The 1960’s Dance Crazes 2

The Watusi is a solo dance that enjoyed brief popularity during the early 1960s. It was one of the most popular dance crazes of the 1960s in the United States. “Watusi” is a former name for the Tutsi people of Africa, whose traditions include spectacular dances. The naming of the American dance may have been inspired, in particular, by a scene in the 1950 film King Solomon’s Mines which featured Tutsi dancers, or by its sequel Watusi. The Orions, a vocal quartet from Philadelphia, had the biggest hit of their career as recording artists with their recording of “The Wah-Watusi, which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in June 1962, and remained on the Hot 100 for 14 weeks; it peaked at No.2 and held the position for two weeks. On the R&B chart, the single peaked at No.5. The Vibrations had previously released an R&B single in 1961 called “The Watusi”.

Hitch Hike was another dance craze of the 1960s. It started with the 1962 Marvin Gaye hit “Hitch Hike” and refueled with the gold disc of Vanity Fare, “Hitchin’ a Ride” (1969). The dance is extremely simple and is based on the hitchhiking gesture: waving the stuck-out thumb. The classical Motown pattern is three times right thumb to the right over the shoulder, clap hands, three times left thumb to the left over the shoulder, clap hands. All this is accompanied by the shimmy body ripples popular at these times. The dance move has firmly established itself in various line, club and jazz dances, especially disco, and may be seen in films such as Hairspray.

Pony Time” is a song written by Don Covay and John Berry (a member of Covay’s earlier vocal group, “the Rainbows”), and originally recorded in 1960 by Covay with his group “the Goodtimers”. The song achieved greater success when it was recorded by Chubby Checker the following year, becoming his second US No.1 (after his 1960 single “The Twist”). Chubby Checker’s recording of “Pony Time” was also a number one hit on the R&B charts. The song introduced a new dance style, The Pony, in which the dancer tries to look like he or she is riding a horse. The beat is 1&2, 3&4, etc. In the dance the feet are kept comfortably together, while various arm and hand motions are possible. Movement around the dance floor may occur, but there is no line-of-dance. Couples, who generally face each other, do not touch and turns and chase positions are possible.

The Chicken is a popular rhythm and blues that started in America in the 1950s, in which the dancers flapped their arms and kicked back their feet in an imitation of a chicken. The dance featured lateral body movements. It was used primarily as a change of pace step while doing the twist. The chicken dance gained popularity when Rufus Thomas wrote “Do the Funky Chicken”, a hit record in 1970. It is featured in the 1980s original Blues Brothers movie directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.

The Jerk was a popular dance in the 1960s. The jerk is similar to the monkey. The arms move and hands move as if conducting. The wrists cross in front of the chest and then sweep out in time, or at helf time, with the music. The hands are up at face level. On count 1, the outward sweep, the hands are quickly pushed out, giving the jerky motion. For a little more style, the fingers may be snapped on the two outward movements—the first and third counts of the hand motion. Released as a single in 1964 on the Money record label, “The Jerk” was a hit for the Los Angeles band the Larks.

The Stroll was both a slow rock ‘n’ roll dance and a song that was popular in the late 1950s. Billboard first reported that “The Stroll” might herald a new dance craze similar to the “Big Apple” in December 1957. In the dance two lines of dancers, men on one side and women on the other, face each other, moving in place to the music. Each paired couple then steps out and does a more elaborate dance up and down between the rows of dancers. Dick Clark noted the similarity of the dance to the Virginia Reel. The Diamonds had a hit song entitled in 1957.

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