Dance: From Cake Walk to Hip-Hop

04-22-00 

By Lenita Williamson 

Torsos swinging violently from side to side - complex syncopated rhythms - intricate foot movement. Slave traders used these words to describe the dance of the African people they transported to the New World. Even after the gruesome journey, Africans turned to dance to express their pain, and their joy. As a result, dance has become an integral part of African American culture. Whether plantation, city, church, nightclub, or home, African Americans dance to express the depth of emotion that drives their everyday lives.  

Despite the lack of recognition for their creative genius, African Americans are responsible for many of the dance crazes unique to American culture. These include tap dance, lindy hop and the twist - all the way up to break dancing and hip-hop. U.S. Civil Rights leader, Eldridge Cleaver described the twist as "a guided missile, launched from the ghetto into the very heart of suburbia." He further asserts that in the midst of racial tension, "the twist succeeded, as politics, religion, and law could never do, in writing in the heart and soul what the Supreme Court could only write on the books." 

Cleaver's statement is an example of the varied role of dance in the African American community. It is sometimes a purely social expression, while at other times sacred, and characterized by what (in church circles) is called the "holy dance." There are even situations when dance was a statement of protest and resistance. The Cake Walk is a perfect example. It was created on the plantation fields of slave America and usually performed during "crop-over" or harvest. Its original purpose was to act as a means of resistance to the harsh reality of slave life. In this dance, slaves would mock their owners. Dressed in their "Sunday Best," they pranced around with noses tilted high, as if to declare themselves "masters of the universe."

Cake Walk imitators at turn of the century.

The slave couple that danced the best would receive a cake as their reward-- hence, the name Cake Walk. Ironically, the dance became a national craze, and unknowingly to the white community, they were dancing their own mockery. This was a small victory for the slave, who would suffer severe punishment had he protested more overtly. As years passed, African Americans played an important part in the entertainment and professional dance arena. They were not allowed to share restaurants or bathrooms, but were tolerated as entertainment. Vaudeville shows full of painted black faces swarmed all over America and Europe between the 17th and 19th centuries with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson leading the way. Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus followed, and became two African American dance legends. 

The 20th century brought about more change in African American dance, especially after the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Interracial modern dance companies began, and eventually more Blacks opened their own recognized professional dance companies. Among them was, of course, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, known for its signature piece "Revelations." The Dance Theater of Harlem, founded by Arthur Mitchell, the first African American to dance with the New York City Ballet, the Chuck Davis Company and Garth Fagan Dance Company all followed a few years after Ailey, and are still thriving. 

Break dancer in motion.

Today dance is still one of the African American community's greatest expressions. Many African Americans have committed their lives to the discipline of professional training and are continuing the pioneering efforts of dance greats like Robinson, Dunham and Primus. Among the newer talent on the professional African American dance scene are: Urban Bush Women, Ronald Brown, Bill T. Jones, Bebe Miller and Savion Glover on the tap side of the fence. In addition, many university dance programs are adding African and Afro-Caribbean dance forms to their curriculum.

 
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