A lot of people find it hard to believe, but Jazz came from Africa. Swing dance, a dance of jazz, also traces its roots to Africa. The slaves used to dance. Many of the movements of swing dance are related to the movements of the Africans including facing the ground, fancy footwork, show off shines and rhythmic syncopated footwork.
Root dances of swing include the Cakewalk, Black Bottom, Charleston and Tap. The Cakewalk was done by slaves for the masters. It involved dressing up and walking with high fancy steps. The Black Bottom required the solo female dancer to fast music and had many high side kicks and fancy footwork. The Charleston, named for the town of Charleston, South Carolina. This dance was done solo and later in couples. The footwork was back and forth footwork with a turn out of the foot.
One specific quality of African dance is movement toward the earth. Many African dance moves include this as does swing dance, at least Savoy style swing has a definite body toward the earth quality.
HISTORY OF SWING DANCING: AFRICAN INFLUENCES www.savoystyle.com