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HISTORY
 World
War I ended and a social revolution was begun. Customs and
values of previous generations were changed. Life was lived
and enjoyed to the fullest. This was the era of the "lost
generation", and the "flapper." They scandalized
their elders in the cabarets, and. Dancing became more informal.
Only one kind of music suited this generation – jazz,
this inspired dancing the fox trot, shimmy, rag, Charleston,
black bottom, and various other steps of the period. Jazz
originated at the close of the nineteenth century in the dance
halls and brothels of the South and Midwest. Southern blacks,
delivered from slavery a few decades before, started playing
European music with Afro modifications.
The birthplace of jazz has many origins: New Orleans, St.
Louis, Memphis and Kansas City are only a few. But New Orleans
was and still remains an important jazz center. The ethnic
variation of people who gravitated to the bars and brothels
were a big factor in the development of jazz dancing. The
city had been under Spanish and French rule prior to the Louisiana
Purchase. By 1900, it was a blend of Spanish, French, English,
German, Italian, Slavic and countless blacks originally brought
in as slaves.
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