THE ROARING 20S

Jazz Age
Was a cultural movement; at this time many innovations in song and dance were introduced into American society. Jazz became most popular in cities like Chicago, Harlem, and New Orleans. This whole movement is thanks to the black community.

It was eventually adopted by the white middle class which made jazz to how it’s commonly used today. This was done by meshing the African American traditions with the ideals of the white class society. This outraged the black community mostly because of the fact that they were hated but their culture was loved

The Harlem Renaissance was the development of the Harlem neighborhood in New York City as a black cultural mecca in the early 20th Century and the subsequent social and artistic explosion that resulted. Lasting roughly from the 1910s through the mid-1930s, the period is considered a golden age in African American culture, manifesting in literature, music, stage performance and art.

MUSICAL INSPIRATIONS

His deep raspy voice carried through crowds of people and touched hearts of many. Most notable songs are La vie en rose “ Life in happy hues” and what a wonderful world

MORE NOTABLE INSPIRATIONS

• Duke Ellington
• Billie Holiday
• Benny Goodman
• Josephine Baker
• Buddy rich
• The Boswell sisters

DANCING

Basking in the optimism of a nation that escaped from the horrors of The Great War, dancers took to the floor sporting moves in styles such as the Shimmy, the Tango, the Waltz, the Foxtrot, and the Charleston. For the first time, dancers were closer together, some were even touching, and the music was faster, more soulful, and louder than ever before.

In the dance halls, at vaudeville shows, and at clubs many people of all races were exposed to African dance styles like the Shimmy, the Turkey Trot, the Buzzard Lope, the Chicken Scratch, the Monkey Glide, and the Bunny Hug, many of which were former slave dances.

Many of the dance styles were seen as almost scandalous by people of the older generations because the male and female dance partners were moving quickly and touching one another in ways deemed inappropriate, such as men with their hands on a floor

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It all started going down when the Great Depression hit and the stock market crashed It wavered until Prohibition ended in 1933, which meant white patrons no longer sought out the illegal alcohol in uptown clubs.

HARLEM RACE RIOT

The Harlem Race Riot of 1935 broke out following the arrest of a young shoplifter, resulting in three dead, hundreds injured and millions of dollars in property damage. The riot was a death knell for the Harlem Renaissance.

IMPACT

The Harlem Renaissance was a golden age for African American artists, writers and musicians. It gave these artists pride in and control over how the black experience was represented in American culture and set the stage for the civil rights movement.