Essay on History and Context of Jazz Dance: Analysis of Musical 'Hamilton'

In this essay, I am going to discuss the history and development of jazz dance for musical theatre. I am going to do this by exploring the works of Andy Blankenbuehler who choreographed ‘Hamilton’ and Jerome Robbins who choreographed West Side Story. These two shows are incredibly different in their choreography. For example, in ‘Hamilton’ the choreography is a mash-up of styles, incorporating everything from jazz to hip-hop to swing to jitterbug., whereas the choreography in West Side Story is a glorious melee of jazzy, balletic explosions of dance. I am going to be talking about these choreographers because Robbins is an older choreographer, and Blankenbuehler is more modern, which means that I can explore the shift and development in dance through their works. I am going to be looking at different movement phrases in specific moments in each of these pieces and comparing and contrasting them. I will be looking at their characterization of the moves, for example, how are they performing them, what expression the performers have on their faces, what dynamics are they using, and whether are they all moving in unison. Once I have explored these things, I will reflect on how it affects the audience and what it portrays to them. However, I will not only be looking at the difference between these two pieces, but I will also be exploring the key similarities in the choreography. I will also explain the shift and development by exploring and talking about historical context and current trends in choreography, as well as costume.

History and context of jazz dance:

The roots of jazz dance came from Africa, which then made its way over to America during the slave trade, where enslaved Africans would perform their traditional dances. These dances provided us with the foundation of the jazz dance technique we use today. Jazz dance was then taken and passed on by traveling musicians. This influenced the rhythm, which, in turn, had an effect on the dynamics of the movements. In the late 19th century and continuing on into the 20th century, jazz dance trends were introduced. This included things like the Charleston, swing, and jitterbug. In the 1940s and 50s, jazz dance was featured a lot in ballroom dancing and during that time, jazz dance technique began to be studied. In the 1980s and through into the 21st century, jazz dance became extremely popular on stage and also on screen. This meant that it reached a wider audience and allowed more people to be introduced to the magical style. Nowadays we have many different styles of jazz within the main genre; modern, commercial, Broadway, and many more. They each bring a new spice and life to the traditional jazz dance are honored to come from.

In the 1920s jazz, music and dance became extremely popular and in 1921, the first noticeable fashion change happened. ‘Drop waist’ dresses became all the range, with extravagant accessories like long, pearl necklaces. These dresses would often be embroidered with gold sequins and had low V-shaped necklines. Nowadays, jazz dancewear is rather different. The main focus for jazz wear now is for the clothing to not be restrictive. Jazz dancers normally wear tight, leotards and jazz shoes. However, when it comes to jazz dance being performed, costumes are extremely varied and tend to reflect the style of jazz dance. For example, when a commercial is performed, they will usually wear lose fitting, baggy clothes. Jazz dancewear tends to follow fashion trends of the time. For example, flapper dresses were all the range in the 20s, so dancers would wear sparkly, glamorized flapper dresses to perform.

Introduction of jazz dance to musical theatre:

Jazz became a popular style of dance within musical theatre in the 1930s. The 1930s was a decade of much confusion and uncertainty politically and socially. citizens were still dealing with the aftermath of WW1 and poverty was prominent with the persistent worldwide depression. Entertainment and cinemas were extremely popular, as people wanted to escape their lives and be emersed in a world of romance and glamour, even if only for a little while. Musical films also became very popular in the 30s, with most of the successful films coming from America.

Fred Astaire was an American choreographer and triple threat from Nebraska. In their 20s he became an incredibly important face on Broadway. Astaire's choreography created a unique dance style that brought elegance to the dancer's image. He blended the flowing steps of ballet with the abruptness of jazz movements and was the first dancer at that time to dance every musical note so that the rhythmic pattern of the music was mirrored in the dance steps. The use of his collaboration of ballet and jazz created a new style that is still used often today.

Jack Cole was an American dancer and choreographer, who had a majorly successful career. Jack Cole, Cole's technique, is the basis of what American theatrical dance is Today. He was extremely good at training both male and female dancers in the same way, as he wanted everyone to look similar in the way they performed the movements. He often said - I want you boys to dance like girls and I want you, girls, to dance like men. His understanding of dance was incredible, he learned and understood the origins of jazz dance and learned the different styles and techniques from modern to the Caribbean. Through his choreography, the use of the different styles, I think, really plays tribute to the origins of jazz dance.

Comparing and contrasting two choreographers:

Andy Blankenbuehler is an American dancer and choreographer from Ohio. Just some of his amazing choreography work includes In the Heights, Bring It On: the musical, and of course, Hamilton. He spent a year working for Disney, then went to New York, where his successful career began at the age of 20. He is a firm believer in chasing your dreams; Dare to dream big... but the bigger your dreams, the harder you have to work. Jerome Robbins was born in New York, where he went on to become a dancer and celebrated choreographer. Throughout his successful career, he choreographed shows like; West Side Story, Fiddler on The Roof, and ‘Gypsy’. In 1961, he worked on the movie musical West Side Story, which he went on to win an Oscar for. Both of these legendary choreographers are majorly successful and had incredible careers, creating some of the world's most successful and popular musicals.

