Editing Jig (section)

==Straight and sand jigs==
In 19th-century America, the jig was the name adopted for a form of step dancing developed by enslaved African-Americans and later adopted by [[minstrel show]] performers. Danced to five-string banjo or fiddle tunes in {{music|time|2|2}} or {{music|time|2|4}} metre played at [[schottische]] tempo, the minstrel jig (also called the "straight jig" to distinguish it from Irish dances) was characterized by syncopated rhythm and eccentric movements. Jig dancers employed a repertoire of "hits" on the heel or toe, "hops" on one foot, "springs" off both feet as well as various slides and shuffles.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=James|title=Jig, Clog and Breakdown Dancing Made Easy|date=1873|location=New York|url=https://lccn.loc.gov/ca05001769|access-date=4 November 2017|language=en}}</ref>  The most famous early jig dancer was [[Master Juba]], an African-American who inspired a host of white imitators, many of whom performed in [[blackface]]. [[John Diamond (dancer)|John Diamond]], an Irish-American who competed with Master Juba in a series of "challenge dances", was among the most prominent of these white minstrel jig dancers. Minstrel jigs, as well as [[clog dancing|clogs]] and breakdowns, were crucial to the evolution of 20th-century [[tap dance|tap]] and soft-shoe dancing.

A variant of the straight jig was the "[[sanding (dance)|sand jig]]" or "sand dance", performed as a series of shuffles and slides on a sand-strewn stage. The most prominent sand jiggers of the 19th century were two women, both born in New York in 1855: Buffalo native [[Kitty O'Neil (dancer)|Kitty O'Neil]] and her Manhattan-born rival Kitty Sharpe.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blarneystar.com/Kitty_090114.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://blarneystar.com/Kitty_090114.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Kitty O'Neil and Her 'Champion Jig': A Forgotten Irish-American Variety Theater Star|last=Meade|first=Don|date=September 2014 |access-date=4 November 2017}}</ref> Sand dancing was a staple of minstrelsy, variety and vaudeville, and was kept alive in later decades largely by African-American tap dancers, including [[John Bubbles]], [[Bill "Bojangles" Robinson]], [[Sammy Davis Jr.]], [[Harriet Browne (dancer)|Harriet Browne]] and, most prominently, [[Howard Sims|Howard "Sandman" Sims]].