Today, jazz is a dance style that can be recognized with signature moves such as fan kicks, isolations, body rolls, and dynamic jumps. The term “jazz” now pertains to a broad range of dance styles from its wide variation in technique. As it evolved and progressed, jazz dance is actually rooted in African American dance and Caribbean traditional dance and has been adapted over time.
Jack Cole (1911-1974)
"The Father of Theatrical Jazz Dance"
Famous jazz dancers from the early years of jazz include Jack Cole, Bob Fosse, Katherine Dunham, Matt Mattox, and John Bubbles. They are jazz legends who are great performers and choreographers, have shown incredible dance skills, and have even made their own jazz techniques. These prominent people in history brought jazz dance to life.
John Ewing Richter, commonly known as Jack Cole, is an American dancer, choreographer, and theater director who made an impact in the world of jazz dancing through his unique jazz dance techniques. His technique consists of several dance forms like modern dance, ballet, Afro-Cuban and African American rhythms, and the Indian Bharatanatyam classical dance. His signature styles were pliés, East Indian isolation, acrobatic movements, and floor movements.
Even today, Jack Cole’s jazz dance style is prevalent in many advertisements, musicals, movies, nightclub revenues, and music videos. With this, he was given the title “The Father of Theatrical Jazz Dance.” He was a significant figure to other 20th-century masters of performance jazz. Renowned dancers and choreographers such as Gwen Verdon, Tommy Tune, Peter Gennaro, Jerome Robbins, etc. were inspired by him. The famous jazz dancer trained Hollywood dancers like the legendary Bob Fosse and the award-winning Chita Rivera. Jack Cole even choreographed Marilyn Monroe’s “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”, “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, and “Les Girl.”
Bob Fosse (1927-1987)
The pioneer of the notorious Fosse style is none other than Bob Fosse. The actor, choreographer, dancer, director, and screenwriter was known for his distinct jazz dance style which requires great control over your body. Specifically, it consists of turned-in knees and toes, shoulder rolls, splayed or open curved hands, bowler hats, fishnet stockings, pelvic isolations, and a hinge from the hips. Not only that, he incorporated props like the cane, chair, gloves, and hats in his dance routine after getting inspired by the ribald comedy of burlesque and vaudeville style.
One could easily recognize these steps as there are several prominent shows or broadway that Fosse choreographed. These shows are “The Pajama Game,” “Damn Yankees,” “Sweet Charity,” “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” “Pippin,” “Cabaret,” “Chicago,” and “All That Jazz.” Consequently, the talented dancer put jazz to another level by popularizing his style in the Musical Theater world and even won eight Tony awards.
Katherine Dunham (1909-2006)
"Best Jazz Dancer in the World"
Born in Chicago, Katherine Dunham, admired as one of the great pillars of American dance, was most well-known for her dance technique, known as "Dunham Technique." She was an African-American dancer and choreographer, academic, and anthropologist. She became the most influential pioneer in jazz dance.
Dunham's school in New York brought dance training to different types of populations. It helped in the evolution and spreading of the basic jazz dance vocabulary. Her style of jazz dance, known as "Dunham Jazz," prospered with the development of the Dunham technique. This technique is a series of movements and exercises based on classical African Diaspora dances. Her creativity in African Diasporan culture and traditions made the emergence of many dance and music traditions, including the evolution of jazz dance. Her influence and dance technique made a great impact on the world of jazz dance. Almost all jazz dancers use her technique in their dance today.
As a recipient of numerous awards, Dunham received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1983 and the National Medal of Arts in 1989. Recently, she obtained a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 and was awarded "Outstanding Leadership in Dance Research" by the Congress on Research in Dance in 2005. Among her many works were Tropics (choreographed 1937), her composition of a ballet, L'Ag'Ya (1938), which was based on Caribbean dance, and Le Jazz Hot (choreographed 1938).
Matt Mattox (1921-2013)
Born in Oklahoma, Harold Mattox, known as Matt Mattox, was an American jazz and ballet dancer who helped form contemporary jazz dance in the United States and Europe. Before making his way to international dance teacher and choreographer, he was also a Broadway performer and danced in several Hollywood musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. His prominent film role was as Caleb Pontipee in the 1954 film “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” Also, Mattox was a regular guest on television shows, for which he choreographed and performed.
Mattox was highly trained in ballet but was swayed by his mentor to change his career toward jazz technique. He then developed his own style of jazz dance, which he called “freestyle,” and made him one of the world’s most influential teachers of jazz dance.
His jazz instruction was structured in a similar way to a ballet class or training, along with the movement qualities characterized by jazz dance. He founded a dance school and a concert jazz dance company called JazzArt. He has made a worldwide impact on theatrical jazz dance through a career that has reached 60 years.
John Bubbles (1902-1986)
"Famous Jazz Tap Dancer"
The interesting fact about jazz dance is that one of its subgenres is the rhythm tap, a combination of jazz and tap dance. The founder of this style is none other than John William Sublett, or simply John Bubbles, who paved the way for jazz-tap ensembles. He is, of course, a popular jazz-tap dancer, singer, pianist, and even an entertainer. With the rhythm tap, John Bubbles became the “Father of Rhythm Tap”, introducing the percussive heel drops, the traditional eight-bar phrase, and the striking distinctive accents and syncopation (off-beats).
After John Bubbles mixed the art of tap dancing with jazz, he started appearing in operas. In 1935, he was part of the opera “Porgy and Bess” for the next two decades after being chosen by George Gershwin. Not only that, he also performed in other operas, "It Ain't Necessarily So" and "There's A Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon For New York." John Bubbles even appeared in Hollywood films like "Varsity Show," "Cabin in the Sky," and "A Song Is Born." With all that success, he received the Life Achievement Award in 1980 from the American Guild of Variety Artists.
References:
Bob Fosse
Katherine Dunham
Matt Mattox
John Bubbles
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