- jitterbug
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—jitterbugger, n./jit"euhr bug'/, n., v., jitterbugged, jitterbugging.n.1. a strenuously acrobatic dance consisting of a few standardized steps augmented by twirls, splits, somersaults, etc., popular esp. in the early 1940s and performed chiefly to boogie-woogie and swing.2. a person who dances the jitterbug.v.i.3. to dance the jitterbug.[1930-35, Amer.; JITTER + BUG1]
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Dance variation of the two-step in which couples swing, balance, and twirl in standardized patterns to syncopated music in 44 time.It originated in the U.S. in the mid 1930s and became internationally popular in the 1940s. It originally included acrobatic lifts and swings, but it became modified in ballroom versions. Its step patterns varied and could include the lindy hop and the jive.* * *
▪ danceexuberant ballroom dance popular in the 1930s and '40s, originating in the United States and spread internationally by U.S. armed forces during World War II. Its original freewheeling acrobatic swings and lifts were modified for more conservative ballroom versions. Couples did most versions while holding one or both hands. Step patterns varied widely and included such dances as the lindy hop (c. 1927, named for Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight), in which dancers usually did two slow “dig” steps (ball of the foot, then the heel) and two quicksteps (one foot back, one in place), and the jive, in which dancers took a step to each side and then executed two “shuffles” (side step, almost close other foot, side step). Jitterbug music—also called jive, or jump—is in 4/4 time with syncopated rhythm.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
