“There had, of course, been slave music and dancing in the city in the colonial period, but there had always been limits to these activities: No matter how successful black New Yorkers were at testing the limits of their bondage, they were still slaves, usually living under their owners’ direct supervision. The exhilaration of recently won freedom, the shucking off of petty restrictions, the establishment of independent households, and the influx of blacks with diverse experiences in Africa, the Caribbean, or elsewhere in the United States was a potent mix that would influence the contours of black New York culture, particularly music and dance. As slavery gradually wound down, black music and dance found a new venue and, in the case of New York, that venue was literally underground.”-From, “Slavery in New York”