Fad Dances

On Oahu we are all part of the Big World of Dance. Many different kinds and if some dancers like the Gloopy and others like the Ploopy, fine, we wish them all Happy Dancing. Social dancers on Oahu are something else. And we have some that veer off and go for the "dance crazes". 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. Dances such as the Waltz or the Rumba were once fads, that have become a part of dance tradition. In modern times the rate in which new dances ("fads") are introduced and fade seems to be much faster and more often.
 

"Social Dancers are well aware that in a Night Club, a little buzz can loosen

you up and give you an infusion of courage but take it easy."

This is certainly spurred by modern communication improvements (printed media, radio, movies, television, internet) During the 1960s and 1980s new dances appeared almost every week, often choreographed to popular songs ("Mashed Potato Time" by Dee Dee Sharp, "Freddy (Freddie)", the "Twist"). Their steps were often printed in dance magazines. Dance crazes continued into the 1980s with "YMCA", and the 1990s with "Macarena". Disco came. stayed a while and went. Contemporary sources for dance crazes include music videos and movies.

"Night And Day" by Jimmy Borges

Son Caribe

There are fad dances which are meant to be danced individually (solo), others are partner dances, and yet others are danced in groups. Some of them were of freestyle type, i.e., there were no particular step patterns and they were distinguished by the style of the dance movement (Twist, Shake, Swim, Pony, Hitchhike). Very few have survived and 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 are associated with a specific time period, and evoke a nostalgia if they are danced nowadays.

"Dance is your pulse, your heartbeat, your breathing. It is the rhythm of your life. It is the expression of time and movement, in  happiness, joy, sadness and envy."