The Jitterbug is a kind of swing dance that became popular in the United States in the 1930s. It is danced to upbeat music, by moving one's feet fast and jumping from side to side. Air flips are common in this dance, in fact it's the most popular thing about it.
The first time 'Jitter Bug' was recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary was in Cab Calloway's 1934 song "Call of the Jitter Bug". This song's lyrics clearly link the word jitterbug with the consumption of alcohol:
If you'd like to be a jitter bug,
First thing you must do is get a jug,
Put whiskey, wine and gin within,
And shake it all up and then begin.
Grab a cup and start to toss,
You are drinking jitter sauce!
Don't you worry, you just mug,
And then you'll be a jitter bug!
Swing culture seemed to offer a youthful alternative to the stultifying conventions and restrictions of middle class life. Like many American popular cultures, swing crossed ethnic and racial lines freely.
White, black, and latin musicians and dancers shared instruments and switched partners. But with it came controversy. Benny Goodman, known as the 'King of Swing' was the child of Jewish immigrants.
Billy Holliday, a white swing singer in a band of black men, was once asked to grease her face because 'she looked too white to be on stage with black men'. Despite such idiocies, swing music united both white and black audiences and musicians.
WWII eased the spread of the jitterbug across the Pacific and the Atlantic. There were nearly 2 million American troops stationed throughout Britain in 1944 when British Samoans were doing their own version of the jitterbug. Ballrooms that had been closed for lack of business reopened. Large part of the attendees were working class girls who had never danced before, along with American soldiers and sailors.
In 1944, while the United States was involved in World War II, a federal excise tax of 30% was imposed on dancing night clubs. "No Dancing Allowed" signs went up all over the country. Club owners, and promoters couldn't afford to pay the taxes, which is why dancing died out during that era.
If you'd like to be a jitter bug,
First thing you must do is get a jug,
Put whiskey, wine and gin within,
And shake it all up and then begin.
Grab a cup and start to toss,
You are drinking jitter sauce!
Don't you worry, you just mug,
And then you'll be a jitter bug!
Swing culture seemed to offer a youthful alternative to the stultifying conventions and restrictions of middle class life. Like many American popular cultures, swing crossed ethnic and racial lines freely.
White, black, and latin musicians and dancers shared instruments and switched partners. But with it came controversy. Benny Goodman, known as the 'King of Swing' was the child of Jewish immigrants.
Billy Holliday, a white swing singer in a band of black men, was once asked to grease her face because 'she looked too white to be on stage with black men'. Despite such idiocies, swing music united both white and black audiences and musicians.
WWII eased the spread of the jitterbug across the Pacific and the Atlantic. There were nearly 2 million American troops stationed throughout Britain in 1944 when British Samoans were doing their own version of the jitterbug. Ballrooms that had been closed for lack of business reopened. Large part of the attendees were working class girls who had never danced before, along with American soldiers and sailors.
In 1944, while the United States was involved in World War II, a federal excise tax of 30% was imposed on dancing night clubs. "No Dancing Allowed" signs went up all over the country. Club owners, and promoters couldn't afford to pay the taxes, which is why dancing died out during that era.
- Information from: Wikipedia.org, StreetSwing.com, Chnm.gmu.edu
- Pictures from: Google Images, Wikipedia.org
- Video from Youtube (user: Nicklas Reinhardt)
