@BRIGHTANDBOLDN
@BRIGHTANDBOLDN, November 1, 2024
Blair Underwood passed the vibe check ❤️—— Jennifer Hudson spirit tunnel #shorts
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Jennifer Hudson Show
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of this pancocojams series on the Jennifer Hudson Spirit Tunnel that was performed on October 30, 2024 by actor Blair Underwood.
This pancocojams post showcases the same YouTube video of actor Blair Underwood's Spirit Tunnel that is featured in Part I of this series, but focuses on Blair Underwood performance of Stroll line dance moves for his Spirit Tunnel.
This pancocojams post also showcases two YouTube videos of The Stroll line dance and presents some information about The Stroll line dance. In addition, this post presents some comments from the discussion thread of that first embedded 1950s Stroll video.
The Addendum to this pancocojams post showcases a YouTube video of Black teenagers or young adults performing a dance called "The Walk" which was an adaptation of The Stroll. That post also presents some information about The Stroll line dance. All of the comments from the discussion thread for that video are included in this pancocojams post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/01/blair-underwoods-jennifer-hudson-show.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post showcases a YouTube video short of Blair Underwood's December 2024 Jennifer Hudson Show's Spirit Tunnel. That post also includes my unofficial transcription of the lyrics to that song. Additions and corrections are welcome.
Selected comments from the discussion thread for that embedded YouTube video short is also included in that pancocojams post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Jennifer Hudson and the staff of the Jennifer Hudson Show for conceptualizing, creating, and performing celebrity Spirit Tunnels.Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/01/blair-underwoods-jennifer-hudson-show.html for the closely related pancocojams post "Blair Underwood's Jennifer Hudson Show Spirit Tunnel (video, lyrics, and comments)".
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-real-originators-of-late-1950s-line.html "The REAL Originators Of The Late 1950s Line Dance 'The Stroll' : Part I: General Information & Selected YouTube Comments"
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[This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series on The 1950s Stroll]
In addition, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/03/black-teens-and-buddy-deane-show-1957.html Black Teens And The Buddy Deane Show (Baltimore, Maryland televised weekly teenage dance show1957-1964)
and
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/09/negro-day-on-buddy-deane-show-1957-1964.html "Negro Day" On The Buddy Deane Show (1957-1964
Baltimore, Maryland Teen Dance Show)".
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES ABOUT THE JENNIFER HUDSON SHOW SPIRIT TUNNEL
"The Spirit Tunnel" is a pre-show feature of the Jennifer Hudson Show in which a celebrity guest or guest is/are surprised* by Jennifer Hudson staff performing short a cappella personalized self-created chants or songs, usually to the accompaniment of their hand claps and foot stomping or foot patting. The staff stands in two lines in a hallway leading to the studio. The lines face each other with space in the middle. The celebrity guests are expected to dance or strut down their Spirit Tunnel to the beat of the song or chant that the staff vocalizes. Brian Underwood performed Stroll moves for his Spirit Tunnel.
*Most of the earliest celebrities who experienced the Jennifer Hudson Show Spirit Tunnels from September through November 2024 were surprised by that pre-show taping feature. (One guest Courtney B. Vance wasn't surprised because two months before his appearance on the Jennifer Hudson Show, his wife Angela Bassett, had experienced her own Spirit Tunnel. As a result of the video of Angela Bassett's Spirit Tunnel and some other early Spirit Tunnels going viral on YouTube and Tik Tok, by December 2024, most celebrities who appeared on The Jennifer Hudson Show were aware that they would have their own Spirit Tunnel prior to their appearance on the actual talk show.
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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR VIDEO EXAMPLE #4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PajBJOnRYBI
These comments are presented in relative chronological order with the oldest comments given first. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
WARNING: Comment #15 is racist and is only included in this compilation for historical and socio-cultural purposes only. Some other comments in this compilation mention or allude to the assumption that all Black people can dance better than White people or other non-Black people.
2014
1. @brucedelaplain7138
"To the poster: please sync the music with the dancing. It makes no sense otherwise. ...Okay, now that I look further, I'm not even sure this is the music they were listening to. The music (which is awesome) stops and they just keep on dancing."
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Reply
2. @rgjraccoon
"Bruce Delaplain Sorry, but this is a WYSIWIG joint. The folks at the Iowa State University Libraries, in an abundance of caution, deleted the audio of the songs from the entire 35 minute kinescope from which this clip was taken.
I have three other videos that were culled from this kinescope. As I remember the other videos had tiny snips of the beginning and end of the songs. With that, I could go to Sound Forge and adjust the length of my song audio to match, as closely as I could, the length of the song in the video. See Maybe by The Chantels on my channel for what I was up against. One of the dancers began lip-syncing to the music at about 1 min 40 sec. It isn't perfect, but it's about as close as consumer grade software will do.
