“Bull Frog Hop”, a song published in 1909 by Perry Bradford, describes the Itch as part of its routine, and the Butterbeans of the team Butterbeans and Susie used it in the teens to the tune of “Heebie Jeebies” as the climax of his vaudeville act. This gesture became a standard routine known as the Itch in Negro dancing, accompanied by eccentric footwork. “Each went round and round in a circle” writes Melville and Francis Herskovitz of a Winti dance in Suriname, “arms crossed from time to time over his breast, the finger tugging at his clothes, as though scratching to relieve an itching sensation.” Peter by Negro folk in New Orleans because both are depicted carrying a bunch of keys. In Africa scratching is part of a dance to Legba, Guardian of the Crossroads who was identified with St. 'A small but ubiquitous detail from another African dance has shown considerable power of survival. INFORMATION ABOUT THE 'ITCH' DANCE MOTIONSįrom 'Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance' by Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube. Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos, and all those who are quoted in this post.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes. I'm interested in finding online comments of and/or videos of other examples of 'the Itch' in African American dance and in other dances throughout the world.

*Updated on with a short video of a Nigerian dance from Ajegunle This post presents information about and three* video examples of the 'Itch' dance motions that has been performed in various African American non-religious dances.

Dlow shuffle part 1