The "Big Apple" Jazz Dance (information and two late 1930s film clips)

Vintage Swing Dance, June 14, 2015

From the movie: KEEP PUNCHING 1939 The Big Apple contest featuring Whitey's Lindy Hoppers.

**** Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents information about the "Big Apple".

This post also showcases two historical film clips of the "Big Apple" from the late 1930s (United
States).

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unknown creators of this dance. Thanks also to the film makers,  all those who are featured in these film clips, and the publisher of these film clips on YouTube.  Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post. 

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SHOWCASE FILM CLIP #2: DANCING THE BIG APPLE:1937: African-Americans ignite a National Craze

DancetimePublication, Jul 27, 2010

….This innovative documentary, DANCING THE BIG APPLE 1937: African Americans Inspire a National Craze, explores the Big Apple dance in the context of American history.

Movie: Dancing the Big Apple 1937

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INFORMATION ABOUT AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE "BIG APPLE"
Excerpt #1
From https://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3bigapl.htm
"The Big Apple is a group participation circle dance that uses swing dance for a host of steps. The Big Apple has some roots in the Ring Shout and Square Dance as well. Sometimes a solo or couple would perform in the center of the circle (like today's modern jams) as the rest of the dancers would dance in a circle around them.

Most people think of New York when they hear the name, but the Big Apple actually originated at the "Big Apple Night Club" in the Palmetto state of Columbia, South Carolina around 1936.

 The night club was actually a abandoned African-American church (originally the 'House of Peace Synagogue') converted into a nightclub. The club used a "Nickelodeon" for its music and had a balcony around the floor where dancers stood and watched. It's rumored that dancers got so excited one night that the Balcony collapsed!. The University of South Carolina students expanded it's popularity all the way to New York.

The Big Apple spread all over the states and soon the smaller taverns and dance halls were posting apologetic signs: "Sorry, No Big Apple. Not enough room". Some ballrooms who had balconies or dance floors on the second story collapsed due to the weight of the people doing the Big Apple. Many people where hurt in the collapse and some establishments refused to allow people to do the Big Apple due to insurance reasons and fear that someone might get hurt.

This dance is cued by a caller, dancers performed moves from the Lindy Hop, Shag, and Charleston, and popular jazz steps like Trucking and Pecking. Some of the names of steps were called "Spank The Baby, Praise Allah, Rusty Dusty, Charleston, Suzy-Q, Pose & A Peck, Boogie Back, Shorty George, Truckin, The Little Apple., The Little Peach"-- (Little Peach-Invented by Collage Kids in So. Carolina) and more, were all swing type fad dances of the time, these Fad or Novelty dances lasted only a couple years. Over time most of these steps have resurfaced as the same dance or a variation of the dance.

"Swing As Away Of Life" states : (book) 'The Big Apple started when the band leader (or any dancer) cried out, "Cut The Apple!" and dancers formed circles of 8 to 10 people each. At the callers cry of " Come on and swing," the dancers would break into the Charleston swing (Lindy Hop), a more violent version of the previous decades Charleston. Each dancer would step forward on his left foot and kick the right foot up, then step back on the right foot to the rear. Soon the whole circle would be a flurry of flying feet and counter-flying arms and elbows. When the caller yelled "Truck To the Right!", each dancer would face right, raise the admonitory index finger, step forward and pivot .. etc .' ...

 "Down Memory Lane" states : (book) " The Big Apple was a group participation dance that included all the earlier swing steps and required a caller. The dance started off with a march; as the couples formed into a ring, the caller would shout "Shine" and ask for one of the swing steps listed above. A single couple would take the initiative, step into the center of the ring, and perform the Jive gyrations. During the "Shine" episode the on-looking dancers remain in the circle, clapping hands, beating time, and shouting and catcalling in loud enthusiasm."... **** Excerpt #2 From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Apple_(dance) "The Big Apple is both a partner dance and a circle dance that originated in the Afro-American community of the United States in the beginning of the 20th century.

History

Origin (1860–1936)

The exact origin of the Big Apple is unclear but one author suggests that the dance originated from the "ring shout", a group dance associated with religious observances that was founded before 1860 by African Americans on plantations in South Carolina and Georgia.[1] The ring shout is described as a dance with "counterclockwise circling and high arm gestures" that resembled the Big Apple."

[...]

The dance that eventually became known as the Big Apple is speculated to have been created in the early 1930s by African-American youth dancing at the Big Apple Club, which was at the former House of Peace Synagogue on Park Street in Columbia, South Carolina.[3] The synagogue was converted into a black juke joint called the "Big Apple Night Club".[2][3][4][5][6]

[...] Related dances

The Big Apple has many commonalities with Afro-American vernacular partner dances of the early part of the century through the 1930s and '40s. Dances such as the Cakewalk, Black Bottom, Charleston, and Lindy Hop share both similar elements and a common underlying improvisational spirit.

