Celebrating the Legacy of Blues
By: Virginia Jimenez
From music to dancing, to the way we talk about our feelings, the Blues has stitched itself into the heart of American culture (and many others). It’s become embedded in such a way that many Americans don’t even realize it; universities have courses about its place in music, in history, and in culture.
The Blues is so ubiquitous in American culture that I didn’t know how much I knew about it until someone pointed it out to me. I thought I first ran into the legacy of Blues when I was in college because that’s the first time I danced to Blues music. That’s not true. I really ran into it when I was 7 or 8 years old doing tap and jazz warm-ups in my grandmother’s dance studio to the music of Scott Joplin. It was there I fell in love with “Maple Leaf Rag.” I later ran into the Blues when my father played his Beatles records when my brother gave me “Songs in A Minor” by Alicia Keys when my high school friends taught me the latest hip hop moves when I expressed myself by writing new lyrics to familiar melodies. Before I was consciously aware of the Blues, I was in regular contact with its descendants and inherent values.
I found my way into the modern Blues dancing world the way a lot of folks did (and still do) - through swing dancing. Often, Blues was the late-night dance for social swing dances and was occasionally referred to as swing’s “slow sexy cousin.”I liked that I could swing out with high energy and end the night with a relaxed, sensual “Blues dance.” What I did not know at the time was that I was participating in a widespread gross misunderstanding and appropriation of the Blues.
In the early 2000s, what began as house parties in living rooms and basements and “late-night” social swing dances at universities, began to evolve into independent “Blues dance” scenes. As this style of dance became more popular, we started to rent space in dance and yoga studios, old churches, and convention centers. We hired instructors to teach the dance and its etiquette, as well as DJs to play the music. In cities like Atlanta and Chicago, we would go out to Blues bars and dance to live musicians. In many places it started to become a staple social event once a week: same time, same place. While we had created many wonderful places for people to partner dance, be social, and have a good time, there was one major problem: we were calling it something it was not.
While a handful of these early Blues dance scenes in the US were actually dancing to Blues music and incorporating Blues values into their dance and community, many of us were not. We had a lot to learn. Scene leaders, DJs, instructors, and dancers went in search of black musicians, folklorists, and historians who could educate us about the Blues and its connection to African American tradition and history. We found, and continue to find, a wealth of information about Blues music. We hire black musicians to play at our events and to lead discussions and conversations about Blues music as well as its role in American history and culture.
Researching the history and origins of Blues dance (as opposed to the music) proves more challenging, but the more we search in the right places, the more we discover. We regularly share our resources with each other - and information quickly spreads to different scenes (largely thanks to the somewhat nomadic nature of Blues dancers). We have developed a deep appreciation for the historians, folklorists, musicians, and dancers who documented the social life and movements that inform our knowledge of Blues dance. The academic, cultural, musical and historical pursuits of folks from all over the United States opened many doors to the past - a world in which Blues dancing was everything the hard physical labor of African and African-American slaves was not: relaxed, joyful, sensual, improvisational, conversational, soulful and spiritual, expressive, and most importantly, free.
In the last fifteen years, we have strived to correct our errors of appropriation and misunderstanding by making Blues values central to the way we dance, learn and share the incredible legacy of the Blues. As a member of the Blues Dance New York community, I can speak specifically to the changes in the New York City scene.
Blues Dance New York is a diverse and friendly community that aims to cultivate and spread the love of Blues music and dancing. Like many other scenes, ours evolved from house parties and after-parties to weekly dances in studios. While there are many venues with live Blues music in NYC, Cabaret Laws (recently repealed) and a shortage of highly coveted space have kept us from dancing in most Blues bars. Under passionate leadership, we have worked hard to educate our staff and patrons about the Blues. Laura Chieko, a former Education Coordinator, contributed heavily to the structure of our educational program and teaching. She developed a curriculum that focuses on the fundamental movement and aesthetics of Blues and also the basic techniques of dancing in partnership, leaving room for instructors to make each lesson their own. Our current undertaking is to provide folks with more social and cultural information about the dance.
Anyone who takes one of our lessons on a Friday night will hear a brief definition of Blues dancing. It might sound something like this: “Blues dancing is an African-American dance that originated in the southern United States during the time of slavery. Its movement and aesthetic are highly influenced by dance forms from various African countries.” In truth, Blues dance is so much more! As Blues musicians made their way across the United States, they shared music from their home regions, as well as learned the styles of Blues played in other regions. As a result, there are many different styles of Blues music, and a natural consequence of playing music in social spaces like juke joints and bars is dancing! The dances evolved with the music, so there are just as many styles of Blues dance as there are styles of Blues music. Blues dancers shuffle and tap to Piedmont Blues and Texas Blues; sway and glide in a ballroom-like fashion to Jazz Blues and New Orleans Blues; bump and shake to Chicago Blues and Delta Blues - but no matter what, Blues dancers improvise to the music they hear. Each of our instructors has their own approach to defining the dance and different elements of its rich history and cultural context they prefer to highlight, as a result, our students are exposed to a wide range of perspectives on the complexities of Blues music and Blues dance.
Once in a while we bring instructors and musicians from other cities to enhance our knowledge or shake up our music selections. We make every effort to hire instructors, DJs, and musicians of color. Our DJs make an effort to play a variety of Blues music by a variety of Blues artists, both contemporary and traditional. We hire local Blues musicians once a month, and by now we’ve established a solid relationship many of them, including Frank Mirra and Mike Smith (of Big Frank and The Healers), King Solomon Hicks, KarLea Lynne, Bobby Brown, Irving Lattin Louis, Mara Kaye, Jerry Dugger, Burgandy Williams and many others. They love to play Blues music while we dance to it!
Learning and sharing are high priorities in the Blues Dance New York community. We revel in learning from new friends and old, and we are honored to share and celebrate the legacy of the Blues. Naturally, we believe the best way to celebrate and show our appreciation is to get up and dance to Blues music that moves us. Everyone is welcome to join our celebration.
