Dancing through the decades

Have you ever realized how the dance moves have changed so much through the generations. I mean, it started off with practically a swaying back and forth with your partner to now contorting your body around in such strange ways and shaking your bum while you are upside down on a wall! whhhaaaat? I know, just a little weird to think about.

   Something that really crakes me up is to try and explain dance moves for example, the wobble.... just listen, because it sounds so strange. First you bend your knees slightly and bend your back. Then you dangle your arms behind you and shake them like your arms are having a seizure while the rest of your body kind of just sways and jiggles slightly. You can also lean your head back and shake it a little too. Just hearing this makes sense why old people say kids these days are so....well stupid.

     The forty’s was a time of mostly all partner dances like the jive and the jitter bug. The music was innocent, as well as the dancing. The partners never got to close and the music was never super-fast, although it was upbeat dancing. To do the jive and the jitter bug you really had to stay on your toes and be quick with your feet.

The 50's dances were mostly partner dances like the forties were. The most popular dances were swing and the stroll. But 50’s were the first time rock came out so the dance moves changed dramatically in this decade to more of one person dances toward the end of the decade like the bop.

The 60's contained a lot of crazier looking dances like the pony, the swim, the monkey, and the twist. They used a lot of simpler steps but just got really wild while they did them. The dances in the 60’s were very high energy and dances practically anyone could learn within a minute or two.

The 70’s were full of lots of groovy step touches and a lot of hip and arm movement. For example the hustle and YMCA. In the seventies the songs had changed to more of a “boogie music”. The disco was also popular and could be danced to practically any 70’s song.

80’s was all about goofing around.  When the 80’s began the music was very differ than what anyone had ever heard. The most popular dance moves were dorkey ones like stir the pot and the sprinkler.

As the 80’s ended and 90’s appeared aerobics was very popular so a lot of the dances were used as exercise. Some of the dances in the 90 have included the running man, the Macarena, and kid in play.

The 20^th century was widely known as the “new school” era were more songs contained rap, as well as more upbeat songs. Some well-known dances are krump, jerk and the dougie.

I can’t believe how different dance moves are from when my parents were young, and especially from when my grandparents were young. I think all of these dance moves are fun to experiment with, and it is fun to try and make a dance routine that has a little bit of dances from all of the decades. Next time you go to your grandparents have them show you their favorite dances from when they were a teen. It’s so interesting to compare their dances with the ones you dance now. (575)