Jack And Jill (dance)
Jack and Jill (J&J, the US term) or Dance with a Stranger (DWAS, the UK term) is a format of competition in partner dancing, where the competing couples are the result of random matching of leaders and followers. Rules of matching vary.
The name and format were created by Jack Carey at Hank & Stans in Norwalk, California in the early 1950s to encourage a variety of dancers to enter competitions.
The gender-ambiguous term Pat and Chris has been used, particularly in LGBT dance venues, to refer to events where the gender of lead and follow isn't specified. In the lindy community in the U.S. a Jill and Jack, though less common, is a competition where the leads are required to be female and the follows to be male. In dance competitions J&J is included as a separate division (or divisions, with additional gradations). J&J is popular at Swing conventions, as well as at ballroom dance competitions in the US.
J&J competitions are intended to test social dance skills, whereas fixed partner competitions test performance dance skills.
It is claimed that Jack Carey is the originator of the Jack & Jill contest format.
Read more about Jack And Jill (dance): Rules
Famous quotes containing the words jack and/or jill:
“Sheriff, have you ever watched a friend dying before your eyes and not been able to help? That’s the worst of it. Being helpless. It’s particularly tough when you’re a physician and you know what’s wrong with him, and there isn’t a single solitary thing you or anyone else can do.”
—Robert M. Fresco. Jack Arnold. Prof. Gerald Deemer (Leo G. Carroll)
“Jack and Jill
Went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down,
And broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.”
—Mother Goose (fl. 17th–18th century. Jack and Jill (l. 1–6)