Novelty and fad dances aredances which are typically characterized by a short burst of popularity. Some of them, like theTwist,Y.M.C.A. and theHokey Pokey, have shown much longer-lasting lives. They are also calleddance fads ordance crazes.
As the pop music market exploded in the late 1950s, dance fads were commercialized and exploited. From the 1950s to the 1970s, new dance fads appeared almost every week. Many were popularized (or commercialized) versions of new styles or steps created by African-American dancers who frequented the clubs and discothèques in major U.S. cities like New York, Philadelphia and Detroit. Among these were theMadison, "The Swim", the "Mashed Potato", "The Twist", "The Frug" (pronounced/frʊɡ/), "The Watusi", "The Shake" and "The Hitch hike". Many 1950s and 1960s dance crazes had animal names, including "The Chicken" (not to be confused with theChicken Dance), "The Pony" and "The Dog".
In 1965, Latin groupCannibal and the Headhunters had a hit with the 1962Chris Kenner song "Land of a Thousand Dances" which included the names of such dances. One list of Fad Dances compiled in 1971 named over ninety dances.[1] Standardized versions ofdance moves were published in dance and teen magazines, oftenchoreographed to popular songs. Songs such as "The Loco-Motion" were specifically written with the intention of creating a new dance and many more pop hits, such as "Mashed Potato Time" byDee Dee Sharp, were written to cash in recent successful novelties.
There are fad dances which are meant to be danced individually assolo, others arepartner dances, and yet others are danced in groups. Some of them were offreestyle type, i.e., there were no particular step patterns and they were distinguished by the style of the dance movement (Twist, Shake, Swim, Pony, Hitch hike). Only some have remained to the modern day-era, 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 come to be associated with a specific time period, and can evoke particular forms of nostalgia when revived.[3]
^Encyclopedia of Social Dance. Albert and Josephine Butler. 1971 & 1975. Albert Butler Ballroom Dance Service. New York, NY. Table of Contents in 1971 edition.
