Ragtime Dance
Ragtime music is a forerunner of jazz music and was popular around 1900. It grew from African American musical traditions, combining the jig and march styles commonly performed by African American bands. Ragtime became immensely popular as a musical style and a dance. It is called ragtime because of its syncopated, or ragged, rhythms. Refresh your students on ragtime music in this post. Then get to dancing!
Get on your feet and check out this fun video to learn some of the popular dances that could have been danced along to some of Scott Joplin’s famous rags! You can then practice these dances while listening to the playlist below.
Listen to music from our ragtime playlist once your students have mastered the dances.