Moves

The moves are frequently used in Lindy Hop. This is also used as a warm up before Lindy Hop classes. Note that the moves are very 8-count centered, like tap dance. That is, they almost all start on count 8.

Susie Q Right: Both feet are placed together facing the center of the circle. Left hand clasps the right (think "synergy"), both heels scoot to the right, then both toes 4 slow, 8 quick. Typically "reverse" is then called and you go back the other way. 8 counts each way.

Susie Q left: this is the 'Susie Q' that most Lindy Hoppers know. Left foot starts over right hand should be 90 degrees (like a forklift), palms down, wrists may pull hands up arms swing left to right. Twist left heel while right foot steps out and to the left, repeat. "reverse" goes the other way. Same timing as Susie Q right (slow, slow, slow, slow, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick).

Apple Jacks: With feet close together take tiny steps in place. When stepping with the right foot, let the right knee cross in front of the left knee, twisting hips to the left. With upper body bend down, with fingers pointed at the floor, twisting shoulders opposite hips. On the next step reverse the direction of knees, hips, shoulders. Each step is one count.

Break a Leg:

Break Step:

London Bridge:

Shout: Open arms wide.

Swivels: Swivels while walking.

Spank the Baby: Step out with left foot, bring right foot together, meanwhile raising the left arm in the air and making a spanking motion toward one's own behind with the right hand. Spank the baby is done while walking in a circle (not around the circle).

Tick Tock: Put heels together with weight on the back of one foot and the front of the other, then shift toes together and the heels apart and alternate the weight on the feet and repeat the actions to create a sideways travelling motion while at the same time the forearms move in front of the torso then out to the sides in time with the shifting of the feet.

Truckin: Truckin is a shuffle step variation popularized after the vaudeville era. The right hand is held up (as in a right turn signal) with the index finger extended and wagging. In Harlem Truckin the shoulder is set back. Feet are parallel at all times. With both feet together and facing slight left the right foot scoopes down and brushes the floor, the left foot is then gathered at the right ankle and the right heel twists (this should cause forward movement as the foot scoopes past the other foot). The action is repeated creating a "hearts in the snow" effect from the overlapping steps. At the same time the left hand is placed over the stomach (like a waiter holding a towel) and never really moves. The stomach twistes with the feet therefore, the "stomach rubs the hand". If truckin is being done around a circle the outside hand is always up.

Pose and Peck: Put hands on hips, and do pecking with head.

Scarecrow: First 4 counts are Charleston basic.

Second 4 counts, put upper arms straight out to side, and let forearms dangle loosely, and tilt head to side. Often the feet are slightly apart, with the knees drooping together.

Shorty George: Named for George Snowden. Walk a straight line using very small steps. Keep upper body upright while dramatically bending knees. With each step, let the opposite knee push toward the back of the knee of the leading foot, causing both knees to shift right when stepping with right foot and shift left when stepping with left foot.

Shoulders alternate, pushing down toward the leading foot, so that when the knees are pushed to the right, the right shoulder sinks downward and the left shoulder becomes raised. Each step is one count.

Little Peach: Touch the side of your nose twice, once with your left hand and once with your right.

Hitch Hike:

Boogie Back: Lean forward and bend knees. Clap hands on the even counts and hop backwards on the odd counts.

Boogie Forward: Straighten up and throw hands in the air. Each step starts from forward roll the hip, which then moves to the side and settles back as the step with the other foot begins. Each step is two counts.

Praises: The traditional ending the big apple.

Everyone runs to the center of the circle and shouts "Hallelujah" while throwing hands in the air from a bent over posture. It may also be called just "Hallelujah".

Rusty Dusty: Hold pant legs up and shake the dust out of them.

Charleston: See solo Charleston moves. This move is actually called "Big apple swing".

Fall Off the Log: Kick right leg to the side, then step behind with your right foot, out with your left foot, and in place with your right foot. Repeat this on the left side.

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"Ballin' The Jack" Early 20th Century Jazz Dance (four film clips, information, & song lyrics)

Beats Exotiques, Nov 16, 2014

Fascinating dance film footage of swing dancers in a black club in the US in 1914. I found a silent version and overdubbed it with "Ballin 'the Jack" by Kid Ory, a jazz hit from 1913 which seems to work with the routine!

Jazz routines like the 'Big Apple' are still danced in circles in swing clubs today. Everyone is clearly having a great time. Love the men fanning their coat tails to the ladies!

Check out the snare played side drum style in this rare footage. Ory's band in New Orleans in the 1910s was hiring many of the great jazz musicians of the city including "King" Oliver and Louis Armstrong.
-snip-
I think that the portion of this film clip that begins at 1:32 to the end of the clip is the portion that features the "balling the Jack" dance and the early portion features the "Big Apple" dance. 

