest wag of the company."
Note:
The Champion Strut (1954) was a mixture of the Lambeth Walk, Cakewalk
and Swing.
Swinging the Dream:
Big Band Jazz and the Rebirth of American Culture
Timothy E. Scheurer
It
was with great anticipation that I plunged into Lewis Erenberg's
most recent installment in what appears to be a comprehensive survey
of America's musical culture in the twentieth century. He kicked
off his journey through our musical odyssey with his very fine Steppin'
Out: New York Nightlife and the Transformation of American Culture,
1890-1930 and now in this volume he continues the story, this
time focusing on Big Band Jazz (or Swing) and how "it helped
pave the way for a musical renaissance that appealed to young people,
had interracial roots, and expressed many themes of the depression"
(xv). He states that the work "is part of a new jazz history
that analyzes the music's historical and cultural context, exploring
ways in which the music was performed and presented to the public
and meaning that audiences attached to it" (xvi-xvii). In the
process he suggests that American culture experienced a rebirth
built on pluralistic and egalitarian principles and offering youth
in particular a new definition of freedom.
The
virtues of this book are many. First, it is meticulously researched.
Erenberg has surveyed historical sources, musical (both pop and
jazz) sources, and cultural studies to frame his argument and then
augments these with interviews and other types of first-hand observations.
One of the best of these occurs in his discussion of the impact
of the band singer on the decline of big band jazz when he cites
comments by sailors and other men and women in Frederick Wiseman's
Shore Leave to help explain the hold that Frank Sinatra had on women
of the late '30s and early 40s' and how their allegiances shifted
from the front-men of the bands to the men at microphones doing
the singing.
Second,
although he downplays his musical acumen, he nonetheless does a
very commendable job in addressing the musical magic and impact
of big band jazz. He captures very well, for instance, the power
and intensity of the Basic band, detailing elements of their performance
practice and sound. In short, readers will walk away from the book
with a good feeling for the musical as well as extramusical factors
that made this "renaissance" a reality.
Third,
one of the strongest parts of the book is Erenberg's description
of the decline of the big bands, especially his material on the
rise of bop. Once again, drawing on primary sources and observations
by musicians and fans, he offers an excellent glimpse into the more
deeply rooted forces that upset the Swing applecart: fans who liked
Woody Herman because you couldn't dance to him; the internecine
warfare fought by critics; the intensity of the be-boppers' new
vision for jazz; and, finally, the simple exhaustion of the genre.
All
of this is presented in a relatively short and eminently readable
fashion. If one prefers the Ann Douglas Mongrel Days approach to
cultural analysis, one will be disappointed by this volume. I, however,
from a scholar's as well as a teacher's perspective, found the format
to be perfect.
I
have no idea if Professor Erenberg will be forging on into the 1950s
and 1960s, but if he does, I am sure he will have a ready band of
readers waiting eagerly for yet another lucid, probing, and readable
investigation into America's musical life.
Timothy E. Scheurer Franklin University
Related Websites
http://www.apassion4jazz.net/
http://www.tulane.edu/~lmiller/JazzHome.html
http://www.jass.com/jaztable.html
http://www.apassion4jazz.net/page3.html
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