Big Apple - Art Event

Dancer count for the shag:
When dancing the shag, the dancer counts in their head "1 & 2" "3 & 4" "5" "6".  It can also be counted as "quick" "quick" "slow" "quick" "quick" "slow" "slow" "slow" where each syllable represents a step.

The Big Apple:
The Big Apple is anything but big, it looks like an old little house on the outside and on the inside it is one big room with a balcony overlooking the big room. It was not always the Big Apple, it used to be known as the House of Peace Synagogue as a house of worship.  In 1915 the House of Peace synagogue was destroyed by a fire and then 21 years later the congregation decided to sell the building in 1936 to move to a bigger building. In 1937 the building became the Big Apple Night Club. The club was in business for a year and then was closed and sold in 1938.  We learned that the Big Apple building was not originally built on the spot it is currently located on.  In 1979 the building became abandoned and in 1982 the building was moved from 1138 Park street to its location now on the corner of Hampton and Park streets. 
The steps walking up into the house were very narrow and hard to walk up, you tend to see narrow steps in old houses because that was the architectural design back then.  The windows of the building are two-stories tall and reflect natural light into the building. As soon as you walk in you notice a large domed ceiling above your head that is stained glass and has the star of David in the center from the synagogue days.  There is also a neon moon and stars that remind you of when the building was a night club.  The floor is all hardwood miking it perfect for dancing on. 

The Shag:
The shag was originated in the late 1930s in Myrtle Beach South Carolina where the dance was created involving roots from the Jitterbug and was danced to fast paced swing music.  Billy Jeffers is accredited with being the early originator of the dance, and he is from Florence South Carolina.  About 10 years later the term "shag" came about and was danced to the tempo of rhythm and blues music.  The shag is danced with smoothness and only uses the lower half of your body, requiring tight footwork and turns while making it look smooth at the same time.  What is great about the shag, is that it can be danced to fast "beach music" or it can be danced to slow rhythm and blues music. Now-a-days the shag is typically danced to the blues music.  I am from Virginia and I have never really heard of the shag until I came down to South Carolina.  I now shag at all my sorority functions as well as major events.

Billy Jeffers

Columbia Museum of Art

"Who Shot Rock & Roll" Exhibit:

The photograph: "Walter's Bar-B-Que"

This photograph is of the band R.E.M. eating at one of their favorite places, Walter's Bar-B-Que, in Athens Georgia in 1984.  Laura Levine is a good friend of the band and she was the one who shot this photo.  The band did not have enough money to pay a photographer so they asked Laura to shoot photos of them after the release of their second album. She would take photos of them everywhere and any chance their was to take a photo, she would.  The photograph is black and white, it is also a mid-sized photograph (about two standard pieces of paper put together).  The photograph is a gelatin silver print.  The gelatin silver process that was done to develop this photo.  The process was used more in the 1850's-1880's and uses black-and-white films and printing papers.  Silver salts are extracted from gelatin to make a coating that is used on a support like glass, plastic, and special printing paper.  Once the photo is developed, the excess silver salts are wiped off and then the print is washed off with clean water.  The final print looks metallic silver from the gelatin coating and must be properly taken care of to reduce the chances of deterioration. 

The photo is about the band R.E.M. enjoying a meal at one of their favorite restaurants in Atlanta, Georgia, Walter's Bar-B-Que. The band loved this restaurant so much that they wrote a song about it, "Walter's Theme". Laura Levine was traveling with the band taking photos of them and one day they decided to eat at their regular spot, Walter's BBQ, and while they were eating Laura saw a photo their and just took it without any staging.  Even though the photograph was not staged, i noticed little things like how all of the coke cups were turned the same way and that the picture was taken from behind the counter.  My favorite part about the photo is that all of the band members are eating except for one who is smiling at the camera.  The photograph reveals that not all of the members of the band were meat eaters.  The lead singer of the band, Michael Stipe,  (the only member smiling at the camera) is a vegetarian eating at a BBQ restaurant.  You do not typically see vegetarians eating at a meat restaurant, which makes part of this photo so funny.  The excerpt of the photograph did say that the lead singer does like the restaurant's cole slaw.  

All of the band members have long hair which is the style that most popular back in the day.  You do not normally see hair that long on guys their age now-a-days. Their clothing looks very casual but one of the members is wearing a jacket/blazer to a bar-b-que restaurant.  Another interesting accessory to their outfits is their glasses.  Their glass are so much bigger than the modern day glasses now.  It seems like the glasses are almost a fashion statement.  I wear glasses and I know I would never wear the glasses that they are wearing in this picture.

Assignment #6 Dance

The baroque period of dance:


The baroque period of dance was from 1600-1750.  The baroque dance was performed by the upper European classes as a social event, ballroom dancing, and was performed theatrically, ballet dance.  This period of dance derives from classical music mixed with dynamic movement.  This period did not last very long and to this day it is being reconstructed in Broadway shows, plays, and operas.   The roman catholic church was mainly responsible for the encouragement of the baroque style because they thought that the arts should promote religious themes through movement.  

Why people dance?


People dance for different reasons.  Some people dance to express themselves, others dances to have fun.  Dancing makes someone become loose, and they use it as a form of exercise.  Like Zumba, an exercise dance routine, many people use this method as a way to get their weekly fitness in.  People also dance at big events/celebrations like weddings and parties.  At weddings it is a tradition for the bride and groom to share a dance before everyone else starts dancing and it is symbolizes their love for each other.  There are also many different forms of dance and some people dance because it is a part of their ethnicity or religion.  I am Irish, and I used to Irish dance up until I was a sophomore in high school.  The types of dances vary throughout the different cultures.  People can dance whenever they feel like, it is a way to let their intellectual side out and a way to just have fun.

Non western dance art form: The Cha Cha


The cha cha is a type of ballroom dance that derives from Latin America and was laid down by Pierre and Lavelle and then became developed later on by Walter Laird.  The cha cha that is danced in the ballroom uses energetic music with a steady beat. The authentic style cha cha is danced to cuban music or latin rock. The basic foot step count in one's head is "one, two, cha, cha, cha" "three, four, cha, cha, cha".  Along with the footwork, the dancers have to include the swaying of the hips to make the dance more exciting, and it also makes it fun too.  The cha cha is a basic dance that is taught to many beginner ballroom dancers.