Boogie-woogie dances are a part of the world dance art

The musical style boogie-woogie (boggie-woogie) appeared in the early twentieth century and immediately attracted the attention of a multi-million audience. Boogie-woogie dances have that unique incendiary rhythm that is perfect for any dancer, regardless of age, with the only difference that a young couple will dance without a break for half an hour, and fans of fast dances who are already in their sixties will be limited to a few minutes. Attitude towards the dance, emotional feelings, and in the same and the others are the same, he does not leave anyone indifferent.

Blues and its directions

Song, boogie-woogie dance, are one of the blues directions, their musical nature is identical to rhythm and blues and swing. Since blues itself is an extensive layer of musical culture, it is quite natural that he formed several branches:

• Spirituals are the songs of "cotton plantations," they were sung by black slaves from Africa, when they had to cultivate cotton and maize from morning till night.
• Gospel - church chanting, which was chanted by parishioners, who gathered on Sunday under the arches of the church. The flock consisted mainly of people who worked in the field for the whole week.
• Soul - the most difficult in terms of musical drawing and rhythmic basis, the direction of the blues. Performed only professionally, as music soul is always a finished composition. The soul is sung mostly by female singers, the most famous performers are Anna King and Aretha Franklin. Of the men - Wilson Pickett and James Brown.
• And, finally, boogie woogie, a kind of blues, music based on swing, which is characterized by an eight-beat rhythm, the greatest opportunity for improvisation and repetition of musical phrases. Some performers say that boogie woogie is a state of mind.

Boogie-woogie and piano

Style differs in that it does not require a lot of tools. In principle, an orchestra can also play a boogie-woogie piece, but in this case the music will sound academic and even boring. Therefore, guitar, percussion and piano are usually used. In the thirties of the twentieth century there were musicians who played boogie-woogie dances on a banjo. However, the most grandiose compositions are possible, of course, only on the piano. This instrument is best suited for rhythmic syncopated music, which is boogie-woogie. The left hand of the pianist leads the bass line that accompanies the melody, and the right hand plays the theme, improvising on the move.

The first to understand the advantage of "one tool" is the owners of small drinking establishments of the "honky-tonk" type, open both day and night. The hosts began to hire black blues musicians, who were very inexpensive and were ready to play all night long for drinks and food. So boogie-woogie became the most popular music in cafes and small restaurants. However, having won in one, the owners of zucchini were lost in another. To listen to boogie-woogie music and at the same time it's impossible to sit quietly, of course, the visitors went to dance. It took dance floors, and the more visitors came, the wider the dance floor.

Competition

The musical form of boogie-woogie consists of four phrases that any pianist could master, thus, there were no shortages in the performers. But gradually, out of the total mass of musicians who played boogie woogie dances, the most talented ones began to stand out, and competition arose. The owners of the night cafes began to entice each other pianists, and when this succeeded, a guitarist and a drummer were added to the piano, thus creating an ensemble from which it was already impossible to leave.

At the end of the 1920s, the boogie-woogie craze began. The popular style went far beyond the "honky-thin", boogie-woogie already played big bands, there were even solo stars who agreed to sit at the piano only for a big fee.

Boogie and Rock and Roll

In the early 50's, with the advent of rock'n'roll, the boogie-woogie dances changed, acrobatics were added to the structure, and a script, sequence of moves and pas appeared, which more and more resembled tricks. Rhythmics and the dynamics of the dance had to circus pirouettes. At some point, rock 'n' roll pushed boogie-woogie dances, this happened with the advent of the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley, and in addition, the rockabilly style came into fashion at that time . However, boogie woogie turned out to be a musical style, over which time is not powerful, and it remained unshakable, popular and in demand.

Competition

Then boogie-woogie dances became competitive, contests were organized in which couples showed everything they could do. After a while, the competitions took on a regular character, and couples dancing boogie woogie began to compete for the sake of victory, for the first, second and third place. Since the competitions provided for the participation of young talents, a boogie-woogie dance was created for children, and small dancers took part along with adults. The children's program was simpler and easier. Boys and girls usually performed the famous popular dance "I love boogie-woogie".

Boogie-woogie today

As well as in ballroom dances, boogie-woogie judged a competent jury, prizes and bonuses, main and incentive prizes were played, and someone remained just a participant or a laureate of the contest. Competitions were held everywhere, in all countries of the world. Only in the Soviet Union it was believed that boogie-woogie, styli, dance of alien culture - all this is not necessary for a Soviet man. At present, the Soviet ideology is no longer working, and the boogie-woogie dance is considered one of the most popular in the world.