AlexisOswald

Mrs.Maguire
Period1,English2
February8,2016
Dancinginthe1920sandToday

Peopledancebecausedancecanchangethings.Onemove,canbringpeopletogether.
Onemove,canmakeyoubelievelikethere'ssomethingmore.Onemove,cansetawhole
generationfree.(AdamSevani).Dancingissomethingthathasbeenaroundforlongerthan
anyonecanremember.Inthe1920s,dancingwasveryimportant.
TheGreatGatsby,whichis
setinthe1920s,isstillrelevanttodayinthewayofdancing.Dancingmaybedifferenttoday,
butitstillhassomeofthesamecharacteristicsasitdidinthe1920s.Thestyleofdanceandthe
musicmaybedifferent,butthepurposeofdancingisnt.
Thedancinginthe1920swasdifferentthanitisnowinthesenseofstyle.Anarticle
written,calledtheJazzAgeSocialDancing,talksaboutthedifferentstylesofdance.Themost
populartypesweretheFoxtrot,theWaltz,andtheTango.Thesedanceswereeasytodo,and
easytolearn.Theseeasytolearndancesgaveeveryoneachancetohavefunonthedancefloor.
Also,peopleinallsocialclasseswereabletodance.In
TheGreatGatsby
,thepeopleatGatsbys
partieswoulddanceallnightandhaveagreattime.Today,inthesameagegroup,thepeople
dancetomorestyles.Yes,sometimesthereareplaceswheretheydancetheFoxtrotorother
dancesthatwerepopularinthe1920s,butitisnotcommon.Thereismoreofarangethatthese
peoplecanparticipatein.Someofthemanytypestodayhasarecountryswingdancing,tango,
danceteams,andbreakdancing.Eventhoughthesearenewdances,
TheGreatGatsby
isstill

relevantbecausethedancesthatwerepopularthenhavecreatednewdancesforpeopletodayto
do.
Whenpeopledancedinthe1920s,theydancedtoJazzandBluesmusic.Inthearticle
1920sDances,writtenbyRobertScott,ittalksaboutthemusictheydancedtoandhow.The
musicwasveryupbeat,whichmadeeveryonesdancingfast.Mostofthestylesofdancewentto
almostallofthemusicthatwasplayed.Thedancingin
TheGreatGatsby
istoJazzandBlues
music.Whenpeopledancedtothefunmusic,theyalsodancedwithapartner.Somepeople
thoughtthiswasscandalousconsideringhowclosetheyweretotheirpartner,butitwasjustfor
fun.Theywereabletodancethenightawaywhiledancingtothebeat.Whenpeopledance
today,mostofthetimeitisinabiggroupandeveryonewouldjumparound.Themusicwe
dancetonowisanygenresuchashiphop,country,andevenslowsongs.Whenwedancewith
partners,itisusuallytoaslowsong.Eventhoughthereisnewmusic,
TheGreatGatsby
isstill
relevantbecausethemusicthatwaspopularbackthenisstillsometimesused.Eventhoughparts
ofitmaybedifferent,themusicwehavenowhasstemmedfromthat.
Onethingthattodayandthe1920shaveincommonwhenitcomestodancingiswhy
wedoit.Wedoittohavefun.KathleenDrowneandPatrickHuberwroteabook,The1920s,
andittalkedabouthowdancingisforfun.Peoplewentoutdancingtohaveagoodtimewith
theirfriends.Inthebook
DanceMarathons:PerformingAmericanCultureinthe1920sand
1930s
,writtenbyCarolMartinandBrooksMcNamara,ittalksabouthowthereusedtobedance
contestsandmarathonswherepeoplewouldjustsimplydance.PeopledancedatGatsbysparties
in
TheGreatGatsby
tohavefunandtoshowtheywerehavingagoodtime.Dancingtodayisnt
anydifferent.Wedancetodaytohavefunwithourfriendsandfamily.Thereisdancingat

parties,schooldances,clubs,concerts,andevenweddings.
TheGreatGatsby
isstillrelevant
becauseeventhoughthebookissetalmost100yearsago,thethingstheydidtohavefunare
someofthesamethingswedo.
Eventhoughthestyleofdanceandthemusictheydancedtowasdifferentinthe1920s,
dancingstillshowedpeoplehavingfunasitdoestoday.
TheGreatGatsby
isstillrelevanttoday
becausedancingisabigpartofpeopleslivesandtheloveforitcontinuestogrow.

WorkCited
Drowne,KathleenMorgan.,andPatrickHuber.
The1920s
.Westport,CT:Greenwood,2004.
Print.
"JazzAgeSocialDancing("TheModernDances")."
JazzAgeSocialDancing("The
ModernDances")
.Web.04Feb.2016.
Martin,Carol,andBrooksMcNamara.
DanceMarathons:PerformingAmericanCultureinthe
1920sand1930s
.Jackson:UofMississippi,1994.Print.
Matterson,Stephen.
TheGreatGatsby
.Basingstoke:MacmillanEducation,1990.Print.
Beddinghaus,Treva."12PopularStylesof
Dancing."About.comHome.Web.17Mar.2016.