Written by Jennifer Przadka
“Jitterbug” bronze sculpture by Richard Stravitz
When someone mentions the word “Jitterbug” I think back to 1989 when the Wizard of Oz first came out on VHS. I remember watching that movie over and over in its entirety. At the very end you get to see edited scenes. One of the scenes was about a song that was recorded specifically for the movie “The Jitterbug”. I watched Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion all dance in a frenzy as if running from a literal bug. They all sing about watching out for this bug that will give you the “jitters”. The producers decided not to add it into the movie claiming that it would make the movie too long.
Come to find out “jitterbug” was a term used that described alcoholics when suffering from the “jitters”. This term became correlated with swing dancers who dance beyond any discipline or know-how of the dance. In pop-culture, it developed to mean swing dancers or a sort of swing dance.
We have a sculpture at our Laskin Road gallery that was recently created and unveiled by Richard Stravitz entitled “The Jitterbug”. If you were to come in it would be the first thing that you would see resting on a rotating potium. Which is quite appropriate considering the movement that the artist captivates in his work. It is such a lively piece and you can almost feel the excitement when you look at the expression that is permanently sculpted in both of the dancers faces. The detail doesn’t end there. Looking at the clothes gives away the era the sculpture conveys. The female is wearing the typical bobby soxer outfit, the close fitted sweater, the poodle shirt with a petticoat underneath, saddle shoes and bobby socks. The male wears rolled up slacks, penny loafers, a cool blazer with a buttoned up shirt underneath, and a neck tie. The movement of the piece is incredible with the guy pulling the girl underneath him as he jumps over her. The gentleman’s cap rests besides the sculpture as if to imply that it had flown off of his head due to the dance of a fast rhythm. It is certainly no wonder why Richard Stravitz is an award winning Master Sculptor.
Please visit our website at http://www.sculpture-bronze.com to view the beautiful art work we have in both of our galleries!
Stravitz Sculpture and Fine Art Galleries 