Talk:Black Bottom (dance)
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24Feb06, One link that connected to an marketing site with no additional content was removed.
PlainJane 10:32, 2 April 2006 (UTC) Much of the material in this article is unsubstantiated. Black bottom apparently has its roots in the rural slave communities of southern america in the 19th century. One suggestion is that black bottom was originally a dance immitating a cow or person stuck in mud and wiping/flicking off mud. There are, consequently, moves which look like the dancer is flicking mud off their feet.
While it was popularised in the 1920s, particularly in white communities, the dance has a longer history than this article suggests.
It's also worth mentioning that this dance is popular again in contemporary swing dance communities.
One of the major problems with documenting these sorts of African American vernacular dances is that they function in much the same was as oral histories and so don't have much 'concrete' evidence.
A useful resource which may actually be inaccurate: Malone, Jacqui. Steppin' on the Blues: The Visible Rhythms of African American Dance. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1996.
PlainJane 10:36, 2 April 2006 (UTC) deleted external link as it's an unreliable source
[edit] How do you do it?
This article actually has absolutely no indication of how this dance is done. Somone who knows how to do it should add one! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dark Green (talk • contribs) 14:47, 14 April 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Historic Footage Does Exist
I have seen online historic film footage of how Black Bottom Stomp was done in the U.S. during (what seemed to be) the 1940s or 1950s, possibly earlier (though I think it had audio). I ran across it while looking for video examples of old Lindy Hop moves. If anyone can locate this or similar footage that's public domain, that would be a great addition to the Creative Commons files... and this article could link to it. Deebki 19:44, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
Agreed. I am looking for a "How To" on this particular dance. The only reference I have found thus far is a scene in "The Thorn Birds" where Father Ralph played by Richard Chamberlain is asked to perform the Black Bottom for guests at a party. The scene is 1918 Australia, I believe. However, the moves performed are similar to those of the Charleston so I would like to see the real dance from someone who knows. ~Nicole —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.207.165.224 (talk) 20:27, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
