Jazz hands in performance dance

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

 is the extension of a performer's hands with palms toward the audience and fingers splayed. It is commonly associated with especially exuberant types of performance such as musicals, cheerleading

Cheerleading

Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...

, show choir

Show choir

A show choir is a group of people who combine choral singing with dance movements, sometimes within the context of a specific idea or story.-History:...

, revue

Revue

A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...

, and especially jazz dance

Jazz dance

Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance...

 shows. In cheerleading, the position with arms outstretched and fingers wiggling up and down is sometimes referred to as spirit fingers or magic fingers. Depending on the performance venue, both gestures can be associated with campiness

Camp (style)

Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...

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Description

The basic jazz hands position is defined by open hands with palms facing forward, and the fingers splayed while shaking hands and moving fingers. The arm is often straight, with the fingers spread wide open. This hand position is referred to as the jazz hand. This definition is further bolstered by Gus Giordano

Gus Giordano

Gus Giordano was an American jazz dancer. He was a performer on and off Broadway, in television, film and stage, and he is a master teacher, a gifted choreographer, founder of his company , creator of the Jazz Dance World Congress and the author of Anthology of American Jazz Dance, the first book...

 defining jazz hands as the "[p]alm of [the] hand facing forward with fingers stretched." It is also repeated again in a similar manner by one of Frank Hatchett's instructions in his jazz dance book: "spread fingers (jazz hands); face palms front."

Neither Gus Giordano nor Frank Hatchett include shaking the hands as part of instruction or as a definition for jazz hands. Such a motion may be used if the choreographer specifies it, in which case the hands may be shaken, as if jingling a tambourine

Tambourine

The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....

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Other uses

The term is also used humorously in the United Kingdom to refer to the shaking of the extremities, most noticeably the hands and fingers, that occurs in a bout of delirium tremens

Delirium tremens

Delirium tremens is an acute episode of delirium that is usually caused by withdrawal from alcohol, first described in 1813...

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