Five Film Clips Of The "Black Bottom" Jazz Dance (with selected comments)

StephendelRoser, Jun 14, 2017

The dance craze of 1926-7, supposedly based on the movements of a cow stuck in deep mud! Silent film accompanied by a contemporary recording of the tune. How comic it is that this is danced by white people posing as upper-class! And how comic is the man's white make-up. Is this a fashion of the times, or due to Mr Pilcer's having a red complexion, which the film of the time would have rendered as almost black? And what does it tell us that this might have mattered? / La danse à la mode de 1926-7, accompagnée par en enregistrement contemporaine de la musique.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Update: Nov. 28, 2021

This is Part II of a three part pancocojams series on the Black Bottom, the title of a number of African American originated Jazz dances and songs that were very popular beginning aroun 1926.

This post showcases various 1920s film clips and later reenacment performances of the Black Bottom. Selected comments from four of the YouTube discussion threads for these film clips and videos are also included in this pancocojams post. 

Update: Nov. 28, 2021. I've added a 1929 film clip of Fredi Washington, an African American woman, and some other African American women doing  "Jazz dances". I think some of Fredi Washington's moves might be considered the Black Bottom, but I'm not sure about that.

.Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/11/streetswingcom-excerpt-about-1919-1920s.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I presents general information about the Black Bottom dances and songs from various online sources.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/11/black-bottom-1926-and-black-bottom-dance.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents lyrics to three 1920s versions of the Black Bottom song. YouTube videos for two of these versions are also included in that post. 

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the composers and choreographers of  Black Bottom songs and dances. Thanks to all those who are featured in these clips and videos. Thanks also to all those who are are quoted in this post. Also, thanks to the publishers of these film clips/videos on YouTube.

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SELECTED FILM CLIPS/VIDEOS
These film clips/videos are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

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SHOWCASE FILM CLIP #1
[embedded above]
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Here' are some comments from this video's discussion thread:
1. Hebneh, 2013
"Judy Garland sings this in the lengthy show business montage in "A Star Is Born".

I note one lyric change (to be less objectionable in the 1950s): Judy sings "Old fellows with lumbago, and young fellows, away they go..." Here, it's "Old fellows with lumbago, and high yellows, away they go..."

"High yellows" were black women who had light complexions, to the point that they might be able to "pass for white", as the saying was in those days."
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Here's a link to that brief Judy Garland clip:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dBlmQA7-Ac&ab_channel=Ohujapaksu  

The lyrics that are mentioned in this comment are found in Part III of this pancocojams series.

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2. . sunnydayzie 1, 2016
"The song references the black bottom of mud in the Swanee River and claims that Blacks have created a dance to imitate the shimmering ooze.  While there are references deemed offensive today "high yellows" and such, Ma Rainey poked fun at this song and dance when she sang her own version "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom".  She spun the race thing also, by referencing "Jew baby prances" in her version.  And so it was, in the world of music in the 1920's!  Rainey's version went:   "Now I'm gonna show y'all my black bottom; They stay to see that dance  Wait until you see me do my big black bottom; I'll put you in a trance" "

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3.UkuleleOgee, 2020 
"Very Interesting film clip of an early era. The white makeup of the male dancer was probably a technical  and/or an artistic consideration. Makeup was used, necessary in early black and white film/TV. The male dance was a comic presentation  "Long Hair'. Burlesque, stage performers used makeup to make comic/dramatic expressions more visible. Howard Lanin and His Orch. was one of the best "White" Jazz bands through the 1920s."
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The quotation marks around the word "White" may have been used because Howard Lanin was Jewish. Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Lanin for information about American band leader Howard Lanin (July 15, 1897 – April 26, 1991) .

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SHOWCASE FILM CLIP #2: The Black Bottom

Wax Whirler, March 29, 2007 

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SHOWCASE FILM CLIP #3: The Black Bottom 1942

Vintage Swing Dance, Jun 2, 2015

From the movie: ROXIE HART  1942

Not exactly a classic Black Bottom but a lot of fun.
-snip-
Here are some comments from that YouTube video's discussion thread:

1. cmn94cba, 2019
"Why is it so hard to find Afroamerican people dancing to Black Bottom?"

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Reply
2. Salim Majied, 2019
"It is hard. Being that African Americans Invented the dance."