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Revision- April 15, 2022

This pancocojams post presents information about "Ballin' the Jack".

This post also showcases two film clips of "Ballin' the Jack" from the early 1900s as well as one film clip of that dance from 1986.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unknown creators of this dance. Thanks also to the film makers,  all those who are featured in these film clips, and the publisher of these film clips on YouTube.  Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post. 

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INFORMATION ABOUT AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE "BALLIN THE JACK" DANCE
Excerpt #1
from Black Dance, by Lynne Fauley Emery (1973; second, revised edition, Princeton Horizons Book) This excerpt is from the chapter titled "From Minstrelsy to "Darktown Follies". (This excerpt is given as is, including ellipses "...", except for source citations. 
[page] 213 
"It was Darktown Follies, produced in Harlem's Lafayette Theatre in 1913 , which began the nightly procession of whites to Harlem for entertainment. It was also the Darktown Follies which introduced the second Negro dance to sweep the country. The dance was Ballin' the Jack, which appeared in the finale of the first act. Johnson siad this finale was 

[page] 214
...'one of those miraacles of originality which occasionally come to pass in the world of musical comedy...The whole company formed an endless chain that passed before the footlights and behind he scenes, round andround, singing and executing a movement from a dance called "ballin the jack", one of those Negro dances which periodically come along and sweep the country.'  

This serpentine,circular, shuffling dance could certainly have been related to the plantation Ring-Shout; undoubtedly it was of Negro origin. Parrish saw "Ball the Jack" in the Georgia Sea Islands and stated that "Snake Hip" would be a more appropriate name for the dance which kept the "head and shoulders stationary... but there [was] a flow of undulating rhythm from chest to heels, with afew rotations in the hip region... The Dictionary of Folklore described "Ball the Jack" as a dance accompanied by handclapping...the head and feet remaining still and the rest of the body undulating, with a rotation of the hips called 'snake hips".

Van Vechten was impressed with this circular dance of the Darktown Follies and wrote that it was done with spontaneity and joy in the doing. A ballet in ebony and ivory and rose....
They stepped about and clapped their hand and 'gre mad with their bodies'...

Besides Ballin' the Jack, Downtown Follies had a wide variety of dancing. There was some tap dance done by Toots Davis and Eddie Rector, a Cake-Walk finale, and a dance called the Texas Tommy/ Ethel Williams, one of the stars of Darktown, told Marshall Stearns that the Texas Tommy

...'was like the Lindy but there were two basic steps- a kick and hop three times on each foot, and then add whatever you want, turning, pulling, sliding. Your partner had to keep you from falling-I've slid into the orchestra pit more than once.' "   
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Excerpt #2
From https://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3balin.htm
"Ballin the Jack

Ballin' the Jack is basically just a sensual, gyration dance with bumps and grinds. Notorious in its day, it was done as a solo dance or along with swing dancing. It's first public appearance was in 1913 at the Lafayette Theater in Harlem, the play was called "The Darktown Follies" produced by Leubrie Hill in the first act called "At The Ball, That's All." Florence Ziegfeld loved it so much he purchased the rights and used it in his Follies of 1913.

In 1913 dancer and composer Chris Smith wrote the song titled "Ballin' The Jack," based on a Negro song that was becoming a dance fad across the nation with white America. Most people think of Ballin' the Jack as a swing variant such as the Big Apple and Truckin'. However in the early 1900's, it was a dance all in its own. When it merged with the Lindy Hop, it lost most of its original form and became just a sidekick to swing dance…

There are stories that 'Ballin' the Jack' was sung by the African-Americans while laying rail for the rail road companies in the 1890's. The "Jack" was a common name for a locomotive (the jackass carrying the load), and Ballin' was the trainmen's hand gestures to 'Highball it' or "High Balling" which means, "faster or to have fun."

a side note: The vintage 'Little Wonder Records' had the title of 'Ballin' The Jack' in 1909. The last patent date listed on the record is 11/30/1909.

Birth Place: USA

Creation Date: (song: 1909/1913) | (dance: c.1899)

Creator: African-Americans

Dance Type:  Swing”….

