Jazz Dance

The Black Bottom is a dance originating in New Orleans and accredited to the blues singer “Alberta Hunter.” The Black Bottom is a solo challenge dance with moves mostly during the off beats. The dance consisted of backside slapping while hopping back and forth, stamping the feet, and gyration of the pelvis. The dance also featured the “heel-toe scoop” and was considered erotic for the time period. The Black Bottom is also an early prototype form of tap.

The dance sprawled and emerged in New York. The dance became incorporated in the Lindy Hop which later became the Jitterbug. Later Perry Bradford introduced the dance to white America in Tennessee 1919. He composed a song titled “The Black Bottom Dance” and his sheet music included printed dance instructions. The dance of course became more refined (“watered down”) as more people accepted the dance and moved it into the ballroom for couples.