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Origins of Jazz Dance

Katie Derham considers the world of early jazz dance with Strictly Come Dancing choreographer Ryan Francois, from roots with the black slave trade to Harlem in the 1920s.

Katie Derham considers the world of early jazz dance with Strictly Come Dancing choreographer Ryan Francois, from its roots in the notorious world of black slavery, to Harlem in the 1920s, and beyond.

A popular feature of ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ One's "Strictly Come Dancing" are the jazz routines - the Charleston and Jive, with their colour, excitement and joie de vivre. Katie Derham looks back on the journey that these dance styles undertook before arriving at their modern form and considers the stories, music and movement that shaped them. With Katie is one of Strictly's regular choreographers, Ryan Francois, a specialist in jazz dance, who helps to unpick the origins of one of dance's most vibrant forms.

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Sat 2 Dec 2017 15:00
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Scott Joplin

    The Ragtime Dance

    Performer: Joshua Rifkin.
    • ELEKTRA NONESUCH : 7559791592.
    • ELEKTRA NONESUCH.
    • 3.

  • Scott Joplin

    Stoptime Rag

    Performer: Joshua Rifkin.
    • ELEKTRA NONESUCH : 7559791592.
    • ELEKTRA NONESUCH.
    • 16.

  • Traditional

    Nzomba

    Performer: Ipelegeng Advanced Group.
    • Ancient Civilisations of Southern Africa.
    • ARC.
    • 10.

  • Traditional

    Mantshwe

    Performer: Ipelegeng Advanced Group.
    • Ancient Civilisations of Southern Africa.
    • ARC.
    • 30.

  • Stephen Foster

    Foster Favourites Medley

    Performer: Molly Mason.
    • Ashoken Farewell - Beautiful Dreamer: Songs of Stephen Foster.
    • Classics For Pleasure.
    • 13.

  • Traditional

    Buck and Wing

    Performer: Jesse Fuller.
    • GOOD TIME JAZZ : SGA 5021.
    • GOOD TIME JAZZ.
    • 12.

  • Egbert Van Alstyne

    Hu Lu Ha La Cakewalk

    • ARCHEOPHONE RECORDS : ARCH 1001A.
    • ARCHEOPHONE RECORDS.
    • 5.

  • Claude Debussy

    General Lavine - excentric (Preludes Book 2, No.6)

    Performer: Pierre‐Laurent Aimard.
    • Deutsche Grammophon : 4779982.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 18.

  • Noble Sissle

    I'm just simply full of jazz (Shuffle Along)

    Composer: Eubie Blake. Performer: Members of the Cast.
    • Sissle & Blake sing Shuffle Along.
    • HARBINGER RECORDS.
    • 2.

  • Duke Ellington

    Cotton Club Stomp

    Narrator: Irving Mills.
    • ASV : CDAJA5031.
    • ASV CDAJA5031.
    • 1.

  • Roy Turk

    I'm Gonna Charleston Back To Charleston

    Composer: Lou Handman.
    • ASV : CDAJA5342.
    • ASV.
    • 4.

  • Count Basie

    The Kid From Red Bank

    Composer: Neal Hefti.
    • The Complete Atomic Basie.
    • ROULETTE JAZZ.
    • 1.

  • John Kander

    Overture & All That Jazz (Chicago)

    Composer: Fred Ebb. Performer: London Cast. Conductor: Gareth Valentine. Singer: Ruthie Henshal.
    • Chicago - The Musical (London Cast Recording).
    • RCA.
    • 1.

  • Darius Milhaud

    La CrΓ©ation du Monde

    Performer: John Harle. Orchestra: London Sinfonietta. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • EMI : CD 7479912.
    • EMI.
    • 1.

  • Louis Prima

    Sing, Sing, Sing

    Music Arranger: David Arch. Singer: Hayley Sanderson. Ensemble: Strictly Band. Conductor: David Arch.
    • UNIVERSAL : 1784446.
    • UNIVERSAL.
    • 7.

Broadcast

  • Sat 2 Dec 2017 15:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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Podcast

  • Sound of Dance

    Katie Derham explores the relationship between music and dance in a variety of genres.