The Blues is Life.
—Brownie McGhee
Blues is a music, a dance, a feeling. It can express pain, it can celebrate, it can tease and seduce, it can relieve burdens.
Blues music was borne of the African American experience, particularly in the South. It came from the African rhythms in spirituals and folk ballads. Along with Jazz, Blues is an American idiom, a synthesis of African and European sounds.
The British ballads became a new kind of form in their hand. And out of them came the blues, a new kind of song of commentary and satire, a song form which, after all, has become the main musical form of the whole human species.—Alan Lomax
Pioneering musicians include W.C. Handy, Lead Belly, and Ma Rainey. The banner at the top of this page is composed of images of famous Blues musicians; descriptions are here.
Blues dance grew naturally along with the music. It combines elements of both African dance and European partnered dance. Common in rural and urban juke joints alike, the dance spread and developed as the music did.
Feet commenced to pat. A moment later there was dancing on the sideways below. Hands went in the air, bodies swayed like reeds on the banks of the Congo… In the office buildings about, white folks pricked up their ears. Stenographers danced with their bosses. Everybody shouted for more.—W.C. Handy
Saturday night is your big night. Everybody used to fry up fish and have one hell of a time. Find me playing till sunrise for 50 cents and a sandwich. And be glad of it. And they really liked the low-down blues.—Muddy Waters
Since the revival of Swing dancing in the 1980s and 1990s, Blues has also seen a resurgence. In addition to its roots in the original vernacular dance, modern Blues also often incorporates elements of tango and other dances, and can be danced to many styles of music. It is characterised by a strong interpretive and improvisational spirit, and an emphasis on connection between the dance partners and the music.
I think the blues will always be around. People need it.—Johnny Winter
For some example videos of modern blues dancing, please go to our Links & Videos page.