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Excerpt #3
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballin%27_the_Jack
" "Ballin' the Jack" (or sometimes "Balling the Jack") is a popular song from 1913 written by Jim Burris with music by Chris Smith. It introduced a popular dance of the same name with "Folks in Georgia's 'bout to go insane." It became a ragtime, pop, and trad jazz standard, and has been recorded hundreds of times.[1]

Origin

The origins of the term are obscure. Around the same time the song came out, the expression "ballin' the jack" was used by railroad workers to mean "going at full speed." 'The 'Jack' was the slang name for a railroad locomotive, and balling meant going at high speed, itself derived from the ball type of railroad signal in which a high ball meant a clear line.[2]

The composer and entertainer Perry Bradford claimed to have seen the dance steps performed around 1909 [3][4] and they are similar to the shimmy which has black African origins.[5][6]

The dance moves were standardized in the Savoy Ballroom, and put to music by Smith and Burris in 1913. The tune became popular in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1913.[3]”…

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LYRICS: BALLIN THE JACK

Ballin’ the Jack (1913)

(w) Jim Burris (m) Chris Smith (I) Musical: The Passing Show of 1915 (P) Prince’s Orchestra (CR) Judy Garland and Gene Kelly

http://www.exelana.com/lyrics/BallinTheJack.html

Verse 1: Folks in Georgia’s ’bout to go insane
Since that new dance down in Georgia came.
I’m the only person who’s to blame.
I’m the party introduced it there. So!
Give me credit to know a thing or two.
Give me credit for springing something new.
I will show this little dance to you.
When I do, you’ll say that it’s a bear

Chorus: First you put your two knees close up tight.
Then you sway ’em to the left
Then you sway ’em to the right.
Step around the floor kind of nice and light.
Then you twis’ around and twis’ around with all your might.
Stretch your lovin’ arms straight out in space.
Then you do the Eagle Rock with style and grace.
Swing your foot way ’round then bring it back.
Now that’s what I call “Ballin’ the Jack.”

Verse 1: It’s being done at all the Cabarets.
All society now has got the craze.
It’s the best dance done in modern days.
That is why I rave about it so.
Play some good rag that will make you prance.
Old folks, young folks all try to do the dance.
Join right in now while you got the chance.
Once again the steps to you I’ll show.
-snip-
Here's another verse that was posted in the discussion thread for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChOfnmsROCE&ab_channel=Yatanis "Ballin' The Jack" published by Yatanis, Mar 8, 2011

"M Tl, 2013

"2nd verse

Knees together knees together, Hold 'em tight
Spread out, Man ain't you a sight
Let's go struttin' for some barbeque
Twist it, Turn it,  Careful or you'll burn it
Dig it, Shake it, Careful not to break it
Bake it, Boil it, Yeah that aught to make it
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Yeah
That's what I call
Ballin the Jack
-snip-
This verse may have been added to this song by another writer or writers. Please add information if you know more about this verse. 

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2: Judy Garland & Gene Kelly - Ballin' the Jack

Ohujapaksu, Jun 26, 2013

This song & dance number is a great period piece from the golden age of Vaudeville just before World War I. The footage comes from For Me and My Gal (MGM, 1942), the first film Judy and Gene made together. The song was originally written in 1913 by Jim Burris (words) and Chris Smith (music).

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3: BALLIN' THE JACK

Yatanis, March 8, 2011

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #4: : Ballin' the Jack - Haunted Honeymoon - No Montego Edit

zerosomeone, June 10, 2015

A shortened version of the dance scene from Haunted Honeymoon -snip- Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_Honeymoon for information about the 1986 comedy/horror American movie Haunted Honeymoon. **** Thanks for visiting pancocojams. Visitor comments are welcome.

The Texas Tommy, The First Jazz Swing Dance (information & three film clips from the early 1900s)

Richard Powers, Jan 11, 2015

An amateur film shot in San Francisco around 1910, showing the one-step in a dance hall, then the Texas Tommy in the street, then another couple doing the Texas Tommy in an indoor dance hall. The Texas Tommy was the earliest version of swing dancing. The most famous of the African American Texas Tommy dancers - Johnny Peters - traveled to New York (Harlem) in 1911, where the transplanted Texas Tommy became popular, mostly as a vaudeville act, then evolved into an easier social dance version at the Savoy Ballroom (1926), which then became the Lindy hop by 1928. Watch Shorty George Snowden and his Savoy Ballroom dancers dance the 1929 version in "After Seben" and the roots of the Texas Tommy are apparent.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents information about the "Texas Tommy".

This post also showcases two historical film clips of that dance from the early 1900s.

The "Texas Tommy" is the first Jazz Swing dance.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unknown creators of this dance. Thanks also to the film makers,  all those who are featured in these film clips, and the publisher of these film clips on YouTube.  Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post. 

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEXAS TOMMY
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Tommy_(dance)
"The Texas Tommy is a vigorous social dance for couples that originated in San Francisco in the early twentieth century.[1]

History

After the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, the Barbary Coast, the red-light district of the city, was rebuilt and given new life as a tourist attraction, a place of dance halls, theaters, shops, and restaurants. Dance exhibitions and variety shows designed to attract tourists replaced prostitution as the chief business of the area. Many of the dance crazes that swept America during the 1900s and 1910s originated in this section of San Francisco.[2] The Thalia, the largest and most popular dance hall on the Pacific coast,[3] was the birthplace of the Texas Tommy.[4] ("Tommy" was a slang term for prostitute.)