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Reply
3. D W, 2020
"@cmn94cba : Because the deeply entrenched racism in the US meant that Black Americans were far less likely to be filmed -- they weren't stars in Hollywood, and their daily lives were considered less worthy of documenting."

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4. theshevirgo, 2021
"Right I just watched the Netflix movie was curious as to the dance and can’t find a single one with black folks and then all the clips of white folks doing it shows different dances"
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"The Netflix movie" that is referenced in this comment is probably Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
Here's a link to a trailer of that movie:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ord7gP151vk&ab_channel=Netflix

I found this 2018 YouTube video that featured a Black couple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_iA57YoEoI&ab_channel=CBC "How to Dance the Black Bottom". However, most of the commenters panned that video, writing that the dance the dancers performed wasn't the Black Bottom.

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SHOWCASE FILM CLIP # The Real "Black Bottom" Dance (1927)

British Pathé, Apr 13, 2014

Miss Mildred Melrose, a well known dancer at the Piccadilly Cabaret demonstrates the "real" Black Bottom dance. 

Mildred wears a fringed outfit comprising very short shorts and a little bikini top.  She does some wild dancing, shaking her money maker and every other part of her body. The dance incorporates pointing her fingers, kicking her legs from side to side, patting her own bottom and generally enjoying herself.  "Now we know just where the Charleston challenger steps spring from!" reads an intertitle. 

Was originally an item in Eve's Film Review issue number 301.

Note: good nutty, flapper, Charleston, 1920s chick dancing footage.  Could be Muriel Melrose.

Costume designed by Dolly Tree
-snip-
Here's a comment from that film clip's discussion thread:

Mondial, 2016
"The Dirty Dancing of the 1920s"

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SHOWCASE FILM CLIP #5:  The Black Bottom 1956 (Sheree North)

Vintage Swing Dance, 

From the movie: THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE  1956

Sheree North and the chorus do a great job of bringing us back to the "Roaring Twenty's". Good stuff.
-snip-
Here are some comments from this film clip's YouTube discussion thread:
1. john alt, 2019
"STILL NOT AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL 1920'S BLACK BOTTON DANCE BY MILDRED MELROSE."

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2. Double Ghod, 2019
"I saw the Melrose version and didn't think much of it. Possibly because there was no sound....also, it seemed like a completely different number than the one above"

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3. Steve Little, 2020
"There's a bit of the Charleston in there and a few invented moves but this is mostly original Black Bottom moves! The choreographer did his homework."

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4. Morgan Lowe, 2021
"Black Bottom means the mud at the bottom of the river. They made different versions on this dance all around the world. So there's a few different versions as to where it came from. But this one seems more likely."

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5. Kamala Mi Dun Talk Wright, 2021
"MA Rainey the original Black Bottom Queen. They always stealing ish."

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UPDATE: 1920's Jazz Dance 1929 (Duke Ellington)

Vintage Swing Dance, March 16, 2016

From the short:  BLACK AND TAN  1929

This is a two part number. Leading off is Fredi Washington who was an actress with some dance experience. It has been said of Fredi Washington that for the sake of her career she could of and should of been willing to pass for white. To her credit she refused to do so. The second part of this number beginning at about the 1:20 mark is a classic example of a so called "Jungle Dance". These demeaning but energetic dances were hugely popular with the white patrons of the Cotton Club and other Harlem night spots in the 1920's.
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Would someone please identify the names of the Jazz dances Fredi Washington is doing? Is the movement around .41 when she puts her hand on her hip part of the Black Bottom?

Here are some comments from this video's discussion thread (Numbers added for referencing purposes only)

1.rose eunoia, 2018
"Wait why the girl pass out?"

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Reply
2. Vintage Swing Dance, 2018
"She was supposed to be very sick and she died at the end of the short."

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Reply
3. Vintage Swing Dance, 2020
"No, in fact "Fredi" Washington lived to age 90."
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The question that Vintage Swing Dance responded to doesn't appear to be in that discussion thread any longer, but one can guess that the question was something like "Was this scene real?" 

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4. Richard Wesley, 2021
"@Vintage Swing Dance  Ms. Washington was about 25 years old when she performed in this short."

