Jazz dancing is degrading. It lowers the moral standards. Unlike liquor, a great deal of the harm is direct and immediate. But it also leads to undesirable things. The jazz is too often followed by the joy-ride. The lower nature is stirred up as a prelude to unchaperoned adventure.

These cautionary words appeared in an article entitled Unspeakable Jazz Must Go! which appeared in the December 1921 edition of The Ladies Home Journal in America. Jazz and jazz dancing were not popular with everyone. Many regarded both as decadent and dangerous. Jazz music of the early 1920s was fast and energetic, mirroring the times. Many of ragtime s dances such as the One Step , which were suited to the frenetic new jazz tempi, had lingered on. Old favourites like the Waltz and Foxtrot retained their popularity in the early 20s as Arthur Murray began teaching, as well as publishing his How to Dance tutors. The early twenties also saw a renewed interest in the tango which was reborn as the new French Tango since Rudolf Valentino had taken the dance and made it his signature. All good middle-class parents began sending their off spring to tap and ballet classes.

The focus on the Jazz Age was decidedly on youth. It was the era of pep , personified by the slim, girlish flapper with her bobbed hair and her male companion, the sheikh , complete with ukulele, raccoon coat and bell-bottomed Oxford bags . Dancing began to actively involve the upper body for the first time as women began shaking their torsos in the Shimmy . However, no dance epitomizes the spirit and exuberance of the 20s more than the Charleston and it became universally popular. There were dozens of Charleston tunes written and dance halls and hotels regularly held contests. Pompous ballrooms tried to discourage the dance, or at least posted signs that read: PCQ Please Charleston Quietly . Its overwhelming popularity inspired choreographers and dance teachers to concoct new fad dances to a public hungry for novelty. On the heels of the Charleston followed The Black Bottom and the Varsity Drag . It was 1928 and it seemed the party would never end. But, with the Stock Market crash in October the following year, it most certainly did.

As the Depression began to tighten its grip on the nation, Americans and Europeans found escape from harsh economic reality in music and dance, and the fantasy world offered by Hollywood and the silver screen. Dancing and music provided relief for the Depression crushed world. When couples could not afford to go to night-clubs, they danced to records, and when they could no longer afford these, they rolled up the carpet and danced to the sounds of the big bands on the radio.

1. Charleston Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra
2. Fascinating Rhythm Fred and Adele Astaire
3. Who? Josephine Baker
4. I d Rather Charleston Fred and Adele Astaire
5. When My Baby Smiles At Me Ted Lewis and His Orchestra
6. Black Bottom Stomp Jelly Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers
7. Dardanella Ben Selvin, Violin, and His Orchestra
8. Mood Indigo Duke Ellington (1930)
9. If You Knew Susie Eddie Cantor
10. Some Of These Days Sophie Tucker
11. Yes, We Have No Bananas Billy Jones and His Orchestra
12. Somebody Stole My Gal Ted Weems and His Orchestra
13. Sweet Georgia Brown Ben Bernie, Violin, and his Hotel Roosevelt orchestra
14. Someone To Watch Over Me George Gershwin
15. That Certain Feeling Josephine Baker
16. Nola Carl Fenton and His Orchestra
17. Wabash Blues Isham Jones and His Orchestra
18. I m Coming, Virginia Bix Beiderbecke with Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra
19. Do It Again! Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra
20. Kitten On The Keys Zez Confrey and His Orchestra