Around 1910, the Texas Tommy was a hit at a lowlife hot spot called Purcell's, a Negro cabaret, but it became respectable when it was danced at the upscale Fairmont Hotel, the most popular venue for ballroom dancing in San Francisco.[5] Who invented the Texas Tommy is obscure. Most likely the signature moves of the dance were being performed by patrons at Purcell's, and some innovative visitor adapted them for the ballroom floor. Some historians say that Johnny Peters, an African American, developed the Texas Tommy some time before 1910. In any event, after sheet music for "The Texas Tommy Swing" was published on 1 February 1911, the Fairmont's house band frequently played the song for its patrons. It was not long before the Texas Tommy was danced on Broadway, in Ziegfeld Follies of 1911, performed by Vera Maxwell, Harry Watson Jr., and the ensemble.[6] It was also included as a number in Darktown Follies, an all-black musical produced Off-Broadway in 1913.[7] Peters and Ethel Williams, who were masters of the dance, executed it on stage, as they had done regularly at the Fairmont.[8]"

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Excerpt #2
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: This is a small portion of an excerpt about the performance of various dances including Ballin' The Jack and the Texas Tommy in 1913 Black American off-Broadway production Darktown Follies. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/12/ballin-jack-jazz-dance-three-film-clips.html for a longer quote about Ballin the Jack from that book.]

from Black Dance, by Lynne Fauley Emery (1973; second, revised edition, Princeton Horizons Book) This excerpt is from the chapter titled "From Minstrelsy to "Darktown Follies". This excerpt is given as is, including ellipses "...", except for source citations. 
[page] 2014
...."Besides Ballin' the Jack, Downtown Follies had a wide variety of dancing. There was some tap dance done by Toots Davis and Eddie Rector, a Cake-Walk finale, and a dance called the Texas Tommy/ Ethel Williams, one of the stars of Darktown, told Marshall Stearns that the Texas Tommy

...'was like the Lindy but there were two basic steps- a kick and hop three times on each foot, and then add whatever you want, turning, pulling, sliding. Your partner had to keep you from falling-I've slid into the orchestra pit more than once.' "   
-snip-
Here's some information about "Darktown Follies" Off-Broadway musical that is mentioned in that Wikipedia article:
From  https://www.rem.routledge.com/articles/darktown-follies-lafayette-theatre-harlem-1913 "Darktown Follies (Lafayette Theatre, Harlem, 1913)", by Melissa Templeton, 09/05/2016
"One of the earliest large-scale musical revues to be created and performed by an all-Black cast, Darktown Follies premiered in 1913 at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem. Darktown Follies exhibited qualities common to minstrel shows of the period with its episodic musical numbers and large group finale. The plot, however, focussed on a romantic storyline between two Black characters, which was rarely seen in minstrel performances. Darktown Follies introduced dances, like Ballin’ the Jack (which would eventually become a popular dance on Broadway) and the Texas Tommy (a predecessor of the lindy hop) to the New York stage. Darktown Follies helped launch a trend of White artists traveling to Harlem in search of new material for their own productions. The show foreshadowed the development Black musicals like Shuffle Along (1921) and was an important precursor to the artistic renaissance that would define Black modernism in Harlem of the 1920s and 1930s."

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SHOWCASE FILM CLIP #2: Texas Tommy Swing Dance - 1914

 Objet D'Art, Sept. 19, 2017

Interior of a black dance hall with band and dancers (probably in San Francisco.) - Variations of the Texas Tommy Swing Dance and Ballin' the Jack

Prelinger Archives: [Gould Can 5423.4]
-snip-
Here's one comment from that YouTube video's discussion thread:
ragtimist, 2019
"That's Sid LeProtti's So Different Orchestra playing in the background. Though this looks like it was shot outdoors, it might have been shot at Purcell's Dancehall on Pacific St. in the Barbary Coast section of S.F." **** SHOWCASE FILM CLIP #3 - Texas Tommy Swing Dance 1915 

mark kihara,  Apr 2, 2021

"The Texas Tommy Swing dance was only done to specific songs, the most famous song was King Chanticleer." - Peter Loggins, Dance Historian

Using the AI restored footage from GlamourDaze, I have added more period appropriate music.  This 1912 recording of "King Chanticleer" is by Prince's Band.

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Visitor comments are welcome.

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]
-snip-
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."
-snip-
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" "

**
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."
-snip-
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."

**
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."

**
Reply
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"
-snip-
"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."

**
Reply
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.
-snip-
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?"

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

**
Reply
3. Vintage Swing Dance, 2020
"No, in fact "Fredi" Washington lived to age 90."
-snip-
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?" 

