Entertainment during the Harlem Renaissance

A few popular forms of entertainment were Jazz Clubs, Theatres, and Rent parties. Jazz music allowed the musicians to change the song and play their own version, which allowed for individuality and creativity. Jazz dance had a lot of tap and involved use of your whole body in order to do the African movements. The three major clubs that specifically played jazz and encouraged jazz-dancing were the Apollo Theater, the Savoy Ballroom, and the Cotton Club. Black musical theater was also very widely-known during the 1900’s. They used “minstrelsy” when making their shows in order to gain large audiences. At the beginning, black musicals used with only a few topics, which were the return to Africa movement, their concerns with the relationship between white society and themselves, and gambling. In the 1920’s the two biggest theaters were the Lincoln Theater and the Lafayette Theater. Another form of entertainment back in the Harlem Renaissance was “rent parties.” The idea came from “parlor socials,” which black church groups used to raise money. Guests had to pay a small fee and the host would use the collected money to pay for their rent and pay for a live jazz band. The invitations were cheaply made and handed out to random people on the street so the parties were usually made up of strangers. The Harlem renaissance had a lot of entertainment and they always found ways to have fun!

 

[By: Eman Esfandi]

Works Cited
Garcia, By Ercina. "Harlem Entertainment." The College of New Jersey Home. Web. 13 Oct. 2010. <http://www.tcnj.edu/~messmer2/index.htm.

"The Savoy Ballroom - Bing Images." Bing. Web. 13 Oct. 2010. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=The Savoy Ballroom&FORM=BIFD#focal=da64f6917155dd9777dbf87b75dea58f&furl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UKr9URsCkeE/ScWp9_k18II/

AAAAAAAAAaA/PzKhwXlLTcI/s400/savoylights.jpg.