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The twist is a dance that was inspired by

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

music. From 1959 to the early

sixties File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz A ...

it became a worldwide dance craze, enjoying immense popularity while drawing controversies from critics who felt it was too provocative. It inspired dances such as the Jerk, the

Pony A pony is a type of small horse (''Equus ferus caballus''). Depending on the context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. Compared t ...

, the Watusi, the Mashed Potato, the

Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incom ...

, and the Funky Chicken, but none were as popular. Having seen teenagers in Tampa, Florida doing the dance,

Hank Ballard Hank Ballard (born John Henry Kendricks; November 18, 1927 – March 2, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter, the lead vocalist of The Midnighters and one of the first rock and roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s. He played an int ...

wrote " The Twist", which became the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of Hank Ballard and

The Midnighters The Midnighters were an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan. They were an influential group in the 1950s and early 1960s, with many R&B hit records. They were also notable for launching the career of lead singer Hank Ballard and the wo ...

' 1959 single "Teardrops on Your Letter".

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...

, having noticed the dance becoming popular among teenagers, recommended to

Cameo Records Cameo Records was an American record label that flourished in the 1920s. It was owned by the Cameo Record Corporation in New York City. Cameo released a disc by Lucille Hegamin every two months from 1921 to 1926. Cameo records are also noted ...

that the more wholesome

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnig ...

rerecord the song, which was released in 1959 and became a number one hit in 1960. The dance became passé among teenagers as it became acceptable among adults and the song was re-released, becoming a number one hit again in 1962. A world record was set in

DeLand, Florida DeLand is a city in central Florida. It is the county seat of Volusia County. The city sits approximately north of the central business district of Orlando, and approximately west of the central business district of Daytona Beach. As of the 20 ...

, on October 11, 2012, when Chubby Checker sang the song live and the crowd danced. An estimated 4,000 people twisted along with Checker, surpassing the previous

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for most people twisting in the streets at once.

Steps

The twist is performed by standing with the feet approximately shoulder width apart. The torso may be squared to the knees and hips, or turned at an angle so one foot is farther forward than the other. The arms are held out from the body, bent at the elbow. The hips, torso, and legs rotate on the balls of the feet as a single unit, with the arms staying more or less stationary. The feet grind back and forth on the floor, and the dance can be varied in speed, intensity, and vertical height as necessary. Occasionally one leg is lifted off the floor for styling, but generally the dance posture is low and with the feet in contact with the floor with very little vertical motion. The moves include the mashed potato, swimming, drowning, twisting, arm swing and single leg twist. Another description of the moves popularized by

1. STANCE: Prizefighter position, one leg extended forward, and arms extended forward from the elbow. 2. MOVEMENT: Hips swivel from side to side as if rubbing oneself with a towel. Knees are bent slightly. As hips move left, arms move to the right, and vice versa. 3. FOOT MOVEMENT: Twist feet as if putting out a cigarette. Entire body moving forward and back and from side to side.

According to ''Time'', "the dancers barely ever touch each other or move their feet. Everything else, however, moves. The upper body sways forward and backward and the hips and shoulders twirl erotically, while the arms thrust in, out, up and down with the pistonlike motions of baffled bird keepers fighting off a flock of attack blue jays."

Etymology

The use of the name "twist" for dancing goes back to the nineteenth century. According to Marshall and Jean Stearns in ''Jazz Dance'', a pelvic dance motion called the twist came to America from the Congo during slavery. One of the hit songs of early

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people, Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of ...

minstrelsy was

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

player Joel Walker Sweeney's "Vine Twist". One of the early black dance crazes of the early twentieth century was the " Mess Around", described by songwriter Perry Bradford in his 1912 hit "Messin' Around" as: "Now anybody can learn the knack, put your hands on your hips and bend your back; stand in one spot nice and tight, and twist around, twist around with all of your might". But the twist at this point was basically grinding the hips. Blues singer Bo Carter recorded "Twist It Babe" in 1931, the reference in the lyrics apparently being a metaphor for sex. In his "Winin' Boy Blues" in the late 1930s,

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a ge ...

sang, "Mama, mama, look at sis, she's out on the

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastl ...

