The Cakewalk

Originated in the Southern United States in the 1850s, the Cakewalk was danced by African-American slaves to imitate the manners of their white masters. Whilst some masters did not like it, others found it amusing as they thought their slaves were trying to dance like white people, but unsuccessfully. They therefore organised a dance contest bringing slaves from different plantations together to entertain the white upper class.

The Cakewalk dance involved a promenade in a straight line where the dancers, called “Walkers”, walked by high stepping and kicking, bowing low, waving the cane, and doffing the hat. The main idea was to exaggerate the white’s manners. The winning couple would receive an enormous cake, hence the name Cakewalk.

Later on, the Cakewalk became a popular dance in America and Europe with competitions, shows and special music composed for the performances. Eventually, the dance died in 1920s and was replaced by other African-American dances such as Charleston, Black Bottom and Lindy Hop.

Further information can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk
http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3cake1.htm

African American Dance History

(Cakewalk, Black Bottom, Charleston, Lindy Hop, …)

http://www.kclindyhop.org/history_a.htm