**
Reply
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.
-snip-
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."
-snip-
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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Reply
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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Reply
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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Visitor comments are welcome.

The Texas Tommy - The First Swing Dance (Information & Two Film Clips)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides information about and descriptions of the early 20th century African American originated social dance called the "Texas Tommy". The Texas Tommy is considered to be the first swing dance.

Two film clips of "The Texas Tommy" are also showcased in this post.

This post also includes a film clip of the early Lindy Hop as shown in the 1929 movie "After Seben". That film clip is included because a summary of one of the Texas Tommmy videos indicates that its apparent from the dance sequences shown in "After Seben" film that the Texas Tommy is one source of the early Lindy Hop.

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 are featured in these film clips and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these film clips on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE "TEXAS TOMMY"
These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1
From http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3tex1.htm
"The Texas Tommy... is said by many to be the first swing dance. The main reason being is that during this period (1909), all the couples dances were done in "closed position," while the Texas Tommy was supposedly the first modern couples dance of the time to include the "break-away" step (energetically dancing from closed to open position and back) while using the basic 8 count rhythm of swing dance.

...Many dance bands of the day would travel the "band circuit" from San Francisco thru Mississippi to Kentucky, New Orleans etc., and end in New York and then start back again. The first written record was in San Francisco, California in 1909. Many dance bands or composers of the day would write dance music that had the directions for doing the dance in the verses, such as the Maxixe, Texas Tommy, Bunny Hug, Grizzly Bear, Turkey Trot etc. At the time, many Composer / Musicians would look for a new dance to write a song about.

...Tommy by the way was a slang term for a "Trench or Foot Soldier" in the 1890-1910's, which the song title could be saying Texas Soldier. A 'Texas' Tommy is said to be a female prostitute who also worked the trenches and/ or walked the streets in the early 1900s.

The Texas Tommy may go all the way back to the Civil War... however unlikely; There was a famous black dancer named "Tom from Palestine" Texas, that was known for "putting a glass of water on his head and making his feet go like trip-hammers and sounding something like a snare drum," he would "whirl around and such" while all his movements were from the "waist down, without spilling a drop of water." He was known as "The Jigginest fellow ever was" (sounds like Juba .) Although this does not sound like a swing dance and obviously more directly a Tap/Clog/Jig dancer because he danced by himself, and was probably doing a form of Jig or Buck dancing, he may have later had something to do with the rhythms and such but doubtful. Another may have been in east Texas, by a well known Blues Pioneer "Ragtime Texas Henry" Thomas who in the late 1800's played at many "Juke Joints" along the way to his fame.”...

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Example #2:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Tommy_(dance)
"The Texas Tommy is a vigorous social dance for couples that originated in San Francisco in the early twentieth century.[1]

...Description
Some social dance historians have argued that the Texas Tommy was the first swing dance. The argument is that it was the first social dance using the basic 8-count rhythm of swing dance to include a breakaway step from the closed position of other couple dances of the time.[9] Ethel Williams, who helped to popularize the dance in New York in 1913, described it as a "kick and a hop three times on each foot followed by a slide." The basic steps are followed by a breakaway, an open position that allowed for acrobatics, antics, improvisations, and showing off. Working from an old film of the dance, she also described it as having a basic pattern of "a loose step, hop-kick, step, hop-kick, run, run, run, run" and identified a "useful variation" of four step-kicks that "agrees with the open and improvisational manner that the Texas Tommy was described to have in many of the written references."[10]....

Original sheet music
The "Texas Tommy Swing" was composed by Sid Brown, with lyrics by Val Harris, and was published by the World's Fair Publishing Company in San Francisco in January or February 1911. The sheet music cover was designed in the form of the front page of a newspaper, with the headline reading "The Dance That Makes the Whole World Stare." The faux newspaper included reprints of three articles from the San Francisco Examiner, headlined "Pavlowa Endorsed Texas Tommy Swing," "Mrs. Oelriches Liked Texas Tommy Swing," and "The Story of the Dance," which is transcribed here:

A breath from the cotton fields - the grizzly bear, the loving hug, the walk-back and the turkey-trot all blend in Texas Tommy Swing.

The Texas Tommy Swing invades the north and east like a dainty zephyr from the perfumed cotton fields of the sunny South. The rhythm of the Grizzy Bear, the inspiration of the Loving Hug, the grace of the Walk-Back and the abandon of the Turkey-Trot all blend in the harmony of the Texas Tommy Swing, which was really the parent of all the others.

The dance originated more than forty years ago among the negroes of the old Southern plantations. Every little movement has a meaning all its own to the heart truly in tune with nature. The graceful harmonies of the song and dance reflect the joyous spirit of the negro race, the care-free actions of the Dinahs and the Sams who gathered outside the cabin doors on moonlit nights and to the twang of the banjo or the scrape of the fiddle, vented the rhapsodies of mind and body in a purely natural way.

