Gender Evolution & Dance

During the late Victorian era, most women felt freed from tight corsets, the large heavy gowns with their big puffed sleeves – characteristics of the perfect Victorian American look. A new generation came along bringing new dances and different cultures into society, “swaying, hugging and grinding to new rhythms in dances”. In the early 1900’s, dances with European origins had already been introduced in the United States. Can you believe that the Waltz and the Tango were considered as scandalous dances? They were considered scandalous dances, because both involved physical contact between men and women during the dance, which quickly became a social norm. These new dances were created based on different cultures put together: the Charleston was a mix of Afro-American and European cultures and the Shimmy was based on Middle-Eastern dances.
      While the older and more conservative generations saw these cultural changes and jazz music in particular, as taboo, it seemed very appealing to the youth. The Shimmy, the Lindy Hop, the Jive and the Charleston were all dances considered disgraceful and inadmissible to some, while others viewed it as the contemporary trend at the time.
      The Shimmy is a dance from 1917 that actively involved women shaking their torsos, hips and shoulders. The name of the dance is originally from a Polish immigrant to America. This move comes from Gypsy dances and belly dances. These were regarded as improper movements, because the woman would suggestively shake body parts that were not considered proper to reveal while dancing with a man. In the 1920’s, the Lindy hop emerged and was the first dance to include swinging the partner into the air as well as jumping in sequence. Young people took to throwing their arms and legs in the air carelessly and hopping or “toddling” every step in the Foxtrot. Soon, every college student was doing a new dance, which became known as the Toddle.
      A style called the Charleston best represents the... [continues]

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