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This concludes Part II of this three part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Two Film Clips Of The 1920s Charleston Dance & Information About That African American Originated Dance

old boy piper, May 22, 2019

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Update: July 28, 2023 [replaced film clip that was no longer available]

This pancocojams post showcases a film clip that was published on YouTube of the Charleston dance.

This post also presents information about that 1920s African American social dance. Two comments from that YouTube film clip are also included in this post.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who created the Charleston dance. Thanks also to all those who are featured in this film clip and all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these film clips on YouTube.
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This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on African American dances. Click the tags below for additional pancocojams posts in this series. 

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SHOWCASE FILM CLIP #2 [Added July 28, 2023]

1920s Charleston

Sharon Davis, Oct 19, 2009

The Charleston was the dance that captured the spirit of the 1920s. It was danced with wild abandon by a new generation of independent young Americans, to the new hot jazz that was flooding the country.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHARLESTON (DANCE)
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_(dance)
"The Charleston is a dance named after the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild[1] and became one of the most popular hits of the decade. Runnin' Wild ran from October 28, 1923, through June 28, 1924.[1] The peak year for the Charleston as a dance by the public was mid-1926 to 1927.

Origins

While the dance probably came from the "star" or challenge dances that were all part of the African-American dance called Juba, the particular sequence of steps which appeared in Runnin' Wild were probably newly devised for popular appeal.[2] "At first, the step started off with a simple twisting of the feet, to rhythm in a lazy sort of way. [This could well be the Jay-Bird.] When the dance hit Harlem, a new version was added. It became a fast kicking step, kicking the feet, both forward and backward and later done with a tap." Further changes were undoubtedly made before the dance was put on stage.[3] In the words of Harold Courlander, while the Charleston had some characteristics of traditional Negro dance, it "was a synthetic creation, a newly-devised conglomerate tailored for widespread popular appeal." Although the step known as "Jay-Bird", and other specific movement sequences are of Afro-American origin, no record of the Charleston being performed on the plantation has been discovered.[2]

Although it achieved popularity when the song "Charleston", sung by Elisabeth Welch, was added in the production Runnin' Wild, the dance itself was first introduced in Irving C. Miller's Liza in the spring of 1923.[4][5]

Willie "The Lion" Smith noted that the dance was known well before that; in particular, he mentions the version done by Russell Brown under the name "Geechie dance".[6]

The characteristic Charleston beat, which Johnson said he first heard from Charleston dockworkers, incorporates the clave rhythm and was considered by composer and critic Gunther Schuller to be synonymous with the Habanera, and the Spanish Tinge.[8] Johnson actually recorded several "Charlestons," and in later years derided most of them as being of "that same damn beat." Several of these were recorded on player piano rolls, several of which have survived to this day.[citation needed]

The Charleston and similar dances such as the Black Bottom which involved "Kicking up your heels" were very popular in the later part of the 1920s. They became less popular after 1930, possibly because after seven years of being fashionable people simply became less interested. The new fashion for floor level sheath evening dresses was also probably a factor. The new dresses constricted the leg movements essential for the Charleston. There is a British Pathé Instructional Short from 1933 in which a new variation – The "Crawl Charleston" – is demonstrated by Santos Casini and Jean Mence. This shows a very sedate version of dance similar to a Tango or Waltz. It wasn't until dress hem lines rose toward the end of the thirties that the Charleston is again seen in film.

A slightly different form of Charleston became popular in the 1930s and 1940s, and is associated with Lindy Hop. In this later Charleston form, the hot jazz timing of the 20s Charleston was adapted to suit the swing jazz music of the 1930s and 1940s. This style of Charleston has many common names, though the most common are Lindy Charleston, Savoy Charleston, 30s or 40s Charleston and Swinging Charleston. In both 20s Charleston and Swinging Charleston, the basic step takes eight counts and is danced either alone or with a partner.

Frankie Manning and other Savoy dancers saw themselves as doing Charleston steps within the Lindy rather than to be dancing Charleston.[9]"

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Excerpt #2
From https://chstoday.6amcity.com/history-of-the-charleston-dance/
"… while the current dance crazes may come and go, a ground-breaking dance from the 1920’s is still well-known today – and it all started right here in Charleston.

 “The Charleston” became a pop culture phenomenon in 1923 thanks to the song The Charleston – which was composed by James P. Johnson – from the Broadway show Runnin’ Wild.

