BLACK BRITISH DANCE
The first all-black musical on Broadway called ‘Shuffle Along’ opened in 1921. The musical was very successful, it triggered an interest in black dance within the theatre industry. It created opportunities for black performers and dancers that had not been given an opportunity in the past because of their race. The new music and dance steak lead to the Broadway hit ‘Running wild, in 1923 it came to England and lead to the Charleston to become the dance of the decade.
In 1929 when the stock market crashed, It left many people unemployed and devastated. They attempted to move on from the negative situation by creating dance marathons and new types of entertainment. The longest dance marathon lasted “22 weeks and 3 ½ days” (“1920s Dance”). Their goal was to get through the 1930s cheerfully, with or without money.