“Jazz Hands” is the title of this little gouache painting that I recently finished. It was based on a black and white photo from the Bill Baird book about The Art of the Puppet.
References have sited that jazz hands became popular in the early years of musicals. Their dramatic appearance has kept this expressive quality alive in the fields of gymnastics, dance, musicals and as an ever popular staple of show choir choreography.
As my daughter once stated in her show choir years, “they show off our ‘bright faces’ on stage.”
But as this linked article suggests the splayed finger hand position may brighten more than just the appearance of a performer’s face and dance, it may eventually brighten the lives of those with hearing and speech disabilities. There’s great hope that these singing gloves give new meaning to jazz hands.
That could have us all singing “Ha Cha cha cha!”