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Jitterbug is a generalized term used to describe
swing dancing Swing dance is a group of social dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s–1940s, with the origins of each dance predating the popular " swing era". Hundreds of styles of swing dancing were developed; those that ha ...
. It is often synonymous with the lindy hop dance but might include elements of the jive, east coast swing, collegiate shag,
charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...
, balboa and other swing dances. Swing dancing originated in the African-American communities of New York City in the early 20th century. Many nightclubs had a whites-only or blacks-only policy due to racial segregation, however the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem had a no-discrimination policy which allowed whites and blacks to dance together and it was there that the lindy hop dance flourished, started by dancers such as George Snowden and Frank Manning. The term jitterbug was originally a ridicule used by black patrons to describe whites who started to dance the lindy hop, as they were dancing faster and jumpier than was intended, like "jittering bugs", although it quickly lost its negative connotation as the more erratic version caught on. Both the lindy hop and the "jitterbug" became popular outside Harlem when the dance was featured in Hollywood films and Broadway theatre, starring the performance group Whitey's Lindy Hoppers.


Etymology

According to the '' Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') the word "jitterbug" is a combination of the words "jitter" and "bug"; both words are of unknown origin. The first use of the word "jitters" quoted by the ''OED'' is from 1929, Act II of the play '' Strictly Dishonorable'' by Preston Sturges where the character Isabelle says: "Willie's got the jitters" is answered by a judge "Jitters?" to which Isabelle answers "You know, he makes faces all the time." The second quote in the ''OED'' is from the N.Y. Press from 2 April 1930: "The game is played only after the mugs and wenches have taken on too much gin and they arrive at the state of jitters, a disease known among the common herd as heebie jeebies." The first quote containing the term “jitter bug” recorded by the ''OED'' is from the 1934
Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist ...
song “Jitter Bug”. The magazine ''Song Hits'', in the 19 November 1939 issue, published the lyrics, including: “They’re four little jitter bugs. He has the jitters ev’ry morn; that’s why jitter sauce was born.” According to H. W. Fry in his review of ''Dictionary of Word Origins'' by
Joseph Twadell Shipley Joseph Twadell Shipley (August 19, 1893 – May 11, 1988) was an American drama critic, author, editor and associate professor of English at Yeshiva College in New York City. Early life Shipley graduated from City College in 1912. He received a ...
in 1945 the word "jitters" "is from a spoonerism bin and jitters' for 'gin and bitters'..and originally referred to one under the influence of gin and bitters". Wentworth and Flexner explains "jitterbug" as " e who, though not a musician, enthusiastically likes or understands swing music; a swing fan" or " e who dances frequently to swing music" or " devotee of jitterbug music and dancing; one who follows the fashions and fads of the jitterbug devotee... To dance, esp ciallyto jazz or swing music and usu llyin an extremely vigorous and athletic manner".


Early history

Jitterbugging developed from dances performed by African-Americans at
juke joints Juke joint (also jukejoint, jook house, jook, or juke) is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African Americans in the southeastern United States. A juke joint ...
and dance halls.Stearns, Marshall and Jean (1968). ''Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance''. New York: Macmillan. page 331. The Carolina shag and single Lindy Hop dances formed the basis of the jitterbug, which gave way to the double Lindy Hop when rock and roll became popular. White dancers picked up the energetic jitterbug from dancers at black venues. Venues in the
Hill District The Hill District is a grouping of historically African American neighborhoods in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Beginning in the years leading up to World War I, "the Hill" was the cultural center of black life in the city and a major cent ...
of Pittsburgh were popular places for whites to learn the jitterbug.Stearns, Marshall and Jean (1968). ''Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance''. New York: Macmillan. page 330. The Savoy Ballroom, a dance hall in Harlem, was a famous cross-cultural venue, frequented by both black locals and white tourists. Norma Miller, a former Lindy Hop dancer who regularly performed at the Savoy, noted that the dances performed there were choreographed in advance, which was not always understood by the tourists, who sometimes believed the performers were just dancing socially. A musical number called "
The Jitterbug ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). An adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', the film was primarily directed by ...
" was written for the 1939 film ''
The Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' or ''The Wizard of Oz'' most commonly refers to: *'' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', a 1900 American novel by L. Frank Baum often reprinted as ''The Wizard of Oz'' ** Wizard of Oz (character), from the Baum novel serie ...
''. The "jitterbug" was a bug sent by the Wicked Witch of the West to waylay the heroes by forcing them to do a jitterbug-style dance. Although the sequence was not included in the final version of the film, the Witch is later heard to tell the flying monkey leader, "I've sent a little insect on ahead to take the fight out of them." The song as sung by Judy Garland as Dorothy and some of the establishing dialogue survived from the soundtrack as the B-side of the disc release of "Over the Rainbow".


Popularity

In 1944, with the United States' continuing involvement in World War II, a 30% federal excise tax was levied against night clubs that featured dancing. Although the tax was later reduced to 20%, "No Dancing Allowed" signs went up all over the country. It has been argued that this tax had a significant role in the decline of public dancing as a recreational activity in the United States. World War II facilitated the spread of jitterbug across the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. Across the Atlantic in preparation for
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
, there were nearly 2 million American troops stationed throughout Britain in May 1944. Dancing was not a popular pastime in Britain before the war, and many ballrooms had been closed for lack of business. In the wake of the arrival of American troops, many of these re-opened, installing jukeboxes rather than hiring live bands. Working class women who had never danced recreationally before made up a large part of the attendees, along with American soldiers and sailors. British Samoans were doing a "Seabee version" of the jitterbug by January 1944. By November 1945 after the departure of the American troops following D-Day, English couples were being warned not to continue doing energetic "rude American dancing," as it was disapproved of by the upper classes.''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'', 24 November 1945. "Britons Drive to End Jiving as Yanks Go Home". page 88
'' Time'' reported that American troops stationed in France in 1945 jitterbugged, and by 1946, jitterbug had become a craze in England. It was already a competition dance in Australia. A United Press item datelined Hollywood on 9 June 1945 stated that dancer Florida Edwards was awarded a $7,870 judgement by the district court of appeals for injuries she sustained while jitterbugging at the Hollywood Canteen the previous year. In 1957, the Philadelphia-based television show ''
American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...
'' was picked up by the American Broadcasting Company and shown across the United States. ''American Bandstand'' featured popular songs of the day, live appearances by musicians, and dancing in the studio. At this time, the most popular fast dance was jitterbug, which was described as "a frenetic leftover of the swing era ballroom days that was only slightly less acrobatic than Lindy". In a 1962 article in the '' Memphis Commercial Appeal'', bassist
Bill Black William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio. Black later formed Bill Black's Combo. Ear ...
, who had backed Elvis Presley from 1954 to 1957, listed "jitterbug" along with the
twist Twist may refer to: In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage * ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist'' * ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...
and
cha-cha Cha-Cha, Cha Cha, ChaCha or Chacha may refer to: Music *Cha-cha-cha (dance), a dance of Cuban origin *Cha-cha-cha (music), a genre of Cuban music * ''Cha Cha'' (album), a 1978 album by Herman Brood & His Wild Romance * ''Cha Cha'' (soundtrack), t ...
as "the only dance numbers you can play".''The Blue Moon Boys: The Story of Elvis Presley's Band''. Ken Burke and Dan Griffin. 2006. Chicago Review Press. page 146. .


See also

* Balboa * Lindy Hop * Shag * Big Apple *
Charleston (dance) The Charleston is a dance named after the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson, which or ...


References

{{Authority control Swing dances Articles containing video clips