African Dance

African Dance

The African people were dancing people. As they started being put into slavery, they didn't want to forget the dancing. Slave owners didn't like the idea of the African people dancing, so they banned it. The African people modified their dances so that they could continue dancing. They saw all of the benefits of dancing, so they didn't want to get rid of it. Their dances were usually spirit dances. They also had traditional dancing. This started in the 1500’s and continued for many years. The main dances done in the plantations were:

The Ring Dance,  

The Juba,  

The Chika, 

The Calenda. 

Starting in the 19^th century, the white people started dancing with the black people and started doing the minstrel shows. Many people started to become more aware of the dance.  At the end of the 19^th century, there started to become more shows where the audiences were all black people. The African people influenced many dances in the years of the late 19^th century. Some of the dances that were influenced by the African people were:

Tap Dancing, 

The Charleston, 

The Twist,  

The Lindy Hop, 

Jazz Dancing,

Hip Hop.