The Animal Dance craze was directly correlated with the popularity of ragtime

Ragtime

Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...

 music (improvisational melodies with syncopated beats, from African-American traditions). There were an endless varieties of animal dance fads, such as: Horse Trot, Kangaroo Hop, Duck Waddle, Squirrel, Chicken Scratch

Chicken scratch

Chicken scratch is a kind of dance music developed by the Tohono O'odham people. The genre evolved out of acoustic fiddle bands in southern Arizona, in the Sonoran desert...

, Turkey Trot, and Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear (dance)

The Grizzly Bear is an early 20th century dance style. It started in San Francisco, along with the Bunny Hug and Texas Tommy and was also done on the Staten Island ferry boats in the 1900's. It has been said that dancers John Jarrott and Louise Gruenning introduced this dance as well as the Turkey...

. Both music and dance reflected the vibrancy of modern, urban influences. The music is typified by Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...

’s rags and made popular to the middle class by "Alexander's Ragtime Band

Alexander's Ragtime Band

"Alexander's Ragtime Band" is the name of a song by Irving Berlin. It was his first major hit, in 1911. There is some evidence, although inconclusive, that Berlin borrowed the melody from a draft of "A Real Slow Drag" submitted by Scott Joplin that had been submitted to a...

,” published in 1911.

External links

• Animal Dances (20th Century: 1910's Ragtime) Significant Dances