Cakewalk is a traditional African American form of music and dance which originated among slaves in the Southern United States. The form was originally known as the chalk line walk; it takes its name from competitions slaveholders sometimes held, in which they offered slices of hoecake as prizes for the best dancers
a strutting dance based on a march; was performed in minstrel shows; originated as a competition among Black dancers to win a cake perform the cakewalk dance