 The dance was most popular throughout the 1920’s amongst “scandalous” men + women who shed the stuffy etiquette of their parents’ generation + wanted to flap their arms, kick up their heels, + let loose – hence the term ‘flappers.”

But long before the show-dance ever made its Broadway debut, the origins of the dance can be traced back to the coast of Charleston + the community of people who live there. Back when the morals were looser + the liquor was cheaper

The Charleston is said to be based on the “Juba,” a dance brought to Charleston by enslaved African Americans + performed by dock workers in the early 1900’s. The Juba involves rhythmic stomping, kicking, + slapping, and it became a challenge dance of the American American community at the time.

At the turn of the twentieth century, The Charleston was well-known amongst African American communities. During World War I, many Southern African Americans headed north, bringing the dance with them.

Then, in 1911, the Charleston was used by the Whitman Sisters in their famous stage act and was part of Harlem stage productions in 1913.

In 1922, the Charleston officially hit Broadway in the all-black stage play, Liza. While the dance became popular amongst black musicians, it did not become a part of mainstream culture until October 29, 1923, with the Flournoy Miller / Aubrey Lyles Broadway show Runnin’ Wild.

At the end of World War I, The Charleston became a staple of the Roaring 20s (a.k.a. The Jazz Age) as many white Americans felt liberated after the war. During the era, women cut their hair into short bobs, shook off their corsets, snuck booze during Prohibition, + danced the Charleston in speakeasies under the glow of new electric light bulbs.

Famous American/French dancer Josephine Baker (the first person of color to become a worldwide entertainer) danced the Charleston in the ‘20s, adding moves to make it silly – like crossing her eyes. When she traveled to Paris as part of the La Revue Negre in 1925, she helped make the Charleston famous in Europe, as well.

While the dance was choreographed from the original Juba dance to be “more appealing” to the masses, the specific steps were adapted throughout the era. Adaptations of The Charleston helped create swing dances + other popular challenges like the “Mashed Potato.”

The Charleston song was James P. Johnson’s biggest hit – and 95 years later, the song still instills images of flappers dancing to the tune upon hearing the notes (at least in our minds).

So, now that you know the history of The Charleston, how do you dance it? The Charleston can be danced alone or with a partner. The basic step is done in eight-count movements.

👯Begin in a straightforward, standing position with your palms parallel to the floor.

👯Step forward with your left foot. Move your right foot forward, + tap it in front of your left.

👯 Step backward with your right foot. Then step backward with your left foot, and tap it behind your right.

👯Swing your arms side to side or back and forth to the beat that you’re moving your feet.

👯To jazz it up, add a twist in the hips by balancing on the balls of your feet and moving your heels in and out as you step forward and backward."
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Also, click https://www.dancing-times.co.uk/how-the-charleston-changed-the-world/ for more information about the Charleston dance in 1920s and 1930s United States and in Great Britain, including the opposition to this dance by mainstream cultures.

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COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD OF THIS EMBEDDED FILM CLIP
[July 28, 2023-That film clip is no longer available.]

1. Barrow Ukpeavik, 2018
"This was actually the best Charleston video I've ever seen on the internet. This was Bee Jackson. She went to the Black peoples Clubs back then and learned how to dance the Charleston the right way, and then she brought it to the camera for the world to see. She did a good job. :-D"

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Reply
2. Not Sure, 2021
"They were doing it the right way in white clubs as well, don't be racist."

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3. ladyofbast250, 2021
"@Not Sure  for what it's worth I think the original poster had no intention of being racist. Since jazz music and the dances that came along with it all started in the Storyville in New Orleans. So perhaps by saying "the right way" means learning from the people who invented the dances."

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4. W Thomas Hogan, 2020
"Anybody notice how the little black girls hold up their "skirts" like the big folks do?  If that isn't touching.ow....this is like Shuffle dancing but a hundred years ago......amazing!"

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5. Caocao8888, 2020
"They weren’t carrying extra weight back then.  For the Charleston, this is the best video you’ll see on YT."

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6. Sopaconondas, 2021
"This is the predecessor of the Shuffle!"

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7. Pauline, 2021
"Wasn´t Josephine Baker the first Charleston dancer in America? She actually brought Charleston to the world."

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8. Vintage Swing Dance, 2021
"The Charleston predates Josephine Baker though she did help popularize the dance in the 1920's."

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