doing the double twist". In the 1953 song "Let the Boogie Woogie Roll",

Clyde McPhatter Clyde Lensley McPhatter (November 15, 1932 – June 13, 1972) was an American rhythm and blues, soul, and rock and roll singer. He was one of the most widely imitated R&B singers of the 1950s and early 1960sPalmer, Robert (1981)"Roy Brown, a Pi ...

and the Drifters sang, "When she looked at me her eyes just shined like gold, and when she did the twist she bopped me to my soul". But the simple dance that we now know as the Twist originates in the late fifties among teenagers, and was popularized by Chubby Checker in his preparation to debut the song to a national audience on August 6, 1960, on ''The Dick Clark Show'', a Saturday night program that, unlike disc jockey Clark's daytime

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pr ...

, was a stage show with a sitting audience.

Origin

was a powerhouse in music at the time, thanks to

, which ran five times a week in the afternoons, showcasing local dancers and visiting performers who lip-synched along with their recordings. Clark saw the song's potential when he heard Hank Ballard's original version, but Ballard and his group, whose greatest hit had been "Work With Me Annie" in 1954, was considered too raunchy to appeal to Clark's teenage audience. He urged Philadelphia record label Cameo/Parkway to record a new version of "The Twist" with young, wholesome

, who had displayed his talent for copying other artists on an earlier novelty hit "The Class". Released in summer 1960, Checker's rendition of "The Twist" became number one on the singles chart in the United States in 1960 and then again in 1962. In 1961, at the height of the craze, patrons at New York City's

Peppermint Lounge The Peppermint Lounge was a popular discotheque located at 128 West 45th Street in New York City that was open from 1958 to 1965, although a new one was opened in 1980. It was the launchpad for the global Twist craze in the early 1960s. Many claim T ...

on West 45th Street were twisting to the house band, a local group from Jersey, Joey Dee and the Starliters. Their song, "The Peppermint Twist (Part 1)" became number one in the United States for three weeks in January 1962. In 1962

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

released his album ''Bo Diddley's A Twister''. He recorded several Twist tracks, including "The Twister", "Bo's Twist", and "Mama Don't Allow No Twistin'", which referenced the objections many parents had to the pelvic motions of the dance. In Latin America, the twist caught fire in the early 1960s, fueled by

Bill Haley & His Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

. Their recordings of "The Spanish Twist" and "Florida Twist" were successes, particularly in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. Haley, in interviews, credited Checker and Ballard. Coincidentally, Checker appeared in two musicals that took their titles from films Haley made in the 1950s: '' Twist Around the Clock'' (after '' Rock Around the Clock'') and '' Don't Knock the Twist'' (after '' Don't Knock the Rock'').

Twist hits on ''Billboard''

*" The Twist" by

and

(No. 28, 1959) *"The Twist" by

(No. 1, 1960; No. 1, 1962) *" Let's Twist Again" by

(No. 8, 1961) *"Twistin' U.S.A." by Danny & the Juniors (No. 20, 1961) *" Slow Twistin'" by

(No. 3, 1962) *" Peppermint Twist – Part 1" by Joey Dee and the Starliters (No. 1, 1962) *"Hey, Let's Twist" by Joey Dee and the Starliters (No. 20, 1962) *" Dear Lady Twist" by

Gary U.S. Bonds Gary U.S. Bonds (born Gary Levone Anderson, June 6, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, known for his classic hits "New Orleans" and " Quarter to Three". Career Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Bonds lived in Norfolk, ...

(No. 9, 1962) *"

Twist, Twist Senora "Twist, Twist Senora" is a song written by Frank Guida, Gene Barge, and Joseph Royster and performed by Gary U.S. Bonds. It reached #9 on the U.S. pop chart in 1962. It was featured on his 1962 album ''Twist Up Calypso''. The song took its ins ...

" by

(No. 9, 1962) *"

Twistin' Postman "Twistin' Postman" is a song recorded by Motown singing group The Marvelettes, who released it in 1961, and was the follow-up to their smash debut single, " Please Mr. Postman". Background Like their previous single, the vocals are led by origin ...

" by the Marvelettes (No. 34, 1962) *" Twistin' the Night Away" by Sam Cooke (No. 9, 1962) *" Twist and Shout" by

the Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decade ...

