Moncell Durden on the “Lost Heritage” of Jazz to Hip Hop
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On June 30th, professor Moncel Durden gave an informal talk to a rapt gathering of 100+ lindy hoppers on the "Lost Heritage From Jazz to Hip Hop." Moncell is a dance educator, choreographer, ethnographer, embodied historian, author and assistant professor of practice at University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman International School of Dance.
Last Tuesday, the Breakaway dance in Oakland, California hosted this in-depth conversation with Moncell that explored the common African and Black American roots of lindy hop and hip-hop, “African aesthetics,” what a “street dance” is, and many more topics.
"If you don't understand Jim Crow, you don't understand lindy hop. The intensity behind their dance comes from being denied the rest of their lives."
Check out the video of the talk. It’s quite long, so the Breakaway has helpfully provided links to specific sections, which we have included below.
If this has whet your appetite for more, Oakland’s own Traci Bartlow will be speaking on “Black Cultural Dances” next Tuesday, July 14. Head to the Facebook event for more info.
Also, this weekend are two related and important events:
July 12: Collective Voices for Change (Part 1) featuring Breai Mason-Campbell, Marie N'diaye, Ryan Francois, Anaïs Sékiné, Felipe Braga, Mikaela Hellsten, and Felix Berghäll.
Links to specific sections of Moncell’s Talk
Jazz and Hip-Hop are the same dance 9:07
Etymology of Heritage and History 11:53
Our connection to our history and why we cannot separate a dance from its people 14:00
How people danced in Savoy and how it relates to their social condition 15:15
"Style" vs. "Form" 17:57
Bebop music and how dance transitioned 19:00
3 key people in the morphology towards Hip-Hop (and list of Jazz moves in Hip-Hop) 20:35
Fetus recognizing music heard while in mother's womb 26:55
Identity in society and lived experience gives meaning to dance movements 29:35
The Charleston, from Guinea to Jazz then Hip-Hop 30:55
Camel Walk, from Ghana to Jazz then Soul Train Line then Hip-Hop 35:05
Sinte to The Twist, to "Walk It Out" in Hip-Hop 37:45
Africanist Aesthetics - Summary 38:56
Africanist Aesthetics - The Bounce / Jockey 39:37
Eccentric dance of late 19th century to Breakin' 41:22
Zebra and Ostrich dance from Angola to Capoeira then Breakin' 43:13
Video Clip: shared movements from Jazz to Hip-Hop 48:20
Upcoming "Concert Jazz" documentary "Uprooted" missing the mark 50:43
Commenting on movements seen from the earlier Video Clip 53:35
How Lindy Hop gets culturally appropriated and has its heritage buried 56:30
On ownership of dance and how America forgets/commodifies cultural heritage 1:02:05
Africanist Aesthetics - More on Bounces 1:07:12
Africanist Aesthetics vs. Eurocentric Aesthetics w/ additional resources 1:11:58
More on Ostrich and Zebra dance and pantomime in Africanist Aesthetics 1:18:39
On dressing your authentic-self vs "costuming" 1:22:39
On bringing in our lived experience to dance authentically 1:25:40
On referring to Lindy Hop as "street dance" 1:31:13
On origin of the term "Jitterbug" dance 1:38:07
On "Cat's Corner" and story about circle / cypher 1:38:48
On 2 bands in Savoy Ballroom and Turntable 1:40:00
On story behind the move Tacky Annie 1:41:46
On Irish influence in tap dancing 1:45:22
On drum, rhythm, and cultural relevance 1:54:00
On what dance community represents the Black roots well 1:57:48
On representation, cultural appropriation, and honoring people of the culture 2:02:51
On appreciating our differences to find our similarities 2:22:04
On systemic racism being hidden in plain sight 2:25:14
