Jazz Dance History in America

as researched by Bob Boross

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JACK COLE

EARLY DANCE TRAINING

Jack Cole was born as John Ewing Richter in 1911 in New Brunswick, NJ, and spent his early years in Catholic schools and a military academy. It is felt that he developed a sense of inadequecy and a compulsive personality due to having a partially crossed eye, which was later corrected by surgery. Cole enrolled at Columbia University in New York, but soon left school to pursue a dance career after having witnessed a performance by the Denishawn dance company. He was taken in by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, and spent time learning and performing the psuedo-oriental movement repertory of the Denishawn troupe. Cole also performed with Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, and in Massachussetts with Ted Shawn's all-male dance company.

Cole was an unconventional young man, prone to dressing in unusual suits and moccasins and sporting a closely cropped hair cut. Cole held strong opinions on all forms of dance and art, and soon left the modern dance fold to find a living in commercial dance (remember, this was during the Depression). In a search for authenticity in East Indian dance, he studied with Uday Shankar and La Meri. He also made trips to Harlem's Savoy ballroom to watch the Lindy hoppers in action. He started doing niteclub work, performing with Alice Dudley and then Anna Austin and Florence Lessing. His work was a radical departure from the status quo in commercial dance. In a field where tap and jazzy routines dominated, where a chorus of pretty but non-trained dancers was the norm, Cole brought an intensely demanding and highly trained form of dance. He initially choreographed dances that were based on ethnic or exotic themes, and although he was snubbed by the dance establishment, Cole rapidly became a favorite of audiences in New York, Havana, and major cities across the U.S.

THE FIRST THEATRICAL JAZZ DANCE STYLE

Cole's major accomplishment, according to published newpaper accounts, was first seen in a performance at the Rainbow Room night club in New York's Rockefeller Center on New Year's Eve, 1937. He had set the authentic movements of East Indian dances to the swing beat of jazz music. The rebounding feeling of the swing remarkable was a perfect match to the sharp, precise,isolated Indian movement. Audiences went wild over this dancing, and it was dubbed "Hindu Swing." Cole continued to add influences from jazz dancing and vernacular jazz dance movements, and he created a unique movement style. It wasn't pure Indian dance, or authentic jazz dance, or modern dance, yet it retained characteristic qualities of all three forms of dance. It was a style of dance, singular and instantly identifiable as "Cole." It was also the first formation of a theatrical jazz dance style that was suitable for the demands of artistic choreography.

The "Wedding of a Solid Sender" was a Cole jazz dance that appeared in the Broadway revue Zeigfeld Follies of 1943, and is considered by some to be the first successful artistic jazz dance. The bias towards the coverage of jazz dance by critics is evident in that relatively little has ever been written about this historic jazz dance. Or maybe they just had no idea of the impact this new style of dance would bring. As with most jazz and show dance, it only lives in the faded memories of those patrons lucky enough to have witnessed the performance. It is known, however, that a lindy step was the basis for the dance movement. Cole has also stated in interviews that, in his opinion, all theatrical jazz dancing is derived from the lindy.

As the reputation of Jack Cole as a niteclub performer and choreographer grew, so did the desire of the entertainment industry to make use of his talents. Cole spent the later 1940s and the 1950s bouncing back and forth between Broadway and Hollywood. He is credited with choreographing the Broadway shows Magdalena, Carnival in Flanders, Kismet, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Kean, Donneybrook!,Jamaica, and Man Of La Mancha . His filmwork includes Moon Over Miami, Cover Girl, The Merry Widow, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, There's No Business Like Show Business, The I Don't Care Girl, Thrill Of Brazil, Down To Earth, Kismet, Les Girls, and many more. And yet, having singlehandedly created the theatrical jazz dance idiom and being one of the most desired and prolific choreographers in film history, Jack Cole is still a forgotten legend, a cult hero known to a precious few.

LACK OF NOTORIETY

There are a few reasons for this, the most important being that Cole never had a big hit show. Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse followed Cole, were influenced by Cole, but each had their own smash successes- Robbin's West Side Story and Fosse's multitude of dances that led up to Sweet Charity. We know who they are, but Cole never was associated with a successful show of that magnitude. Cole was also employed primarily as a choreographer, not a director/choreographer like the more well-known Fosse, Robbins, Gower Champion, and Michael Bennett. His only time as a director/choreographer was for Kean and Donneybrook!, both in 1961. And as for the world of concert dance, Cole preferred to present his work in niteclubs, where critics rarely came.