(No. 17, 1962) *"Twist-Her" by Bill Black's Combo (No. 26, 1962) *" Soul Twist" by

King Curtis Curtis Ousley (born Curtis Montgomery; February 7, 1934 – August 13, 1971), known professionally as King Curtis, was an American saxophonist who played rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll. A bandleader, band member, and session musicia ...

& His Noble Knights (No. 17, 1962) *"Bristol Twistin" Annie" by the Dovells (No. 27, 1962) *"Percolator (Twist)" by Billy Joe & the Checkmates (No. 10, 1962) *"Do You Know How To Twist" by

and

(No. 87, 1962) *"Twist It Up" by

(No. 25, 1963) *" Twist and Shout" by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

(No. 2, 1964)

Twist films

*'' Twist Around the Clock'' (1961) – with

*'' Don't Knock the Twist'' (1961) – with

*'' Hey, Let's Twist!'' (1961) – with Joey Dee *'' The Continental Twist'' (1961) *'' The Twist'' (1992)

In popular culture

In 1962

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...

produced a one-shot comic called ''The Twist'' that fictionalized the Peppermint Lounge dance craze. Several television shows parodied the dance in the early 1960s. An episode of '' The Alvin Show'' showed a parody of the Twist called ''The Alvin Twist''. "The Flintstones" version was called the Twitch and aired in 1962, as did "The Dick Van Dyke Show"'s Twizzle. The same year, it was featured in an episode of " Leave It To Beaver" called "Beaver Joins a Record Club". It was also mentioned in the Amazing Spider-Man issue number 2, where Jameson tells Peter Parker to buy "twist records" with his money. The craze was even referenced by the United States

Federal Open Market Committee The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), a committee within the Federal Reserve System (the Fed), is charged under United States law with overseeing the nation's open market operations (e.g., the Fed's buying and selling of United States Trea ...

(FOMC) when actions in 1961 were dubbed " Operation Twist". In 2011 the FOMC revived Operation Twist."Fed will revive Operation Twist in hope of stimulating recovery".
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

''. 21 September 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2011. By the mid-1960s the dance reached Soviet Union and was popularized in a 1967 movie called Kidnapping, Caucasian Style. The dance moves were described — and visualized — in the same manner as

described them, by putting out cigarettes with the balls of the feet. The dance would come to be seen as emblematic of the early 1960s in later years, with popular songs, television shows, and movies likely to reference it when they wanted to convey the spirit of that time period. In 1978 rock band

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...

included the line, "Twisting round the fire", in their song of 1960s beach party film references, " Rock Lobster". The Twist was one of the inspirations for the

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Exo ...

song "The Toxic Waltz", from their 1989 album Fabulous Disaster. The band Nirvana's song "Aneurysm", first released in 1991 on the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" single, prominently features a mention of the spirited dance in the first line of each verse, prompting its listeners to, "Come on over, and do the twist." In 1993, a film by Ron Mann called ''Twist'' was a documentary about the craze.

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensemb ...

's 1994 film '' Pulp Fiction'' featured

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom '' Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (1 ...

and Uma Thurman dancing the Twist to

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined a ...

's "You Never Can Tell" as part of the Jack Rabbit Slim's Twist Contest. In '' Spider-Man 3'' (2007),

Harry Osborn Harold Theopolis "Harry" Osborn is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ' ...

and

Mary Jane Watson Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., and made her first appearance in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #25 (June 1965). ...

dance to "The Twist". In a Season One episode of ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its ...

'' ("The Hobo Code"), Peggy Olsson and several other employees of Sterling Cooper dance to Chubby Checker's "The Twist". Season One takes place in 1960, when Checker's version first became a hit. In 1995 Faber & Faber published ''The Twist: The Story of the Song and Dance That Changed the World'' by Jim Dawson, . In 2009

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

danced the twist with her backup dancers in the official video for the song " Bad Romance". The Twist was also a pivotal part of the book ''

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda ''The Strange Case of Origami Yoda'' is a children's novel written by Tom Angleberger that was first published on March 1, 2010, by Amulet Books. It follows the story of a young boy named Tommy who is trying to figure out if his classmate Dwight's ...

'' (2010), in which an origami puppet made to resemble Yoda gives out advice.

Steps

Etymology

Origin

Twist hits on ''Billboard''

Twist films

In popular culture

See also

Notes

References

Further reading