5.3: Defining Jazz Technique

There are many different approaches to jazz dance class and choreography, as you’ll discover reading about the legends that are the foundation of the classical form. However, there are general facets of the dance form that most teachers follow. These guideposts include warm up; isolations; flexibility; rhythm and musicality; positions of the feet, arms and body; walks, turns, and jumps; and stretching and cool down.

Warm Up

While different teachers and choreographers may give different warm ups, the premise is the same: to get the blood flowing, raise the heart rate, and prepare the body for maximum efficiency as it performs intricate mechanical processes. These exercises involve pliés (bending of the knees) to prepare the bigger muscles in the legs; relevés (lifting or raising up on the balls of your feet in an elevated position with the weight over the arches); and jumps that involve both plies and pointing (stretching) the feet in the air.

Isolations

Emphasizing or focusing on a movement from a certain part of the body is an isolation. Isolations help to mobilize one part of the body, and creating a combination of isolations with different parts of the body, builds different connections and enhances coordination and complexity in movement (Robey, 2016, p. 83). Basic isolations include head, shoulders, ribcage, hips, arms, and legs.

Flexibility

Figure 5.4. Boehme, P. (n.d.). Vintage, Retro, Dancers (Pixabay, Ed.) [Review of Vintage, Retro, Dancers].

https://pixabay.com/photos/vintage-r...batic-1587255/

The ability to be limber and agile is very helpful for dance. Done correctly, stretches for hamstrings, quadriceps, and muscles around the hip flexors can make jumps, splits, and extensions (lifting legs high off the floor) much easier to accomplish.

Feet/Arms/Body Positions

Jazz dance requires all parts of the body to be in motion at any time. Positions of the feet and arms and body are as versatile as can be imagined. Legendary jazz choreographers, such as Katherine Dunham and Gus Giordano, developed signature arm positions, body positions, and, in the case of Giordano, even distinct and specific jazz walks that incorporate varied arm and body positions. Basic positions of the feet can be executed using turnout, just as ballet, a European developed dance method. However, due to the varied roots of jazz discussed earlier in the chapter, parallel feet, a more natural stance, and subsequent body positions, are explored as often as turned out positions.

Walks/Turns/Jumps become Jazz Combinations

Once the warm up has explored the basic building blocks and positions of jazz, the pieces are combined in more intricate movements, such as jazz walks, jazz turns, and jazz jumps. As mentioned, several jazz legends crafted their own unique style of walk or turn. These are incorporated into a lengthier combination in class that utilizes several complex movements into one phrase of study. Isolations could be combined with jazz walks, followed by a turn, and finishing with a jump or a spin on the floor. The more complex the combination, the more the brain is required to coordinate different types of movements from one side of the body to the other and back again.

Musicality/Rhythm is Key

Figure 5.5. Tulane "Jambalaya" yearbook. (1976). New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 1976 [Review of New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 1976]. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jambalaya_1976_Jazz_Fest_Dancers.jpg

Because jazz dance and jazz music were paired so harmoniously in the early years of development, it is natural for jazz dance to rely heavily upon the same instincts of syncopation, polyrhythms, and improvisation. Syncopation is utilizing accents in a way that feels surprising or not the typical or expected way. Polyrhythm is the method of dancing (or playing) two different rhythms against each other. “One is a repeating foundation rhythm; the second is superimposed upon the first and is made up of rhythmic patterns that are ever-varying. The clash between the two partners…results in the production of accents not on but off the downbeats of the foundation rhythm [known]...as syncopation” (Siegenfeld, 2014, p. 17). Not only do jazz dancers need to focus on isolations and movements for different parts of the body, they need to spend time challenging themselves to execute those movements in rhythms that are varied and surprising.

Stretching

Mentioned earlier, good flexibility is critical to perform movements and maintain a healthy dancer body. Stretching is a key component of good flexibility. When done correctly, stretching can enhance flexibility and increase the longevity of a dance career, as it will keep muscles working properly and not allow them to become overused and susceptible to greater risk of injury. Muscle groups for dancers that require attention include hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors, gluteal muscles, calves, and muscles in the feet. These muscle groups are often overutilized in class and not given the proper attention and care and recovery time in between use.