As immigrants flooded into the United States from every part of the globe, they brought their traditional dances along. the melting pot did its job, and the stately constraints of the minuet yielded to the merengue, the cake walk, and the buck-and-wing. When these diverse forms found one another, they began to produce such uniquely American children as the Tennessee Wig Walk, the Shim Sham Shammy, the Irish Tango, and the Pachuco Hop. Sweat flew and a good time was had by all.
This book of postcards celebrates American dance, whether that of hardworking people letting off steam or people working hard to entertain a crowd, in thirty classic photographs from the Library of Congress.
