By Fred Chun, Waipio
Fad dances are for the young and the kids have always said, "Never trust anyone over thirty." That seems to be the dividing line for decades and its OK with me. Fads are dances which are characterized by a short burst of popularity. These used to be called "dance crazes" but no longer mainly because of modern day hype they usually last longer Lambada last ten years and made billions of dollars. Dancing style fads have always been a part of social dancing, sometimes gliding smoothly into tradition after their "newness" has faded, and sometimes simply fading away into oblivion.
After WWI, in the early 1920s a string of dance crazes swept the world, including the Jitterbug and the Charleston. The decade was called the roaring twenties, it was a period of prosperity until the Depression hit. During prohibition everyone was having a ball, drinking, dancing and having fun.
Perhaps the most significant of all these early 20th century crazes was the tango which came from Argentina in the early 1900s. The tango swept the world in the late 1910s and 1920s, sparking a worldwide craze that was fanned by its use in Hollywood movies, and the style was soon appropriated to become part of the standard dance repertoire. But even then it has split into many different tangos in different countries.
In the US alone we have three. In Hawaii, four if we include the beautiful Filipino Tango. In modern times "fads" also arise and disappear much more frequently. This is certainly spurred by modern communication improvements (printed media, radio, movies, television, Internet). World War II was also another spur in the dance crazes. From Latin America, dance fads included the merengue, the samba, the mambo, the rumba and, in the early 1960s, the bossa nova. Each new Latin style enjoyed massive popularity, and many transcended their fad status to become standardized styles in the repertoire of western popular dance tradition.
Fad dances are for the young and the kids have always said, "Never trust anyone over thirty." That seems to be the dividing line for decades and its OK with me. Fads are dances which are characterized by a short burst of popularity. These used to be called "dance crazes" but no longer mainly because of modern day hype they usually last longer Lambada last ten years and made billions of dollars. Dancing style fads have always been a part of social dancing, sometimes gliding smoothly into tradition after their "newness" has faded, and sometimes simply fading away into oblivion.
"Social dancers may dance to inspire, dance to freedom, - life is about
experiences so dance and let yourself become free.”
After WWI, in the early 1920s a string of dance crazes swept the world, including the Jitterbug and the Charleston. The decade was called the roaring twenties, it was a period of prosperity until the Depression hit. During prohibition everyone was having a ball, drinking, dancing and having fun.
Perhaps the most significant of all these early 20th century crazes was the tango which came from Argentina in the early 1900s. The tango swept the world in the late 1910s and 1920s, sparking a worldwide craze that was fanned by its use in Hollywood movies, and the style was soon appropriated to become part of the standard dance repertoire. But even then it has split into many different tangos in different countries.
In the US alone we have three. In Hawaii, four if we include the beautiful Filipino Tango. In modern times "fads" also arise and disappear much more frequently. This is certainly spurred by modern communication improvements (printed media, radio, movies, television, Internet). World War II was also another spur in the dance crazes. From Latin America, dance fads included the merengue, the samba, the mambo, the rumba and, in the early 1960s, the bossa nova. Each new Latin style enjoyed massive popularity, and many transcended their fad status to become standardized styles in the repertoire of western popular dance tradition.
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