dance classics

By now if you probably know what the Cha Cha Slide is. I did it tonight at the conclusion of a grade school talent show. If you don't then you don't get out enough. First created in 1996 it slowly became one of those songs that will get people to dance because it's hard to mess it up. There is a long tradition of these songs, and they definitely serve a purpose. Some of them will ignite even the most hardened wallflower to move at a school dance, party, or wedding reception. The mother of these is the Hokey Pokey which originated in the 40s. Even when I was a kid it seemed quaint but everybody did it at skating parties and weddings. It was just assumed and if you tried to get away you were shamed into doing it. The 50s brought us the Chicken Dance and the 70s A Fifth of Beethoven and The Hustle. In the 90s possibly the most popular of them all arrived in the Macarena, not to mention Achy Breaky Heart. Now we have the Cha Cha Slide. I'm sure there are others I'm missing, or that just haven't made it to the heartland yet.
Again, these songs are easily dismissed by some but they really are great in the sense they get people to dance together, which seems to happen less and less in the US.