The Dances of the Roaring 20's

The Dances of the Roaring 20's

The Roaring 20's was a time where money was plentiful. Wall Street was successful and bonds were being sold left and right. The Roaring 20's were a time for partying, drinking, a lot of open PDA, and spending money to look flashier than ever. The majority was living the lavish life and living it to the fullest. Along with the partying came new music such as jazz and the dances were less conservative than before. New dances were created for instance the Cake Walk, at the same time dances were update such as the Foxtrot that was originally created in 1910 by a man named Henry Fox.

In the past, dances were very conservative. The men and women never touched, they just stepped side to side together. The females clothing hid everything and there was not an opportunity for the man to see anything unless they were married. When the 1920's came around the dresses got shorter and not much was left to the imagination. If you partied like Gatsby you came out every weekend and partied all weekend. If you were anything like Klipspringer you just moved right in because you were going to be at every party anyhow.

A 1920's party was wild and the music was loud. Everybody was drinking, dancing, and having fun. The main factor that led to such huge parties was WWI. The young men were going to war leaving behind young women. (www.myilstu.edu) This then created a new attitude for women believing they could do anything a man could do. This attitude was mostly pinpointed at women called flappers, who were very reckless, fast living and loved to dance. (www.myilstu.edu) With the help of the Jazz Age and it's upbeat music "flappers" became more abundant and that led to new dances like the Foxtrot, the Black Bottom, and the Shimmy. The older generation called the dances "wild and outrageous" but that was because they couldn't keep up with the younger, wilder generation. (www.myilstu.edu) Flappers did more than just dancing for fun; they would enter dance competitions for prizes, money, and a reputation. Dance marathons were the main events in the city and mostly young people attended.

In order for you to win these marathons you had to know how to dance your butt off. It was more than a little fancy step there and a turn here, you had to give it your all. An example it the Charleston, it was the most popular 1920's dance. It consisted of bending and straightening the knees and combining that with outward heel kicks making and up and down movement. These movements could have a bounce or move in a half circle. (www.myilstu.edu) If you wanted to you could spice it up and add some swing to it. Another popular dance was the Foxtrot which came in many different forms. One form is the social foxtrot which is more like ballroom dancing but there is also a form where it looks like you're hoping on one leg from side to side