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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Double Dutch Jump Rope In Television Programming


Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases four examples of television programming that focus on the playground activity or the competitive sport of Double Dutch jump rope. These examples are a McDonalds commercial, a xbox 360 commercial, a segment of a Sesame Street television program, and an excerpt of the Disney channel movie Jump In!

Links to information and articles about Double Dutch Jump Rope are foound in the Related Links section below.

The content of this post is presented for historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

WARNING:
Some Double Dutch videos on Youtube contain images and language that are not suitable for children.

FEATURED VIDEOS
These examples are presented in chronological order with the oldest examples posted first. The year or decade that I believe the example was produced is given in brackets after the video title.

Video #1: VINTAGE 80'S MCDONALD'S DOUBLE DUTCH COMMERCIAL [1980]



tracy80sgirl, Uploaded on Jul 29, 2009

Sadly, I can only skip a single rope. But what a feelgood McDonald's commercial!
-snip-
From a comment to this video by Dr. Kyra Gaunt, author of the award winning book The Games Black Girls Play, the Double Dutch jumpers in this video were members of the world champion Fantastic Four Double Dutch team.

According to the article http://www.oppositionalconversations.org/Between-Street-Culture-and-Global-Sport-Double-Dutch-s-Turning-Points-1, unfortunately as a result of these girls being a part of that commercial, they could no longer compete in Double Dutch competitions, nor could they receive scholarships as amateur athletes.

That same article includes a critique of Dr. Gaunt's involvement in a documentary about Double Dutch.
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I’m not sure whether this McDonald’s jingle was used as a playground rhyme before this commercial or not, but the commercial probably resulted in the popularization of that jingle as a playground rhyme. Click http://cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes for examples of this jingle and for other examples of rhymes that have been chanted while playing Double Dutch.

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Video #2: Sesame Street - Jump Rope Contest [late 1980s]



Jonnytbirdzback, Uploaded on Jan 21, 2009

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Video #3 Jump Rope [2006]



napalmdest, Uploaded on Apr 23, 2006

Xbox 360 commercial
-snip-
Xbox 360 is a brand name for a video game console.

This "Jump In" commercial by McCann-Erickson won the 2006 Best of Show Addy award [American Advertising Federation (AAF)]
From http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/13/xbox-360-jump-rope-ad-wins-addy/ "This extreme double Dutch jump rope jam metaphorically captures the excitement and social aspect of the new generation XBOX 360. It was shot completely in-camera in one take. This is a beautifully crafted piece of work, and the soundtrack is inspired."

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Video #4 'Jump In' Final Dance [2007]



Angiebcn, Uploaded on Jul 15, 2007
just this... final dance of the film 'Jump In', enjoy ;)
This vid is property of Disney Channel, not mine.
***NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED***

First song: It's my turn by Keke PAlmer
Second song: Push it to the limit by Corbin Bleu
-snip-
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump_In! for information about this movie.

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RELATED LINKS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Dutch_(jump_rope) This page provides a general description & history of the playground activity of Double Dutch and the competitive sport of Double Dutch.
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http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/03/text-messaging-styles-black-slang-in.html Text Messaging Styles & Black Slang In A Double Dutch Video Comment Thread
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http://www.oppositionalconversations.org/Between-Street-Culture-and-Global-Sport-Double-Dutch-s-Turning-Points-1

This article provides information about the development of Double Dutch from a playground activity to its institutionalization as a sport and its use in commercials & other media. One of the opinions presented in this article is that African American girls were the population who were at the forefront of the Double Dutch playground activity have been largely displaced & co-opted by the institutionalized sport of Double Dutch and by most of the media documentaries & programming which have a Double Dutch theme.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to the performers who are featured in these videos. Thanks also to the producers, trainers, and others responsible for these videos, and thanks to the uploaders of these videos.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Viewer comments are welcome.

3 comments:

  1. Cool videos! Takes me back to my childhood jumping rope outside. I jumped so much that the neighborhood kids began calling me "double dutch d" lol!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comment, D. Lew.

      I remember watching other kids play double dutch. I tried but I couldn't jump double dutch or turn the ropes [sigh].

      So I giv you props for being able to do that.

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    2. The majority of these groups originated in NYC. Some of these groups that have appeared in many of the earlier commercials are the Fantastic Four, Jumpers IN Command, and Jumping Joints. I was one of the many coaches who were involved with the double dutch competitions. My group, Jumpers in Command, were fortunate to be selected to appear in many of these commercials. The other two groups were also fortunate enough to be in many as well. This also opened up the opportunity to travel to many areas of the U.S, and around the world. I know that the groups mentioned above have traveled to Europe
      My group, has continued to jump. They have traveled to; Africa, Japan, South America, the West Indies and a number of other locations. They "game", which is also a form of great exercise and very competitive completion, has enabled these participants to have lifelong memories and experiences few would ever think possible. My name is Larry Adelson, and I am thankful for all the great experiences we have shared. You may google the group Jumpers in Command, or check out one of our websites www.jumpersincommanddoubledutch.com , Anyone interested in information about the sport, you can reach me at that site.

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