| A Brief History Of Jive |
| Written by Jeff Rivera |
| Saturday, 29 August 2009 22:04 |
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Jive is a fun dance, rhythmical, swinging, fast, and very energy-consuming. It's certainly one of the best ways to improve your fitness. It is characterized by the kicking and flicking movements of the feet and it's very bouncy.
Jive is a fun dance, rhythmical, swinging, fast, and very energy-consuming. It's certainly one of the best ways to improve your fitness. It is characterized by the kicking and flicking movements of the feet and it's very bouncy. Jive is popular throughout the world and is one of the five dances performed in International Latin competitions. In this article we will take a peek into the history of jive. Jive is a 20th century dance. It evolved in 1930s and 1940s in the U.S. from early swing dances like Boogie-Woogie, Lindy Hop, Blues Swing, and Jitterbug. Many dance moves like underarm turns and swivels show this connection. During the WWII American soldiers brought the dance to Europe, where it quickly became popular among the young. It was exciting, new, and fast, especially compared to waltz and foxtrot which were the standard dances at the time. The dance style known as Modern Jive was developed after the war by the French. They adapted it a bit and mixed in some Latin elements. Although it hasn't originated in Latin America, in 1968, it became one of the fifth Latin American dance in competitions. Jive is usually danced to music written in 4/4 time (four beats to a measure). The rhythm is 1, 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6. Music is often fast. The good thing about modern Jive is that it can be danced to almost any style of music - latin, rock, pop - as long as it has a steady beat. The basic Jive steps are very easy. They follow a simple six beat sequence and consist of a rock step, chasse to the left and chasse to the right. Today, Jive is still very popular all over the world. It's fun, upbeat, energetic, and definitely worth a try. About the Author: Jive is not that hard to learn. If you're interested, visit learn to jive and take a look at how to do the jive video. |