“ The serious ones dress up in evening clothes and go off to the Pally to show off before a lot of girls and dance these new Charlestons and whatnot.” Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Josephine Baker dances the Charleston
The Charleston: The Dance of a Decade
If one dance epitomises the Jazz Age, it has to be The Charleston. Created in 1923 alongside the song of the same name by James P Johnson for the musical Runnin Wild, it was famously danced by twenties starlet Josephine Baker. Charleston fever soon kicked in and Charleston dance competitions were being held all over America. Later, dances such as the Lindy Hop and Jazz Roots took their inspiration from the Charleston moves.
Jazz Age Issue