Friday, July 5, 2013

Friday Video: Dance Crazes of the Roaring Twenties

Friday, July 5, 2013

Isabella reporting,

The 1920s may have been a decade of great change and historical significance, but on film, the '20s sure look like a whole lot of fun. This clip is a compilation of popular dances and general shenanigans from the time, matched to the appropriate music that's guaranteed to make you want to jump up for a quick Charleston or Foxtrot. Ain't we got fun!

Many thanks to Susan Bailey, one of our intrepid followers and a fellow-blogger (Louisa May Alcott is My Passion) for first sharing this clip with us!

9 comments:

Ana said...

This made me smile and want to jump up and dance, dance, dance :D !

Madame Gilflurt said...

That got my feet tapping!

Lil said...

1710That was FUN!

Caro Carson said...

You find the most interesting things to share. Thank you so much for this video. I remember my grandmother blowing my mind when I was a little girl the day she demonstrated "The Charleston" in the kitchen. Who knew grandma do those twisting-ankle moves like the women in this video?

Anonymous said...

I feel like some of these cuts were from "stag" films of the time based on the very scanty (by the standards of the day) outfits on some of the dancers

Isabella Bradford/Susan Holloway Scott said...

Glad everyone is enjoying this! Seemed perfect for a holiday weekend.

Blathering, I can't say for sure where these clips came from - but the mainstream movies were pretty racy. The most famous flapper movie, "Our Dancing Daughters", starring a very young Joan Crawford, not only featured scanty costumes, but this famous opening of the heroine dancing even as she put on her ruffled panties:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cMbC1Bem0k

ZipZip said...

Oh my, started smiling broadly in spite of myself, and could feel my heart laughing. What a great clip!

Time to learn the Charleston: from the state of the dancer's legs you have to know it was great exercise, too.

Very best,

Natalie

Unknown said...

Fantastic clip - I love everything you post.
Laurie

Karen Anne said...

The Hollywood Production Code came into being in the early 1930s and movies became much more boring, uh, acceptable :-)

I look at the movies from the first half of the last century, and think those people really knew how to live and dress.

 
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