What is the Jive and Where Do You See It?

The Jive is a happy energetic dance that has plenty of kneel lifting, bending, and rocking of the hips. The Jive can be danced to Swing music and jump blues with tempo ranges of 200 beats per minute. The Jive first became popular in the 1940s being known as the Europeans calmer version of the jitterbug. The term Jive became associated with the style of sing dancing through Cab Calloways "Hepster Jive Talk". According to the website, http://www.streetswing.com/his
tmain/z3jive.htm, the Jive was used by Europeans in WWII when the Jitterbug was called the Jitterbug-Jive.  Once the war was over, the term Jitterbug-Jive stopped in the states but was continued in Europe as the Jive. So, the Jive is a European dance that transferred over to the States. Today in America the Jive is taught in ballroom classes. You also see the Jive on Dancing With the Stars which is my favorite show of all time (video down below).  Now a days when you watch performances and television you will see a Jive fusion. Normally, it is the Jive incorporated with other styles of Ballroom dancing, but my favorite

dances are when they mix the Jive with Hip Hop and Jazz(down below). With this they still keep the fast pace and hitting every beat but it has more content. Although you continue to see The Jive in dance competitions and entertainment performances, it is not performed as much as it used to be. People are leaning away from ballroom dances and are performing more Hip Hop, Contemporary, and Jazz dances.

~ Maya Bahl

"The Characteristics and Steps of the Jive." About.com Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2016. 

http://dance.about.com/od/partnerdancestyles/qt/Jive.htm
http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3jive.htm,

Modern Jive:

                             










Classic Jive: