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Novelty and fad dances are
dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...
s which are typically characterized by a short burst of popularity. Some of them, like the Twist, Y.M.C.A. and the Hokey Pokey, have shown much longer-lasting lives. They are also called dance fads or dance crazes.


Fad dances

As the pop music market got bombed in the late 1950s, dance fads were commercialized and exploited. From the 1950s to the 1970s, new dance fads appeared almost every week. Many were popularized (or commercialized) versions of new styles or steps created by African-American dancers who frequented the clubs and discothèques in major U.S. cities like New York, Philadelphia and Detroit. Among these were the
Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
, "The Swim", the " Mashed Potato", " The Twist", "
The Frug The Frug ( or /frug/) was a dance craze from the mid-1960s, which included vigorous dance to pop music. It evolved from another dance of the era, the Chicken. The Chicken, which featured lateral body movements, was used primarily as a change of pa ...
" (pronounced ), " The Watusi", " The Shake" and " The Hitch hike". Many 1950s and 1960s dance crazes had animal names, including " The Chicken" (not to be confused with the
Chicken Dance The "Chicken Dance", also known and recorded as Der Ententanz, Tchip Tchip, Vogerltanz, the Bird Song, the Chicken Song, the Birdie Song, the Bird Dance, Danse des Canards, the Duck Dance, El Baile de los Pajaritos, Il Ballo del Qua Qua, Check O ...
), " The Pony" and "The Dog". In 1965, Latin group
Cannibal and the Headhunters Cannibal & the Headhunters were an American rock band from East Los Angeles, California. They were one of the first Mexican-American groups to have a national hit record, "Land of a Thousand Dances", recorded on the Rampart label. They were the o ...
had a hit with the 1962
Chris Kenner Christophe Kenner (December 25, 1929 – January 25, 1976) was an American, New Orleans-based R&B singer and songwriter, best known for two hit singles in the early 1960s, " I Like It Like That" and " Land of 1000 Dances", which became staples ...
song
Land of a Thousand Dances "Land of a Thousand Dances" (or "Land of 1000 Dances") is a song written and first recorded by American rhythm and blues singer Chris Kenner in 1962. It later became a bigger hit in versions by Cannibal & the Headhunters and Wilson Pickett. A ve ...
which included the names of such dances. One list of Fad Dances compiled in 1971 named over ninety dances.Encyclopedia of Social Dance. Albert and Josephine Butler. 1971 & 1975. Albert Butler Ballroom Dance Service. New York, NY. Table of Contents in 1971 edition. Standardized versions of dance moves were published in dance and teen magazines, often
choreographed Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...
to popular songs. Songs such as " The Loco-Motion" were specifically written with the intention of creating a new dance and many more pop hits, such as " Mashed Potato Time" by Dee Dee Sharp, were written to cash in recent successful novelties. In the early 1970s,
disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric p ...
spawned a succession of dance fads including the Bump, the Hustle, and the Y.M.C.A. This continued in the 1980s with the popular song " Walk like an Egyptian", in the 1990s with the " Macarena", in the 2000s with " The Ketchup Song" and in the 2010s with "
Gangnam Style "Gangnam Style" ( ko, 강남스타일, ) is a K-pop song by South Korean rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The ...
". Contemporary sources for dance crazes include
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...
s and
movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
s. There are fad dances which are meant to be danced individually as
solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...
, others are
partner dance Partner dances are dances whose basic choreography involves coordinated dancing of two partners, as opposed to individuals dancing alone or individually in a non-coordinated manner, and as opposed to groups of people dancing simultaneously in a ...
s, and yet others are danced in
groups A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
. Some of them were of
freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Lab ...
type, i.e., there were no particular step patterns and they were distinguished by the style of the dance movement (Twist, Shake, Swim, Pony, Hitch hike). Only some have remained to the modern day-era, sometimes only as the name of a step (Suzie Q, Shimmy) or of a style (Mashed Potato) in a recognized dance. Fad dances are in fashion at the time of their popularity. They come to be associated with a specific time period, and can evoke particular forms of
nostalgia Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of (''nóstos''), meaning "homecoming", a Homeric word ...
when revived.


Notable novelty and fad dances


Pre-1950s


1950s


1960s


1970s


1980s


1990s


2000s


2010s


2020s


See also

* Outline of dance for a list of general dance topics. *
Summer hit In the entertainment industry, a summer hit is a song that is released and peaks in its popularity during summer. In some years, a single pop song will gain widespread international popularity during the summer season, becoming that summer's defi ...
* List of specific dances for a general, noncategorized index of dances


References


External links


Streetswing.com


hosts a large information base about more than thousand dances.




Go-Go Dancing - Fad and Novelty Dances from the 1960s at Little Miss Go-Go!
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