Dance Styles of the 1920s

The dance styles of the 1920s were vibrant, lively, exuberant and full of life. If you must have seen few of the videos of these popular dance styles, you could have sensed how much of energy level and gracefulness they would require. These dance forms are simple yet elegant.

Different Dance Forms of the 1920s

All the popular dance forms of that era come under the category of Swing Dances. It is not the name of a particular style of dance, but then it's a group of dances. The reason why they are known as Swing dances is because they are performed on the swinging jazz music. Mentioned below are few of the dance forms of the 1920s.

Lindy Hop
Probably the most popular form of dance style of that era, for which you will require a partner, Lindy Hop is known as the original swing dance. Many other dance forms like Jive, Rock 'n Roll, West Coast Swing, and Boogie Woogie have evolved from this form of dance. The most amazing aspect of this particular dance form is the acrobatic feat involved in it. So it's not only lively, but has a little bit of acrobatics in it too, though in a mild way. Ideally, it involves fast dancing with air-steps.

Charleston
This particular dance form was quite a hit after it appeared in the 1923 Broadway musical 'Runnin Wild', in the song 'The Charleston'. It was performed by the African-Americans living at Charleston, South Carolina, before it was popularized after its debut in 1923. It is a type of dance style which involves fast movements of hands and feet. A highly energetic dance form which involves a little bit of hopping, too. Charleston dance steps are graceful and can be done solo, with a partner or with a group.

West Coast Swing
The West Coast Swing dance style, evolved from the swing music of the 1920s. Swing music was difficult to find after the World War II, because of many changes which followed it. Still the natives of the swing music continued its legacy of the swing music dances. It was now much more smoother and slower than before. Hence, this type of dance form came to be known as West Coast Swing. Since it has been evolved from the swing music, few versions of this dance style are Swing Dancers, Ballroom and Country.

Collegiate Shag
The reason why it is called 'collegiate' is because it was made popular by college students in the 1920s. It is believed that this type of dance form was evolved in the New Orleans. Since it was made popular by young people, it is one of the most energetic and lively dance styles of 1920s. The reason why it is highly energetic is because of its fast movements, hops and kicks which are performed on a high or medium tempo.

Balboa
Another type of swing dance style is known as the dancer's dance. It requires exceptional skills and finesse in the moves. This type of dance form, mostly involves short and swift movements with extreme gracefulness. It involves compact, fast and fancy footwork too. It would be interesting to know that this dance form was evolved when there was no space available in the stuffed ballrooms and hence evolved the short and fast movements.

Jive
Another most popular dance form until today. It is also known as 'Jitterbug Jive' or simply 'Jive'. The origin of this dance form cannot be certain. There are few people who believe that the Jive originated in Europe, whereas few believed that it was evolved in America. Hence, in Europe, this dance style is known as Jive and in U.S. it is either known as American Jive or Jitterbug Jive. The variations in the name has also brought a lot of variations in the dance form itself, which is supposed to be an original variation of the Lindy Hop dance style.

Most of these dance styles were evolved to lighten up the mood and to escape from the terror atmosphere caused by the horror of wars during that time. It used to be a way to vent out the feeling of distress put by the wars on public. Hence, it can be seen that most of these dance forms are energetic and fast paced. These were much popular amongst the youth than older people.