Here and there a raucous discord like the squacking voice of a chicken in distress breaks in upon the frivolous melody of the theme or a plaintive note brings a reminder of the tear always so close to the laugh in the negro nature.

Southern darkies brought the dance and a suggestion of the melody to San Francisco several years ago, and there upon the Barbary Coast it was rounded into perfect harmony. It took the place by storm. Eastern people interested in dancing took it up. Stage favorites seized upon its absorbing rhapsodies.

Society men and women accepted and adopted it. Pavlowa, the Czar's favorite dancer, went into raptures over it and incorporated it in her repertoire. Leaders of the four hundred all over the country regard it as one of the sights of San Francisco and endorse it to their friends on their return.

In tangible and concrete form this inspiring, historic and dramatic song and dance is now presented to the public for the first time, in Texas Tommy Swing.

-snip-
Notes and references [for the book that contained the passage given in blockquotes]
Albert and Josephine Butler, "Texas Tommy," in The Encyclopedia of Social Dance (New York: Albert Butler Ballroom Dance Service, 1971)."

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: A 1914 film showing black people dancing in a dance hall - Great dance moves. Getting jiggy with it!



ricsil2037, Published on Jul 21, 2012

...This is a 1914 film showing black people dancing on a dance floor. They are getting jiggy with it. Interior of a Black dance hall with band and dancers.

DISCLAIMER: This video is part of the Prelinger Archives with the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 license. This video is in the Public Domain.
-snip-
Some commenters in that "video's" discussion thread indicated that one of the dances that the dancers were doing was the "Texas Tommy".

Here are links to two other YouTube examples of this film clip with added sound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpEVCiAG70c
American dancers in 1914, jazz dance in a black club with Kid Ory's 'Ballin' the Jack'

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOk4oArl3Tk Dancing (1914)

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Example #2: The original Texas Tommy



Richard Powers, Published on Jan 11, 2015

An amateur film shot in San Francisco around 1910, showing the one-step in a dance hall, then the Texas Tommy in the street, then another couple doing the Texas Tommy in an indoor dance hall. The Texas Tommy was the earliest version of swing dancing. Two of the African American Texas Tommy dancers - Ethel Williams and Johnny Peters - traveled to New York (Harlem) in 1911, where the transplanted Texas Tommy became popular, mostly as a vaudeville act, then evolved into an easier social dance version at the Savoy Ballroom (1926), which then became the Lindy hop by 1928. Watch Shorty George Snowden and his Savoy Ballroom dancers dance the 1929 version in "After Seben" and the roots of the Texas Tommy are apparent.
-snip-
African American dancers are shown in this film clip beginning at .015

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ADDENDUM -"After Seben" Film Clip
(that is mentioned in the summary to the "video" given as Example #2 above)

After Seben (1929)



Swungover, Published on Oct 2, 2013

This clip from 1929 is by most accounts the birth of Lindy Hop on film.
-snip-
*"After Seben" = "After Seven" (meaning, in the evening; at night)

Here's the summary of another YouTube video of this same film clip ("Early Savoy Lindy Hop", posted by Richard Powers, Published on Jan 11, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9E4Aq4K_p8
" "Shorty" George Snowden and his dancers from the Savoy Ballroom, dancing to music by Chick Webb And His Orchestra, in the 1929 film "After Seben." Note that each couple not only has a different style, but also a different timing. Couple #1 dances it QQ-S, rock-step first, and includes 6-count timing at the end. Couple #2 is clearly S-QQ, side-step first, as is couple #3, Shorty Snowden. Over the next five years the music changed to a swung rhythm, and the slow step of the QQ-S timing was replaced with a triple step."

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Visitor comments are welcome.

YouTube Sound Files & Video Examples Of "Ballin The Jack" (Instrumental Recordings, Songs, & Dances)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part series on the American dance "ballin the jack".

Part II showcases four sound files & videos of Jazz compositions entitled "Ballin The Jack". Part II also showcases a 1914 film clip of Black Americans dancing in a nightclub. That film clip is dubbed with a "Ballin' The Jack" Jazz composition. Part II also showcases two movie clips that feature a "Ballin The Jack" song and dance performance.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/08/information-about-ballin-jack-railroad.html for Part I of this series. Part I provides information about the railroad term "ballin' the jack" and the African American originated dance with that name. Part I also provides examples of some early 20th century songs that include the phrase "ballin the jack".

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the composers and performers who are featured in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these YouTube examples.

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FEATURED YOUTUBE EXAMPLES
These examples are divided into "sound files" and "video" categories. The examples in those categories are presented in chronological order based on their posting date on YouTube with the oldest dated example given first.
This compilation isn't meant to represent all of the examples of "Ballin' The Jack" on YouTube. constitute Unfortunately, there are no visual or text (word only) descriptions of the "ballin' the Jack" dance as it was performed before it was choreographed for 20th century American movies.

