Dance Charades

Bachata

Bachata is one of the biggest crazes of Latin dance clubs and arose throughout the countryside of the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.

The Carlton

The Carlton was made famous by Alfonso Ribeiro (as Carlton Banks) on “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” in the 1990s. It was a mixed interpretation of Courteney Cox in the Bruce Springsteen video Dancing in the Dark and Eddie Murphy's Delirious video.

Cha Cha

Cha Cha is a Cuban music genre developed in the early 1950s. Enrique Jorrín is traditionally attributed to its creation after watching dancers working with syncopated rhythms in a danzón.

Chicken Dance

The "Chicken Dance" originated in Switzerland in the 1950s. It is also known as the Bird Song and is now a contemporary dance throughout the Western world.

Electric Slide

The Electric Slide (originally called The Electric) was created by choreographer Richard L. “Ric” Silver for Bunny Wailer and Marcia Griffiths’ song Electric Boogie in 1976. Although most people dance it as an 18-step dance today, the original was a 22-step dance created in honor of Silver’s birthday (January 22nd), and incorporated a series of grapevines and forward and backward steps.

Gangnam Style

The "Gangnam Style" music video by Psy premiered on July 15, 2012. Originally produced only for local K-pop fans, the song was actually poking “fun at the style of Seoul's Gangnam-gu, a flashy district with high rents, high expectations and a focus on the high-status lifestyle". In December 21, 2012, the music video became the first to hit 1 billion views on YouTube.

Grapevine

The grapevine is a common dance figure in various ballroom, club, and folk dances. It involves a series of hooks and crosses traveling sideways on the floor, usually in a sequence of four steps to one side and four steps to the other. In salsa, it involves eight steps to one side and eight steps to the other.

Macarena

“La Macarena” song was released in Spain by Los del Rio in 1993 to honor a Venezuelan flamenco dancer Diana Patricia Cubillán Herrera for her incredible performance during their visit. The Bayside Boys later gave it English lyrics, and in 1996, the Macarena became an American dance craze.

Merengue

Merengue is the music and dance of the Dominican Republic. “One story alleges the dance originated with slaves who were chained together and, of necessity, were forced to drag one leg as they cut sugar to the beat of drums.”

Moonwalk

The Moonwalk is often attributed to Michael Jackson, who popularized it during his performance of “Billie Jean” in 1983. However, it dates back to as far as 1932 when it was used by Cab Calloway, who called it “The Buzz”.

Nae Nae

The Nae Nae is a hip-hop dance move based on the character Sheneneh Jenkins from the Martin, a 1990’s sitcom. "Drop That NaeNae" was released by We Are Toonz in 2013 and rose in popularity throughout 2014.

Robot

The Robot dates back to miming in the 1920s but became popular in the 1960s. Often confused with popping, this illusory dance mimics a robot or mannequin.

Running Man

The Running Man, originally an African dance, emerged as a street dance fad in the mid 1980s, but rose to popularity in 1989 when Janet Jackson performed it in her video "Rhythm Nation".

Salsa

The term Salsa was coined in 1973 to market a number of Latin dances under one umbrella. The dance and music rose to popularity in the 70s thanks in large part to Fania Records. It has an amalgamation of roots from Cuba and Puerto Rico. There are many styles of dancing the Salsa basic, most notably Salsa on 1, NY Style on 2, and Casino Style.

Single Ladies

The song Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" was released in 2008 by Beyoncé on her third studio album, “I Am... Sasha Fierce”. It won three Grammy Awards in 2010, topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for four non-consecutive weeks, and its dance video continues to be widely imitated.

Tootsie Roll

"Tootsee Roll" was released in 1994 by rap group 69 Boyz on its platinum-selling debut album 199Quad. The dance has become a 90’s favorite, and is also often referred to as the Tootsie Roll.

Twist

The Twist became a worldwide dance crazy from 1959 to the early sixties and was inspired by rock and roll music. Original critics cited it as too provocative and controversial.

Vogue

Vogue, or voguing, is a dance that evolved in the 1960s out of the Harlem ballroom scene by African-American and Latino gay/trans people. It became a modern, stylized house dance in the late 1980s and gained mainstream exposure by Madonna with her release of her video “Vogue” in 1990.