Jazz dance originated from the African American vernacular dance of the late 1800s to the mid-1900s.  Until the mid 1950s, the term "jazz dance" often referred to tap dance, because tap dancing (set to jazz music) was the main performance dance of the era.  During the later jazz age, popular forms of jazz dance were the Cakewalk,Blackbotttom(dance), Charleston, Jitterbug, Boogie Woogie, Swing dancing and the related Hop.  After the 1950s, pioneers such as Katherine Dunham took the essence of Caribbean traditional dance and made it into a performing art.  With the growing domination of other forms of entertainment music, jazz dance evolved on Broadway into the new, smooth style that is taught today and known as Modern Jazz, while tap dance branched off to follow its own, separate evolutionary path.
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	Competitive dance is a popular, widespread activity in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, and tap—before a common group of judges.  This is in contrast with other activities that involve competition among dancers based on purpose, or specific dance style, such as pom squad, ballroom, Latin, ceremonial, and highland dance.  The competitive dance industry largely consists of competition production companies—also sometimes called dance competition companies—that conduct regional competitions at stops along their annual, nationwide tours.  Dancers who compete at these regional competitions are usually dance students ranging in age from about six to eighteen years old.  Dance schools typically arrange for their classes to compete as groups.  Advanced dance students often compete solo or in small groups (e.g., duo, trio, and quad) in addition to competing with their dance class groups.  Competitive dancers must be physically fit because even short dances can be physically demanding.  Also, dancers must continuously train to maintain and improve their technique, balance skills, strength and flexibility.
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