# Style of dancing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/style-of-dancing/676520 "2013-12-17T02:19:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ParaChase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@ParaChase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParaChase)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/style-of-dancing/676520/1 "2013-12-17T02:19:51Z")
Hey guys, What’s the style of dancing where you have a group of men dressed in tuxedos and top hats, or a group of women dancing with dance suits like leotards all performing on a stage with some typical jazz music playing in the background? Also from what general time period is that from? I’ve seen it in film and in real life several times now but I never really got the name of the dance type. It’s rather lively and usually has a main singer in it. It’s some type of choreography obviously but I’m not sure of the actual type. Thank you! Para ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/style-of-dancing/676520/2 "2013-12-17T02:29:38Z")
[American Cabaret?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabaret#American_cabaret_.28from_1911.29) ca. 1911 through to WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/style-of-dancing/676520/3 "2013-12-17T03:24:15Z")
It’s just a step to the left… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/style-of-dancing/676520/4 "2013-12-17T03:43:39Z")
Moved to Cafe Society. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/style-of-dancing/676520/5 "2013-12-17T04:57:20Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > It’s just a step to the left… Jump. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/style-of-dancing/676520/6 "2013-12-17T05:07:20Z")
and… scene! ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/style-of-dancing/676520/7 "2013-12-17T17:35:09Z")
Could you cite an example, from a movie or something? Because you could be referring to “jazz” style of dancing or you could be referring to “modern.” ---
**Author:** ![ParaChase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@ParaChase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParaChase)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/style-of-dancing/676520/8 "2013-12-17T21:40:45Z")
Well I couldn’t find any pictures in real life but here’s what I’m talking about from the Justice League animated series: [![](https://blackcomicguy.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/pig2.png) ](https://blackcomicguy.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/pig2.png) It’s from an episode called This Little Piggy and the people in the picture are all singing/dancing to Lulu’s Back in Town. Maybe this isn’t a specific type of dance type but more just like a regular performance with backup dancers. ---
**Author:** ![Lungfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@Lungfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lungfish)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/style-of-dancing/676520/9 "2013-12-18T20:30:39Z")
I know what ParaChas is referring to in the OP. The examples I can think of are: The last 15 seconds of the _Family Guy_ intro: [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koGoQjXuovY) has the costumes described but without the jazz music. The musical _Top Hat_: [Top Hat, White Tie & Tails Fred Astaire, Top Hat - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc77Vlb-yAE) starring Fred Astaire from 1935 has the male dancers wearing top hat and tails also worn in: _Blazing Sladdles_: [Blazing Saddles- The French Mistake - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMK6lzmSk2o), where the filming of _The French Mistake_ tap-dance number is interrupted by the fight at the end of the film. The choreographer Busby Berkeley did lots of musicals in the 1920/30s where large numbers of female dancers wore costumes that showed a lot of leg. ---
**Author:** ![ParaChase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@ParaChase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParaChase)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/style-of-dancing/676520/10 "2013-12-20T03:13:04Z")
Yeah, it’s like that. Oh well thanks for all the help guys! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/style-of-dancing/676520/11 "2013-12-20T04:05:19Z")
That was basically every nightclub in America from the 20s through the 50s, though mostly pre-WWII. Probably started on Broadway musicals and adapted into movies, although the transference would go back and forth continually from them to nightclubs and reverse as they picked up the latest fad and influenced one another. I don’t think it ever had a name because it was really many different styles, just as casual dress today doesn’t have a name because it’s really many different styles although somebody from that era might not think so.