This is the recording to which the kids danced. The host announced the title and artist of the song at the start of the video. No, this one isn't synced up right and probably never will be. Iowa State Libraries completely clipped the end of the song audio on this one. What You See Is What You Get."
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3. @sierria64
"lol soul train line for 50's"
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4. @lasalleman
"Robot dancers."
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Reply
5. @JACQUELLE2001
"OK?!!"
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6. @owlcritic
"couple#2, dude, teach your girl to stroll, couple#3, yea you got it."
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Reply
7. @JeanneDeSilver
"+james garrity I love the girl in couple #2; she laughs as she strolls down the aisle. I would like it better if the couples would look at each other once in a while!"
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8. @ryanssongrs
"I guess we know where they got the soul train line from now...... Strollin"
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9. @theministersal702
"dosent anyone smile ? must be a borrrrrring dance...looks it....and so out of time.....oh well that was us then..."
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10. @jerryarnold9431
"I AM NOT A RACIST BUT ITS PRETTY STRANGE WATCHING WHITE PEOPLE TRYING TO DANCE"
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2015
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2016
11. @witheringi9492
"The guys are better dancers"
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Reply
12. @LuCas-ej1od
"yep. the girls are stiff!"
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13. @j-rich
"it os synced white people just dont have no rhythm"
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2017
14. @NathanThePrezPretlow
"WHERE THE BLACK STUDENTS ? What kind of fun is this.Thank god for the 1960's it's revolution is coming.F this so call innocent 1950's.That was a front to hide the racism on these dance tv shows."
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Reply
15. @nuttybar9
"Maybe they were in prison isn't that your favorite past time."
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16. @dianemillican9227
"I was 11yrsold when I learned the stroll in 1957!I can say I had a lot more rhythm then these kids"
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17. @eddieseymour9675
"Back in the 70s when I was a kid my mom taught me how to do this, she was a teen in the 50's so she loved this dance."
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18. @KandisG
"They don't look like they are having much fun at all! Smile kids! This is as good as it gets :)"
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2018
19. @bigdancd
"Talk about your two left feet! Someone should have taught these rich white kids how to dance. They're not even with the beat. Glad Momma sent this white kid to tap and modern jazz dance classes for 7 years. Helped me a lot when I became an adult."
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2019
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2020
20.@elcruzer5514
"I insisted on playing a stroll at my Senior Prom in 1974.
My girlfriend and I had been practicing,so we thought we were height of cool.
The Stroll hadn't been heard since the 60's.and everyone else was Pogoing."
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21. @TheWizardOfTheFens
"Nobody looks like they’re having fun!....."
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2021
22. @noreenceraulo8420
"This is the saddest looking group of strollers. We used imagination & turned around without always holding hands AND we smiled!! We had fun!!"
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23. @jacquelynthompson3283
"Just so basic do u have any video of Black people doing the stroll 🤷🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️"
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2022
24. @duanemiller4083
"They don't look like they enjoy dancing."
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Reply
25. @lindalaw8368, 2023
"They had stage fright and were scared of the camera. Either that or they used LSD. Damn."
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26. @sharonreeves2949
"Bless em, so nervous, barely a smile until the ordeal is over. The lads focussing so much on getting the steps right, they hardly pay attention to their company. Its a lovely window into the time, the delightful innocence of the age, despite it being affected by knowing they were being filmed. Did you see the girl start to laugh and the boy shush her? They were obviously told not to make a sound in front of the camera. Even though its a bit arteficial, it still shows the vast difference between a school dance then and 20 years later, when I went, in the UK, and the dance round your handbags era and prog rock that killed romance forever...'Hi Ho Silver Lining' ended every school 'disco', no longer 'I Only Have Eyes For you' 😢"
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27. @cynthiapickett7403
"The girls don't look very enthusiastic, unlike the guys."
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28. @killerdillr
"This is Camel Walk but execute very tamed. They might call i The Stroll in the fifties but look up where it came from."
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2023
29. @mattsmith6741
"This video took place at the local ABC affiliate in Des Moines Iowa. That channel 5 and the state of iowa in the background .. interesting it’s all white kids but than again this was a local teen show in Des Moines , Iowa ."
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30. @brianparton8934
"The younger ones don't seem to enjoy this. "All my buddies are going to razz me for dancing....on TV!"
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31. @alpha-omega2362
"nothing more than the ole Virginia Reel.."
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32. @lesterjordan1317
"Soul Train Line !!!! NOT"
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2024
33. @lorrainebowens1446
"They are said i agree mymom .uncles.aunts use to turn around doing the stoll they need black peoplle shw them how it go😢😢😮😮"
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“Said” in this comment Is probably a typo for “sad”.