SOUND FILES
Example #1: Pearl Bailey - Ballin' the jack



simonsaid66 Published on Jun 21, 2012

From "Abroad"...

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Example #2: Fats Domino - Ballin' the Jack



max26111000, Published on Aug 7, 2012

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Example #3: The Chicago Footwarmers: Ballin' The Jack 1927 (Johnny Dodds)



Nefer0ne,Feb 10, 2018

-snip-
This sound file added on Feb. 23, 2020 to replace the one which was originally used which is no longer viable.
-snip-
Here's some information that was given in the sound file that I originally used for this post"
Johnny Dodds (April 12, 1892 - August 8, 1940) was an American New Orleans based jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist, best known for his recordings under his own name and with bands such as those of Joe "King" Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Lovie Austin and Louis Armstrong. Dodds was also the older brother of drummer Warren "Baby" Dodds. The pair worked together in the New Orleans Bootblacks in 1926...

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Example #4: Victor Military Band "Ballin' the Jack" famous song Victor 35405 September 25, 1914



Tim Gracyk Published on Jun 13, 2014

Victor Military Band plays "Ballin' the Jack" on Victor 35405, recorded on September 25, 1914.

First you put your two knees close up tight,
Then you sway 'em to the left, then you sway 'em to the right,
Step around the floor kind of nice and light,
Then you twis' around and twis' around with all your might,
Stretch your lovin' arms straight out in space
Then do the Eagle Rock with style and grace
Swing your foot way 'round then bring it back,
Now that's what I call "Ballin' the Jack."

Lyrics are by Jim Burris. Music is by Chris Smith.

From 1911 to 1919, the Victor Military Band releases helped the Victor Talking Machine Company satisfy high demand for dance records. This Victor "house" band--not a true military band--consisted of about a dozen musicians who also recorded as members of the Victor Band and Victor Concert Orchestra. The band was especially popular during the years the turkey trot, the tango, and the fox trot were introduced to Americans. Many labels state "For dancing." Victor 17550, featuring "Thanks for the Lobster--Trot or One-Step," even adds, "60 bars per minute."...

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VIDEOS
Example #1: judy Garland & Gene Kelly - Ballin' the Jack



Ohujapaksu Published on Jun 26, 2013

This song & dance number is a great period piece from the golden age of Vaudeville just before World War I. The footage comes from For Me and My Gal (MGM, 1942), the first film Judy and Gene made together. The song was originally written in 1913 by Jim Burris (words) and Chris Smith (music).
-SNIP-
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChOfnmsROCE for another video of Gene Kelly demonstrating how he dances “Ballin the Jack”.

Also, recall this comment that I quoted in Part I of this series from Mudcat folk music forum blogger Jim Dixon:
...."the [J Burris, C Smith] song BALLIN' THE JACK was published in October, 1913, only a couple of months before this article [that criticized immoral behavior in "Colored shows in picture houses"] was published. The writer doesn't explain the expression "balling the jack"—he assumes his readers already know what it means, and that they understand why he considers it obscene.

[Furthermore, it is hard to believe that anyone would consider the song obscene, or the movements described in the song. Am I justified in concluding that the original meaning of "balling the jack" must have been something quite different from what is described in the song?—and that the song somewhat sanitized the concept of "balling the jack"?-JD]"

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Example #2: American dancers in 1914, jazz dance in a black club with Kid Ory's 'Ballin' the Jack'



drummercouk, Published on Nov 16, 2014

Fascinating dance film footage of swing dancers in a black club in the US in 1914. I found a silent version and overdubbed it with "Ballin 'the Jack" by Kid Ory, a jazz hit from 1913 which seems to work with the routine!

Jazz routines like the 'Big Apple' are still danced in circles in swing clubs today. Everyone is clearly having a great time. Love the men fanning their coat tails to the ladies!

Check out the snare played side drum style in this rare footage. Ory's band in New Orleans in the 1910s was hiring many of the great jazz musicians of the city including "King" Oliver and Louis Armstrong.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/08/1914-silent-film-clip-of-black.html for a pancocojams post about the silent version of this 1914 film clip.

Another music dubbed version of this film clip can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOk4oArl3Tk. The summary for that film clip indicates that the music dubbed for that version is "St. Louis Blues 1914 (with that notable "habanera" bridge)"
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Pancocojams Editor: The "Ballin' The Jack" dance may not be performed in this film clip, but this dubbed clip is still a cultural treasure.

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Example #3: Dean Martin & Polly Bergen - Ballin' the Jack



dino4ever Published on Feb 15, 2015

As performed in "That's My Boy." (1951)

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