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be known as Buck Dancers. These terms would eventually become dance steps.
-- The legendary dancer "Master
Juba " did a Buck and Wing in the 1840s. It is
said that the Buck and Wing 'routine' was first performed
on the New York stage in 1880 by James McIntyre as well as inventing
the 'Syncopated Buck and Wing.' king
Rastus Brown is considered one of the best Buck and
Wing dancers in history. During the dance craze of the 1920s,
buck and wing dancers would be considered sqaure and corny when
compared to the newer style of tap dancing that was slowly replacing
the buck and wing style of previous years.
-The Buck
and Wing was adapted to the Minstrel stage from the
recreational clogs and shuffles of the African-American. The Buck
and Wing is said to be a bastard dance, made up of Clogs ,
Jigs ,
Reels, Sand dance etc.
which later gave birth to the Time Step and Soft Shoe. The Buck
and Wing can and was used in Reels,
Clog dance , Can-Can
(Pigeon Wing,) Jigs
and Tap .
The modern Buck and a Wing is characterised by wing-like steps
done in the air (known as "wings") done mostly on the
balls of the foot and which is considered the forerunner of rhythm
tap. The Hornpipe
of England was a elaborate Pantomime
of English sailors, mimicking their duties while patting the feet
to a tune.
Buck:
(Buck dance)
-
Originally just a stamping of the feet to interpret the music
which later became more refined when mixed with the Jig and Clog.
In Tap Dance it is known as the earliest version of the "Shuffle
and Tap Steps." The Basic Chug or Buck step is done by pushing
the ball of the foot across the floor, at the same time dropping
the heel, with or without weight. Buck dancing was the first known
American Tap form performed to syncopated rhythms. These rhythms
were performed on the "Offbeat or Downbeat" which came
from Tribal rhythms in Africa. Buck dance was a type of countrified
Clog or Tap dance. Usually associated with Barn
Dancing or Country Dance. The Indians (Mainly Ute),
also had a Buck dance, participants would dress in Deer Skins
(Buck) and do a ceremonial dance called Buck Dancing.
Originally
the music used was 2/4 time and was of the Syncopated March type.
The Mobile Buck was an ancestor of
the common Buck Dance that later evolved into the Time Step.
Pigeon
Wing:
-
Originally (1830's) just the shaking of one leg in the air. Was
also known as the "Ailes De Pigeon"
in Ballet .
Was commonly called to as "Pistolets "
by the French and just plain ole "Pigeon Wing" by the
Folk dancers, later
taken over by minstrel dancers. In the Can-Can
the "Pigeon Wing" was bringing the bust into
play by leaping forward, kicking high and throwing the shoulders
back while "carrying on the arm" (or holding one
leg up against the cheek, while hopping lightly on the other leg).
Basically it's just the lifting of the leg (demi-Plie')
and move the leg too beat the back calf of the other foot. Can
be done in front of other leg or as in the variation of Michael
Jackson's modern version of his front lifting leg swing. When
Minstrel dancing came envogue, many variations came about, namely
a small hop on one leg while shooting out the other leg to form
a "Wing."
Wings:
The
more modernWings
started to become a basic stable to tap dancing around 1900. "Wings"
are basically derived from the much older minstrel variations
of the Pigeon Wing but no real air
step. Eventually becoming "air steps" that have the
dancer springing up from one leg off the floor, and using the
correct timing to do a certain amount of taps with the same foot
before landing back down while the other "winging leg"
usually remins motionless. There are variations such as the pump
(winging leg goes up and down), double back, pendulum, Three-tap
wing (one tap on the way up and two on the way down), Five-tap
wings, etc.
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