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I picked up this sheet music "Jazz Baby" and it took me down a path.
The lyrics mentioned dances, and in looking into them a post developed.
Hear the song...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9OsVRvNbgQ (song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0vWnvnaZIA (instrumental)

Looking into the dances, I found this NPR article...
http://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history ... arly-1900s

Some info on "Ballin' The Jack"...

Ballin' the Jack is basically just a sensual, gyration dance with bumps and grinds. Notorious in its day, it was done as a solo dance or along with swing dancing. It's first public appearance was in 1913 at the Lafayette Theater in Harlem, the play was called "The Darktown Follies" produced by Leubrie Hill in the first act called "At The Ball, That's All." Florence Ziegfeld loved it so much he purchased the rights and used it in his Follies of 1913.
In 1913 dancer and composer Chris Smith wrote the song titled "Ballin' The Jack," based on a Negro song that was becoming a dance fad across the nation with white America.

Description of the dance in the song…
First you put your two knees close up tight
Then you sway 'em to the left, then you sway 'em to the right
Step around the floor kind of nice and light
Then you twis' around and twis' around with all your might
Stretch your lovin' arms straight out in space
Then do the Eagle Rock with style and grace
Swing your foot way 'round then bring it back
Now that's what I call "Ballin' the Jack.”

Hollywood's take on the dance...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWryDF_yyH0

Bad things happen to those who dance these dances!
From a 1920 article and a portion of the "Tickle Toe" dance steps... James.

I read somewhere that Atlantic City banned the shimmy in the early 1920's.Ethel Waters said,"No one could do the shimmies like I could,but I was never vulgar.In fact,although the shimmy was banned in Atlantic City,they let me do mine."edisonplayer

Today when anything goes, it is hard to imagine a recent past when dancing of practically any kind was suspect or even downright scandalous. My grandmother and her family lived in Fort Worth during the late 'teens. One of the family was ostracized by their local Baptist church for attending a high school prom! The whole family quit the Baptists in protest and never went back.

In respect to my family's tarnished (ha!) history, I feel entitled to tell a little joke: Do you know why Baptists only have sex laying down? So they can't be accused of dancing!

Now that's dirty dancing, and nasty!
-------------------------

Shimmy...

http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3shimy.htm

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... eorgia.jpg

http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2 ... the-shimmy


James.

"And ragtime - jungle music! Boys and girls in the arms of an animal instinct - MASS-STERIA!"

BILL

In the 1920 Harold Lloyd film An Eastern Westerner, Harold is kicked out of a dancing establishment for doing the shimmy, which was banned! It's kind of quaint to see what ruffled peoples feathers back then.

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vT8q4qIgzw[/youtubehd]

-Stephen

That Shimmy segment was funny enough to hook me and I saw the rest if it.
What a great film.

Thanks for the link.
James.