Top 10 Dances Based on Songs

Dance portion starts at 8:30

10. Thriller

The Thriller Dance is very well known to most fans of Michael Jackson or anyone who came of age musically in the 80's. This dance involves shoulder pops, quick head turns, and quickly moving claw hands. This is by far the most difficult of the list to perform.  The original and a how-to are included.

9. The Cha Cha Slide

This song, originally by Chicago performer DJ Casper, is a standard call-and-respond style dance where the dance moves are what the singer tells you to do. It is popular at weddings, high school and junior high school dances, bar and bat mitzvahs, dance parties, and funerals. Kidding about the last one.

8. Time Warp

The Time Warp is a dance popularized by the movie Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Much of the song is given over to the dance moves, which is where the dance originates.

7. The Hustle

The Hustle is associated with an instrumental song by Van McCoy of the same name, with the only lyrics to the song being "Do the hustle!" It is the second most difficult dance on this list to do, after the Thriller Dance.

6. Chicken Dance

Originally name the Duck Dance in German, it became known as the chicken dance in America.  It is often danced to live polka or a recorded version called "The Birdie Song" by the Tweets. 

5. The Hokey Pokey

Known alternatively as the Cokey Cokey, they Hokey Cokey, and Hokey Tokey, this dance is a very basic response dance where the dancers listen to the lyrics and perform the dance moves. Also, this song is apparently "what it's all about."

4. Electric Slide

This dance, often performed with the song Electric Boogie by Marcia Griffiths, is a basic "four wall" line dance, and in fact the moves have become synonymous with line dancing in general.  It has been the subject of numerous copyright claims.

3. The Twist

While the dance predates his song, the dance is intimately connected with the work of Chubby Checker.  His song "The Twist" is the only song to reach number one two separate times, in 1960 and 1962.  The song marked a shift towards adult acceptance of rock and roll music and its associated dances.  Checker recorded different versions and spinoffs, including the popular "Let's Twist Again."

2. The YMCA

This song was originally performed by the Village People in the 1970s. For being a group of gay men, the original music video was surprisingly poorly choreographed. It did not even include the now iconic Y-M-C-A arm movements. However, over the years this dance has become a staple for large groups, primarily due to its ease of dance. In 2009 it was entered in the Guinness Book of World Records for most people dancing simultaneously.

1. Macarena

The song by Los Del Rio (with an English Remix by the Bayside Boys) reached astronomical success in the United States and around the world. The lyrics to the chorus are in Spanish. They are "Dale a tu cuerpo alegria Macarena/ Que tu cuerpo es pa' darle alegria y cosa buena/ Dale a tu cuerpo alegria, Macarena/ Heeeeey Macarena!" Translated into English they say "Give your body some joy, Macarena/ 'cause your body is for giving joy and good things/ Give your body some joy, Macarena/ Heeeeey Macarena!"

Think I missed one?   Feel free to comment!

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Comments 1 comment

jacksonlaurenm15 4 years ago

These are so great!:) For my wedding, I had a studio choreograph a dance for my bridesmaids and me to surprise my family (I live in Mesa AZ if you want to know more about the site I'll post a link:)) and it was a blast! We all learned thriller and freaked everyone out there! They all loved it though so no worries:)


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