Image by State Library of New South Wales collection via Flickr
Dancing with yourself. What’s fun about that?
I never got the dances of the 60′s. You know, the ones where you don’t touch your partner. For me, dancing was all about holding your partner close and feeling her head on your chest. Even with the fast dances you held hands and swung her into your arms from time to time. These new dances were different. You never touched. You hardly even acknowledged that you have a partner. It made no sense. But it was all the rage.
That wasn’t the only problem with those dances, however. Another problem with the Twist was that it involved parts of my body that I didn’t know how to operate in tandem. Besides looking like a fool, keeping all those parts of my body in operation at the same time was beyond my abilities. It was all I could do to keep my hips moving. Forget about swaying from side to side and doing knee bends at the same time. I opted out. Dancing in the 60′s was a spectator sport for me.
The music was fine. Pleasant, perky tunes with a simple beat. Slow, fast, it was all good.
There was even a slow version which, alas didn’t involve touching either.
White kids didn’t mind if the performers were black. It was a foretaste of a colorblind future we still seek today. If it was good music that’s all that mattered. I still like the Twist and the other no-touch dance music of the 60′s even if I never learned to dance them. Reminds me about how hard it is to keep your head straight in your 20′s. How about you?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Ralph….That was so cool. The Twist was such a big dance craze because it was easy to learn and anybody (except you) could learn to do it. No stepping on a partners toes with the slower stuff you preferred. Guess that’s why they did “Slow Twistin”.
Trivia question: Who originally wrote and recorded The Twist? No fair Wikipedia-ing.
Hansi’s last Blog Post ..Wrestling at the Olympic
[Reply]
Ralph Reply:
February 17th, 2011 at 8:16 am
Hansi,
Perhaps what you say is true that the Twist was easy to learn. All I know is that I felt very foolish and uncoordinated and found that I could tap my toes from the sidelines and feel perfectly involved.
I have no idea who wrote and recorded the Twist. Just like I can never remember who originally wrote and recorded Blue Suede Shoes. But I am sure you will be happy to tell me.
[Reply]
Hansi Reply:
February 17th, 2011 at 10:20 am
Hank Ballard (and the Midnighters)originally recorded the Twist. Carl Perkins, not Elvis, first recorded Blue Suede Shoes. Can file that in useless information folder.
Hansi’s last Blog Post ..Wrestling at the Olympic
[Reply]
I shall be doing a minor version of the twist tonight Ralph. It’s a dynamic stretching exercise runners do before speed work.
I agree with you about dancing apart. The worst experience is when you ask someone to dance and they spend the whole time looking somewhere else, never giving you eye contact. You might as well sit down for all they know.
I always used to hang around until the end of the disco. Then you usually got 2 or 3 smoochers when you could get some serious body contact.
John
Ex wallflower in Leamington Spa, England
John McNally@Blogging for Pleasure and Profit’s last Blog Post ..Google & Alexa TRAFFIC Update
[Reply]
Ralph Reply:
February 17th, 2011 at 8:45 am
John,
So the twist still has value today. Good to hear. The 60′s were crazy in more ways than one.
[Reply]
I managed to avoid most of the problem of learning all the dances of the 60′s…I was the DJ who played the songs. So, I didn’t have to know the Pony, or the Wah-Watusi, The Freddy, or the Fish, etc, etc, etc. All I had to do was grab the right 45.
I never really mastered the Hula Hoop either. No matter how hard I tried the darn thing immediately slipped to the ground. No hips, no coordination.
Bob
Satisfyingretirement’s last Blog Post ..Eat Your Vegetables
[Reply]
Ralph Reply:
February 17th, 2011 at 10:04 am
Bob.
I could tell you were a cool guy. The guy playing the records was always cool. Who know if he could dance?
[Reply]
Like John, I was only interested in getting a grip when the smooching started at the end of the evening.
Dancing non-contact was just a waste of drinking time to me. The time was also spent weighing up ‘what was on offer’ that particular night.
Bill
Ashton-under-Lyne, UK
Bill Murney’s last Blog Post ..The Human Camera
[Reply]
Ralph Reply:
February 17th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Bill,
I’m feeling better about this all the time. So far only Hansi likes to dance the Twist!
[Reply]
I’m not much of a dancer, two very left feet!
Steve Skinner’s last Blog Post ..Is It A Sign
[Reply]
Ralph Reply:
February 17th, 2011 at 6:03 pm
Steve,
I don’t think it matters with the Twist so long as the rest of you can move.
[Reply]