Another reason is that Cole's era in commercial dance was overlapped the time of the artistically opposite Florenz Zeigfeld and Busby Berkeley. Cole hit a brick wall in trying to get producers to change the status quo, to add dancing in unusual or innovative ways, or to experiment with camera angles and lighting. Being just a choreographer, producers interested in turning a buck were less likely to allow Cole to implement his ideas than someone like Gene Kelly, who had his star power to back up his innovative ideas on dance in film. A case in point- with many film producers the three areas of dance, sets, and costumes would not get together until the actual day of shooting, disallowing any creative synthesis between the various idioms. Cole abhorred production strategies of this sort. While working on Down To Earth, Cole hired sketch artists to draw positions and formations of dancers and share this information with set and costume designers prior to shooting, so that a shared artistic vision could be forged.

Another reason for the lack of notoriety of Jack Cole to today's jazz dancer has to do with the changing nature of jazz dance itself. Cole's work was a highly disciplined and structured form of dance, performed to jazz or ethnic accompaniment. The advent of rock n roll in the 1950s and pop music of the 1960s changed the popular styles of dance and ushered in a new era of freedom in movement. Social dances of the 1960s had dancers who related more to the floor and themselves rather than their partners (like the lindy), and the beat didn't swing. As choreographers (like Fosse and Bennett) used the new music, show dancing changed and the Cole style dropped out of style. A new generation grew up not listening to swing music, watching old movies, or wanting to dance in such a structured fashion. And Matt Mattox, the popular jazz teacher most associated with the Cole style moved to London in 1970, breaking the continuum of the Cole lineage in America. The Cole era was lost, seen as a relic to be treasured only by those with the knowledge and appreciation of real jazz dance.

THE COLE STYLE

An interesting quote about Cole's personality, which aptly describes his movement style, was given by Hal Schaefer, Cole's longtime musical accompanist. In "Broadway - Remembering Jack Cole," Schaefer summed up Cole as uniquely being both "intellectual and savage." Cole used many ethnic and folk styles of dance (like East Indian, flamenco, and the lindy) as a source for movements, but used his knowledge of motivation for movement from his modern dance training to manipulate these sources into well-crafted choreographies. His style was derived from dance movements performed for centuries by common people, but theatricalized for use on the stage. This is why, when pressed for a definition of his movement, Cole termed it "urban folk dance."

When trying to describe Cole's movement, it is best to identify certain predominate characteristics. A partial list would include dancing in plie; with isolated body movements; with compressed or stored energy; and with a keen sense of manipulating rhythm, spatial levels, and attack. The first item of dancing in plie is a key to the Cole style, and one which is not seen often enough in today's dance world. Cole made great use of a wide and low second position, as well as a parallel fourth position with both knees bent and the back knee close to the floor. This wide stance dropped the dancer's center of gravity, and allowed the dancer to extend movement horizontally across the floor. This contrasted with the ballet dancer's vertical orientation. By using an ultra smooth transition of weight from foot to foot, a slinky, sensual feel was given by him and his dancers. Cole's movement is often called cat-like, or animalistic.

But while the weight center was dropped low to the floor, the torso remained very tall and erect. Cole's spine was lengthened and regal, giving a polished look. Even though his body was in plie, working with gravity, his torso at the same time defied gravity. This contradiction was magnified by his supple arms movements. Cole initiated arm movement from the center of the back, often involving the shoulder. This shoulder involvement in arm movement is characteristic of the way cats walk, adding to his reputation of having cat-like movement.

Isolation in body movement was another key to Cole's style. He made great use of side and forward thrust of the hips and shoulders, and even the head. Much of his isolations came from his background in Indian dance. Cole used isolations to show rhythmic flow throughout the body, and to draw the attention of the audience to specific parts of the body.

MOVEMENT QUALITIES

Cole's dances generally had a consistent set of movement qualities. First was the used of recoil and release to launch bursts of energy. In a fashion similar to a cat crouching and compressing its hind legs in order to spring at its prey, Cole used his plie level in order to launch the body and give dynamic impact to his movements. Cole dancer Buzz Miller remembers him as being a "coiled spring."

Another quality was that of supreme strength in movement. His dancers were rock solid, and Graciela Daniele, the well-known choreographer and director of musicals at Lincoln Center, felt that Cole dancers were "warriors." An excellent description of this aspect of the Cole style was given by critic Debra Jowitt, who said " Cole dancing strikes me as immensely aggressive; almost every gesture is delivered with maximum force, but then has to be stopped cold in mid-air to achieve the clarity of design he wanted...an immense counter effort has to be used to stop the gesture."

Cole explored all spatial level in his choreogaphy. Knee slides and floorwork were common, and it was normal for dancers to spring from the deepest plie into high, suspended leaps. He also abhorred the smiling, happy face seen in most jazz and tap dance of the time. Instead, he preferred a cool, almost cold look in the eyes. He danced with a piercing gaze, much like a newly caged tiger, that could prod and intimidate an audience. Jazz teacher Nat Horne, who worked for both Jack Cole and Matt Mattox, noted this quality when he said that:

"Matt didn't like a lot of expression in class, and neither did Jack Cole. They liked that cool, cold look. But what often the student didn't understand was that even though they wanted that cool, cold look - underneath there was a fire in the center of the body, and the feeling of the shoulder isolation coming from the center. Sometimes the face would never change expression, but you could just see the body curl into the contraction."

