Before the Lindyhop
▶ 텍사스 토미(The Texas Tommy)
린디합 댄서라면 “텍사스 토미” 동작이 어떤 것인지 모두 다 아실 거예요.
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| "The Texas Tommy" Image taken from "The Library of Dance: The Texas Tommy" |
우리는 텍사스 토미가 이 당시에 춤의 한 종류라는 것을 인식하고 있어야 해요.
텍사스 토미(Texas Tommy)라는 춤은 홍등가, 갱단, 사창가, 범죄, 폭력 등으로 악명이 높았던 미국 샌프란시스코의 바바리 해안이 북캘리포니아에서 가장 큰 지진과 화재를 겪은 후 많은 댄스 홀, 극장, 상점 및 레스토랑이 있는 관광 명소로 재건되면서 생긴 “퍼셀 (Purcell's)”이라는 이름의 유명한 흑인카바레에서 생겨 났다고 합니다. 흑인카바레 “퍼셀 (Purcell's)”은 하층민들을 부르는 말이라고 하네요.
참고로 “토미”는 “후커(직업여성)”또는“매춘부”의 속어였습니다.
전해지기는 아프리카 계 미국인(Johnny Peters)이 1910년 이전 즈음에 텍사스 토미 댄스를 발명했다고 합니다. 이 춤이 생겨났을 때는 이 춤에 대한 이름이 없었어요.
그러나 1911년 "텍사스토미스윙(The Texas Tommy Swing)" 재즈 음악 악보가 만들어진 후 "고상한" 춤만 추었던 고급 호텔인 페어몬트 호텔(The Upscale Fairmont Hotel)에서 이 재즈 악보가 자주 연주되었고, 이 음악과 잘 어울리는 텍사스 토미 춤이 백인들 사이에서 유행하게 되었어요. 그리고 Broadway에서 이 춤을 추기까지는 그리 오랜 시간이 걸리지 않았습니다. 결국 미국과 유럽을 휩쓸었던 많은 춤 열풍은 사실상 이 지역에서 시작되었던 것이죠.
1913년, 에델 윌리엄스(Ethel Williams)는 뉴욕에서 텍사스토미(Texas Tommy)를 대중화하는데 많은 도움을 주었으며 “각 발마다 3 번의 킥과 홉 다음에 슬라이드가 뒤따른다.”라고 설명했습니다.(그냥 “편안한 스텝, 홉-킥, 스텝, 홉-킥, 런, 런, 런, 런”)
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| "The Texas Tommy" Image taken from "The Library of Dance: Texas Tommy" |
The Texas Tommy:
In our Lindyhop, I’m sure we are all familiar with the “Texas Tommy” move. However, did you know that this was originally a dance name? Some historians even argue that this was the very first type of swing dance.
The Barbary Coast (San Francisco), was known as the “red-light district” and was infamous for it’s gangs, brothels, crime and violence. After one of the biggest earthquakes and fires that North California has ever seen, the Barbary Coast was rebuilt as a tourist attraction with lots of dance halls, theaters, shops and restaurants. One of the hot spots was a lowlife place called “Purcell’s” (a Negro Cabaret), which was the birthplace of the Texas Tommy dance. “Tommy” was actually a slang term for “hooker” or “prostitute” at that time. It is said that an African-American (Johnny Peters) invented the Texas Tommy dance some time before 1910. Nevertheless, after the sheet music “The Texas Tommy Swing” was developed in 1911, it was played frequently at the upscale Fairmont Hotel where the dance became “respectable” and it was not long before this dance was danced on Broadway. As a matter of fact, many of the dance crazes that swept America and Europe originated in this area.
Ethel Williams helped to popularize the Texas Tommy in New York in 1913 and described it as “a kick and a hop three times on each foot followed by a slide”; just “a loose step, hop-kick, step, hop-kick, run, run, run, run”. This was the first social dance to use a basic 8-count rhythm and included a breakaway step (the step that contributed to making the move that we now know as the “Swing Out” in Lindyhop), having an open position, acrobatics, improvisation and “showing off”. This dance was often described as a “whirling couple dance” because of the momentum, speed and energy used to catapult your partner around the floor.
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