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Hamilton ends up being sort of like a ballet in many respects - Blankenbuehler. The use of jazz and hip-hop is also included in this legendary musical. The use of dance in this musical is very literal and helps move the story along; cabinet meetings are rap battles, and bullets are personified through movement.

Benna Crawford quoted: Every snap, flick of the wrist, and audacious step is a declaration of bravado, arrogance, threat, and conflict. Welcome to West Side Story, where the movement tells the story. This shows the similarity between the two pieces, that the choreography is used to move the story along or represent something significant within the storyline. Blankenbuehler said in an interview that he borrowed a movement here and there from Broadway and Hollywood greats such as Bob Fosse, Fred Astaire, Jack Cole, and Jerome Robbins. Robbins choreographed West Side Story, therefore, they both contain similar aspects.

In ‘Hamilton’, the room where it happens is noticeably one of the most prominent jazz numbers in the show. In this number, Aaron Burr rages about being left out of the discussions and decision-making between Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. The song takes on a theme you could find in a Fosse musical. Blankenbuehler uses a number of classic Fosse moves in this number. For example, splayed fingers, jazz arms, and turned-in positions. Sharp, small kicks and chaine turns are also used. You can really see, at this moment in the show, the influence of Bob Fosse. However, you can also see hints of hip-hop in the dance. This is shown by the hunched over, relaxed posture and bent knees. You'll pick up hints of the cellblock tango from Fosse's Chicago. - The Washington Post.

The prologue in ‘West Side Story sets up the story for the audience. This classic musical is a journey of two rival gangs and the relationships that are formed between these two gangs. In the prologue, we first meet the Jets. They start by snapping their fingers, which progressively gets faster. They then begin walking around and interacting with different people. For example, stealing someone's basketball and playing with it. Whilst doing this, they are continually clicking their fingers. This all comes across as very intimidating and threatening. To further create this feeling, they use lots of traveling steps to cover a big distance in a small amount of time. Just some of the traveling steps they use are step ball changes, chaine turns, and jumps leaps. Because they perform the traveling movements at such a speed it implies that the Jets are strong and powerful. They then begin traveling down a New York street using side kicks with straight jazz line arms. These kicks are extremely fast and strong which, again, I think gives off an intimidating and aggressive tone to the way they are performing the moves. They then run into the Sharks. We then get an introduction to the Sharks, which starts with a fist being banged on a wall with a strong force, whilst looking straight into the camera. This gives off an aggressive and threatening vibe. I think that this immediately gives off a more sinister feel than what the Jest gives off. Three of the Sharks then repeat step turns into step ball changes down a street which has ‘Jets’ painted on the floor. They dance right over the name on the floor which signifies the hate these two gangs have for each other.

I think that even though ‘the room where it happens’ and ‘the prologue’ use many similar steps and movements, the feelings they both give off are completely different. In ‘Hamilton’ the use of the jazz dance helps show Burr's rage and anger in a fun way, whereas in ‘West Side Story’ it is used to introduce two sinister, rival gangs in an aggressive way. However, they both use very similar movements. For example, the sharp kicks and chaine turns are classic jazz dance moves that are incorporated into both of these pieces.

In ‘Hamilton’, ‘guns and ships’ opens with Burr singing the first part of the song. It is quite slow, there is no choreography and just a spotlight on him, therefore we can really focus and listen to what he is saying. The song drastically changes into an incredibly fast rap song. The ensemble around Lafayette breaks out into different commercial-style choreography sequences. They are all doing fast-paced movements, which compliments the change of tempo in the music and lyrics. I also think it resembles the hectic feeling and chaos there would be on the front line of a war. Then they all synchronize and the dancers on different sides of the stage mirror each other with the movements. They do arm ripples and arm extensions all aimed at center stage, they then salute, facing towards Lafayette, and then move to different positions. In my opinion, the fact that it is performed mirrored and all of the arm movements are towards the other opposite side of the dancers resembles the two sides of the war, the two army's aiming for one another.

As you can see, ‘Hamilton’ and 'West Side Story' both use similar styles of jazz dance and also lots of similar moves, however, they also both use different adaptations of traditional jazz dance as well. For example, ‘Hamilton’ also uses commercials, whereas ‘West Side Story’ uses Latin. Even though they use different styles of jazz, in both of these shows ‘the movement tells the story’. In my opinion, you can definitely see where Blankenbuehler has taken his inspiration from Jerome Robbins as both of these pieces contain similar and if not, the same moves. The use of more modern jazz styles in ‘Hamilton’ compared to the more traditional jazz styles used in ‘West Side Story’ shows the shift and development that has been made in jazz dance over the years. You can also see this shift through how different the costumes are in these two shows.

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