Java (dance)

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The Java is a dance developed in France in the early part of the 20th century. The origin of its name is uncertain, but it probably evolved from the mazurka, and it was mainly performed to the bal-musette music popular between 1910 and 1960 in France.

It is a fast waltz, with the dancers very close together; in fact, some men place their hands on their partner's buttocks while dancing it. This of course led some of the more respectable bal-musette dance halls to ban the java.

There is also a nightclub in Paris, La Java, which had its heyday in the 1930s and remains open today.

In Edith Piaf's song L'Accordeoniste she sings of the dance

Elle écoute la Java (She listens to the Java)
Mais elle ne la danse pas (but she doesn't dance it)
Elle ne regarde même pas la piste (She doesn't even look at the dance floor)