Cakewalk

Midweek distraction no 8 - the Cakewalk.  I love old film archives and this one shows clips of the Cakewalk.  It has been suggested that the dance originated as a parody of the formal ballroom dancing preferred of white slave owners, including satirical exaggerations of European dance moves.

Cakewalk dance competitions were commonplace in the black community of the southern USA in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In those, couples would be judged on their style in the Cakewalk. The winners were said to have 'taken the cake'*, which was often the prize.

This clip was downloaded by http://www.blues-dance.com/ . Also, if you are interested in more Cakewalk and Blues Dance history another interesting site is Sonny Watson’s http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/d5index.htm .

*There is a much older possible origin to the phrase ' take the cake', going back to the ancient Greeks.  Aristophanes wrote "The Knights": "if you surpass him in impudence, then we take the cake". Throughout history it seems sometimes you just got to have...cake. Later on this week we are back to Chocolate Cake with very special 'buttons'. Watch this space.