Rhythm is integral to Cole's style. Cole observed dancers at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom dancing the lindy, and utilized the swing feeling in their bodies. Swing music has a drop and recovery, much like a bouncing ball, that generates new energy on each rebound. This feeling, as transformed into authentic jazz dances, gives renewed energy and attack to each subsequent movement. Cole integrated this bounce and rebound into his movement, giving it a fresh and lively appearance. He also manipilated the dynamics of his movement, alternating passages of sharp attack with smooth, sinewy sections. This variation helped to give his choreography a spontaneous feel.

Cole's movement was so different from the standard styles of the time that the vast majority of dancers were not capable of executing it. So Cole also created his own dancers through classes and and rehearsals. On the technical side, he devised a varied approach. Classes in Cechetti ballet were augmented by studies in East Indian dance, flamenco, ethnic dance, modern, and gymnastics. He wanted his dancers to be ready for any type of movement that he might devise. This movement was to performed flawlessly, so Cole demanded an intense focus on detail and precision. He is known for rehearsing his dancers for a full day on just eight bars of music, and there were times that he could not finish his dances in time for a show because the dancers could not meet his exacting standards. Gwen Verdon, in the New York Film Society of Lincoln Center's "Tribute to Jack Cole," said that "Jack once said to me 'I'm going to tell you what to do with the second joint of your little finger - so don't think that it's going to be any other way!'"

This relentless rehearsing honed his dancers to a razor sharp edge. It catapulted the dancers into another consciousness while perfoming. Critic John Martin said that a Cole dancer "is a depersonalized being, an intense kinetic entity rather than an individual. In this state of technical preparedness, which amounts to almost possession, he performs incredible movement, with a dynamism that transfers itself to the spectator as sheer motor enkindlement."

Another way Cole motivated his dancers was through suggestion. By outlining a clear understanding of the motivation for movement, he made his dancers move in a real and effective way. By giving visual images, sometimes graphic and shocking, to his dancers, he could coax them into fuller, more dynamic movement. Nat Horne remembered that:

"With the girls, he'd call them aside and say something in their ear, and when they came back they did it! And I have no idea, but I can imagine what sometimes he would say. Sometimes he would be very graphic with what he wanted you to think of. Sometimes you have to shock the students in a nice manner and give them images so the movement has meaning and not just technique behind them."

RELEVANCE TO TODAY'S DANCER

Next is the question of the value and relevance of Cole's technique and style to today's dancer. Can his methods help today's professional jazz dancer? Personally, I feel that a study of Cole's work will benefit not just jazz dancers, but all dancers. His work transcends jazz dance. It gives the dancers such precise and exacting control over their movements that they will be better at any technique. Cole's work brings clarity, strength, and very importantly, presence. These are qualities that any dancer will benefit from. Cole dancers command the eye of the audience, making the dancer a valued tool of the choreographer and therefore highly employable (just think of Gwen Verdon after she left Cole to work with Michael Kidd and Bob Fosse). As for jazz dance, Cole's application of motivation for movement brings the jazz dancer unarguably into the realm of artistic expression - something that jazz dance still is not known for. And if you are an aspiring Broadway and musical theatre dancer, knowledge of the Cole style will certainly enhance your success and employability.

Where can you find Cole training? Well, it's not easy. The most well known teacher using Cole influenced movement is Matt Mattox, who is highly regarded in France and throughout Europe, but no longer teaches. You might be able to catch some classes with former members of the American Dance Machine, a Broadway style dance company that put Cole's methods in the forefront of their training technique. Look for workshops with Ann Reinking, or in New York with Edmond Kresley at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Since Cole dancers are now older, it's best to ask senior teachers at conventions, schools, and universities. Or look for classes with Bob Boross in New York, who teaches the Mattox style and technique.

To read about Cole, try to find Glen Loney's Unsung Genius: The Passion of Dancer - Choreographer Jack Cole. It's out of print, but might be available in major libraries. Much of this book was excerpted in a ten part series in Dance Magazine in 1983. Theses have also been written on Cole. But the best place to get hooked on Cole is to watch his movies. Check out Down to Earthand Tonight and Every Night with Rita Hayworth, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Marilyn Monroe, and Monroe's "Havin a Heatwave" from There's No Business Like Show Business. Jack Cole is the prime innovator of our theatrical jazz dance heritage, and his work should be valued not only by jazz dancers, but by anyone seriously interested in dance as an art form.