New York and Chicago During the 1920's The 1920's was a huge decade for the phenomena known as "Jazz". Due to the closing of the seaport in New Orleans, musicians were forced to travel up the Mississippi to find work. Two of the cities most affected by this move were Chicago and New York. ...

Ever since the beginnings of jazz in America at the turn of the twentieth century jazz was a music form that northerners were not exposed to because slavery, for the most part, took place in the south. And that is where jazz in America came from, the slaves. The focal point for jazz in the states...

"To me passion is so essential...it hurts any kind of dance when there's no artistry. There are just feats." - Donald McKayle Born in July 6th 1930 in New York City, Donald McKayle first gained an intense interest and admiration in dance more than half a century ago aft...

1928-This was one of the most important years of the 1920s. During this year inventions and new technologies led the way to a new society. In 1928 the first commercial televisions were being produced. Blacks and women were beginning to play an important role in American culture. Amelia Earhart ...

The Harlem Renaissance was a period for blacks to engage in life. Life, which consists of good, evil, happiness, sadness, communication and expression, was more like a prison built on a foundation of hardship, suppression and all the counter parts of the good things, the things worth living for. Bu...

The roots of Hip Hop culture sink decades deep into the soil of urban civilization. The term "Hip Hop" was coined by DJ Kool Herc, meaning that the beats were hip hopping back and forth from one turntable to the other. Kool Herc and Bambatta are documented spinning breakbeats in the early seventie...

The Harlem Renaissance The neighborhood of Harlem was the place to be in the 20's. It was the jazz age and in New York City, Harlem was the site of an explosion of African-American literature, art, music, and culture. This would become known as the "Harlem Renaissance" or "The New Negro ...

42nd Street The theater has always been a favorite pastime of mine. I love to go and watch a great show: a ballet, an opera, a musical, or just a play, I jump at the chance to enjoy a good show! Standing on a Broadway stage has always been a dream of mine. Although, I knew it would never happen...

In the early 1900s, particularly in the 20s and early 30s, African American literature, art, music, and dance began to flourish in Harlem, a section of New York City. Variously known as the New Negro movement, the New Negro Renaissance, and the Negro Renaissance, the movement emerged toward the end ...

Born in Brooklyn on November 14, 1900, Aaron Copland was the youngest of five children. American music had no internationally recognized voice of its own when Copland was growing up. His destiny was to supply one. He was the son of Jewish immigrants. Early music training came f...

I. Hip hop defined as the artistic response to oppression. A way of expression in dance, music, word/song. A culture that thrives on creativity and nostalgia. As a musical art form it is stores of inner-city life, often with a message, spoken over beats of music. The culture includes rap and any...

A business man walks by in a suit, followed closely by a transvestite in a purple mini skirt and red stilettos. "One of a kind prints, right here ladies!" A man on the corner has set up shop, the merchandise: as many ties as you could possibly want for only three dollars each. "Oh gir...