Abstract
ABSTRACTJazz dance training in college and university dance programs offers a platform for students to develop a holistic understanding of dance. Three unique qualities of jazz dance are discussed: vernacular expression, improvisation and sense of play, and rhythmic dynamism. Accessing the vernacular nature of jazz dance provides historical context for movement in addition to the merging and emerging of creation in jazz culture. Improvisation and sense of “play” introduce dynamic expression as rhythmic exploration. Experimenting with a range of rhythmic possibilities in performance and studio contexts exposes key elements of jazz dance: the use of syncopation, treatment of weight, and assertive rhythmic accenting and articulation. How one experiments with these elements can vary, but if it is central to the practice, dynamism inevitably follows. These elements help create the ethos of jazz dance and enhance a dancer’s training in any idiom.
Published Version
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