Art Of The Folk: The Harlem Renaissance

The Art of the Folk: Jazz, Blues, Folktales, Dance: The Harlem Renaissance During the nineteenth- mid-twentieth century, folk became very popular and widely known within the nation. Folk is considered the ordinary citizens of a public or district considered as the agents of a conventional lifestyle and particularly as the originators or bearers of the traditions, convictions, and expressions that make up an unmistakable culture. When people started to realize, their potential and become open to the public about their abilities, the art of the folk begun to suddenly become more diverse. It became diverse in jazz, blues, folktales, and dance; some of the major aspects that caused todays music to be what it is in the twenty first century. Folk, …show more content…
Each folktale that was told to a younger generation most commonly reflects a specific culture or something that happened within a person’s life. For example, Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation, was a folktale that was told to the children of the younger generation and that is often taught within colleges and universities. Uncle Remus, is a folktale that explains the different stories of an old man living in a cabin on the plantation of the Huntington’s (Britannica.com). This folktale uses rhetoric to appeal to the readers emotions through the harsh and painful words that are in the folktale. There are many different ways to tell what is a folktale and what is not. For example, if a story or literary works start off with once upon a time, or the characters are magical, animals, royalty, live in a world of magic, and teach give, or explain a lesson then it is most likely a folktale. Many people during the Harlem Renaissance era would use folktales to explain their story and make people want to listen or learn from it. Many people also told folktales for the entertainment, oral history, to transmit culture, morals, and to tell someone of their experience. During the time of the Harlem Renaissance era it was easy to confuse the idea of what a myth is and what a folklore is. A myth tells us about the origins of the universe, and they often …show more content…
During the Harlem Renaissance, many people came together as a whole just because of dancing, folktales, and folk music. It was then that the start of a new era had begun; The era of folk music. There are many dances that were done during that time such as the shuffle along, which was a dance that emerged in 1921, and that led to jazz dance. The Charleston which was based on the African American musical style and beat and the lindy hop which was the first dance to include a swinging partner. There were many famous dancers such as Josephine Baker, John Giolla, and the Flappers. Swing tied into the Harlem Renaissance when the idea of pathos came into play and appealed to the peoples true, deep, dark, and repressed emotions from the Great War. Just like music dance was a source of how people came together as a unit. It was how people came together with common interests and created more dances, which later became the evolution of dance. Most dancers danced to jazz and expressed how they feel through the art form of dance. Dance provided a closure within the African American community. Even though it did not solve racism, it still served as an outlet for people to enjoy themselves and to express their emotions. Each dancer during this time brought something new to the table and opened doors to the musical and dance industry that we know of

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