Fad Dance Links from 1950 through the 2000s

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New and fancy dances We are dances which is usually characterized by a short wave of popularity. Some of them may get a longer life. They are also called Dance fads or Dance madness.
With the explosion of the pop music market in the late 1950s, dance fads were commercialized and exploited. From the 1950s to the 1970s, new dance fads appeared almost every week. Many versions have been published (or marketed) of new styles or steps created by African American dancers who frequent clubs and discos in major American cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Detroit. Among these:

  • MadisonIt was created and danced for the first time Columbus, Ohio, in 1957. Madison is a line dance characterized by a regular back-and-forth pattern punctuated by steps called steps. Its popularity has inspired dance troupes and competitions, as well as various recordings, and it is still sometimes performed as a nostalgic dance. The Madison was featured in the John Waters movie Hairspray (1988), and went on to be staged in the Broadway musical Hairspray. Watch the dance here.
  • “swimming”See swimming performed by Bobby Freeman
  • mashed potatoes It is a dance move that was a popular dance craze The year is 1962. The dance movement and the mashed potato song became famous for the first time James Brown 1959 and used it in his concerts regularly. It has also been danced to songs like Dee Dee Sharpmashed potatoes. Watch the dance here.
  • “development” It is a dance inspired by Rock and Roll Music music. From 1959 to early Sixties became worldwide Dance madnessIt enjoyed immense popularity while drawing controversy from critics who felt it was too provocative. Watch the dance here.
  • “the Frog” – Frug is sometimes referred to as Surf, Big Bea and Thunderbird. Watch it here.
  • “watose” Watusi is the former name of Tutsi The people of Africa, whose traditions include amazing dances. The American dance nomenclature, in particular, may have been inspired by a scene in the 1950 movie King Solomon’s Mines which featured Tutsi Dancers, or its sequel Watosi. Watch it here.
  • “rock” – It was a fancy dance In the mid-1960s, characteristic of “tense fits” of extremities and head shaking, basically without specific dance moves or steps. See her performance here. Harlem chic with music.
  • “hurdle trip” It started with Marvin Gaye in 1962 He hits “hurdle height“And refuel with golden disc to Vanity fare“,”go on tour(1969) Watch it here.
  • “Pony Made popular in the 1960s by Chubby Checker Song “Pony timing“. look here.
  • “Take a walk for the dog” – 1965 R&B song and dance moves. Watch it here.
  • “monkey”It was published by two R&B labels Records: Major Lance‘s “Monkey timing“, And miracles“”Mickey monkeyBoth Top 10 Pop Hits were released during the summer of 1963. Watch them here.
  • “this bastard” – Jerk looks like a monkey. The arms move and the hands move as if they are connected. The wrists cross in front of the chest and then sweep in time, or half-time, with the music. Hands at face level. On count 1, the outer sweep, the hands are pushed out quickly, giving a jerky motion. For added elegance, the fingers can be clipped on the two outermost movements – the first and third hand movement counts. See jerk leads here.
  • “funky chicken” -Isa popular Rhythm and Blues dance that started on America In the 1950s, as dancers did their whiskers arms And kick their back foot in imitation chick. The side jig featured body movements. Watch this dance from 1972 here.

In 1965, the Mexican-American group Cannibal and the Headhunters had a hit with Chris Kenner’s 1962 song Land of a Thousand Dances which featured the names of such dances. One list of Fad Dances compiled in 1971 named over ninety dances. Standardized versions of the dance moves were published in dance and teen magazines, and were often choreographed to popular songs. Songs such as “The Loco-Motion” were written specifically with the goal of creating a new dance hit and many other pop songs, such as Dee Dee Sharp’s “Mashed Potato Time”, were written to exploit successful modern novelties.

In the early 1970s, disco spawned a series of dance fads including Bump, the Hustle. This continued in the 1980s with the popular song “Walk Like an Egyptian”, in the 1990s with “Macarena”, in the 2000s with “The Ketchup Song” and in 2010 with “Gangnam Style”. Contemporary sources of the dance craze include music, videos, and films.

There are fad dances that are meant to be danced individually as a solo, others are partner dances, yet others are danced in groups. Some of them were of the free type, that is, there were no certain step patterns and were distinguished by the style of dance movement (Twist, Shake, Swim, Pony, Hitch Hitch). Only some have survived to this day, sometimes only as the name of a step (Suzie Q, Shimmy) or pattern (mashed potato) in a recognized dance. Fancy dances were in fashion at the time of their popularity. They become associated with a specific time period, and can evoke certain forms of nostalgia when revived.

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