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34. @johntyrone3639
"It was The Virginia Reel, that gave birth to The Stroll....:"
ADDITIONAL SHOWCASE YOUTUBE VIDEOS
EXAMPLE #2 - The Original Stroll - February 1958
MrMemories, Feb 4, 2011
On a local television dance show in Idaho in February 1958, local teens dance to one of the biggest dance crazes out of the late-1950's called The Stroll, which originated from American Bandstand. This dance was performed in a line formed with boys on one side and girls on the other, creating an isle between them. The boy and girl in the front of the line would meet up in the middle, grab hands and stroll their way down the line, as the other kids in the line would move their way up to the front using the same dance steps that the couple moving down the line would use, but move from side to side instead. When the first couple made their way down the line, another couple would meet in the middle and stroll down the isle.
Today, a new version of The Stroll is done in the form of a group line dance, but this is how it was done originally.
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Seventeen is the name of a teenage dance show that was aired on WOI-TV Ames Iowa. The Stroll line dance was created by Black Americans in 1957.
The Stroll was popularized in 1960 by the dancers on the White teenage dancers on the hit television series American Bandstand. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any film or video clips of Black Americans doing the Stroll in the 1950s or since then, including the 2020s.
The video summary by MrMemories that is given above refers to a new version of The Stroll. I haven't found any other referent to a new version of that dance.
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EXAMPLE #3- American Bandstand 1957 & 1968 - The Stroll, The Diamonds
YouCanDanceToIt!, Feb. 3, 2018
To celebrate AB's 11th anniversary, the kids in 1968 try to do The Stroll to a clip of the kids in Philadelphia from 1957.
Airdate: Aug. 17, 1968
Music: The Diamonds - "The Stroll"
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ADDENDUM -The Stroll dance origin - film + Patsy by The Diamonds
GeoSilverAway, Aug 13, 2021
The late 1950s US dance fad was created by blacks and the
Stroll hit record was by the Diamonds in 1958. I believe Chuck Willis and his
group used to do the step in his stage performances, creating the dance.
This 1957 movie "Let's Rock" with Julius Larosa
showed this gem film of blacks doing the dance in a park.
There were other stroll recordings that weren't big hits.
This Diamonds song (@2:04) from 1958 was only released in Australia, and later
on this Pop Hits LP. Jack Scott recorded
it in 1960.
I'd like to find footage of black groups on stage doing
their dance steps, if you have any tips. Even stage shots of Chuck Willis.
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I previously included this video in Part III of the 2022 pancocojams series about the Stroll. The link for that series is given near the beginning of this 2024 post.
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For the historical & socio-cultural record, I'm re-printing all of the comments that have been published in this video's discussion thread (as of this pancocojams publication date of January 7, 2025).
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
2021
1. @johnnysalter7072
"Thanks, I have been curious about this."
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2. @bl00dhoney
"Wow! what a difference to those rhythmless zombies on tv"
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Reply
3. @cooldaddy2877, 2022
"I presume you are referring to the kids dancing to The
Stroll by the Diamonds. Firstly, you are very rude to call them Zombies. Some
background info for you. Up until that famous tv clip, the Stroll was almost
exclusively a black dance and it was just becoming mainstream. Half an hour
before that tv section was shot, those "zombies" were taught it for
the first time....so have some respect. I wonder how you would do with only
practising a "new" dance for half an hour or so before going on
national tv. Secondly, the dance in this clip with the black dancers is NOT the
Stroll...it is a slightly faster dance called The walk."
Reply
4. @animosity4u85
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2022
5. @cooldaddy2877
"This dance is not the Stroll....it is the Walk."
Reply
6. @gsmoviememories9254
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Reply
7. @cooldaddy2877
"
Reply
8. @gsmoviememories9254
"
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Reply
9. @realmofthesenses, 2023
"Whatever it('s called, looks way better than other stroll
vids on YT."
Reply
@cooldaddy2877, 2023
"
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2023
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2024
10. @johnrichard6639
"I'M 79yrs DID THE STROLL, GUESS WHAT, THAT A'INT IT. BEST WATCH BAND STAND!! DON'T KNOW WHAT
YOU'RE DOING, BUT IT ISN'T THE STROLL!!😧😟"
Reply
11. @GSMovieMoments
"
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12. @richardtester2859
"Did you know that the Demo of "The Stroll" was sung by Brook Benton? Brook also joined The Diamonds during their recording of the song. He helped out with the backing vocals."
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Brook Benton was an African American R&B singer. The Diamonds were a White Rock & Roll music group.
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13. @andyhudson3495
"👍"
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