BFI

This lively newsreel item heralds the arrival of the latest 'jazz-age' dance from the USA, the Charleston. Like all the newsreels, Topical Budget liked to keep abreast of all the latest trends and fads, many of them thrown up by the cultural boom America was enjoying in the 1920s. Though it had its origins among African-American communities in South Carolina, the Charleston became indelibly associated with the largely white subculture of the 'flapper' and the 'speakeasy'.

The dance was rapid, energetic and provocative and cocked a snook at prohibition morality. It later became a symbol for emancipated young women. This film is a record of a dance competition event somewhere in the US - the titles don't tell us where, but there are contestants with sashes announcing their town or region.

Another shot shows a pair of exhibition dancers from Chicago demonstrating the dance very effectively, and it's not hard to see why some contemporary onlookers would have been shocked. Topical Budget, however, seems to approve, perhaps because the dance makes for such a fine cinematic spectacle.

Bryony Dixon

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