The Cakewalk was a dance that started in the early 19th century during the period of slavery on plantations . Some other names to this dance included the “chalkline-walk” and the walk-around.” The dance was performed by men in minstrel shows in the late 19th century, then the cast changed to women, which made the dance way more popular and appealing to men. This dance was used on plantations for slaves to have a fun time mocking and mimicking their master in a flashy way. The Cakewalk dance was a huge aspect to plantation life for slaves in order to express themselves and be happy, considering it was really hard for slaves to find times to laugh and joke during the slavery era. When slaves would perform the Cakewalk, they would dress up in flashy, bright colored, fine clothes. Along with the fancy apparel, slaves would dance upright, in a perfect posture, compared to normal African American dance where it is low to the ground, hunched over dancing. One of the main traits to this dance was the fact that the slaves would purposely mimic the white masters when they were not looking, in an effort to make other slaves laugh and actually have quality, fun time. As this dance progresses over history, it was always a fun, escape valve for slaves to get away from their terrible life and move around aimlessly with laughter and joy, while also showing off to other slaves, creating competition in a positive way.
