church house, jailhouse
May. 26th, 2023 04:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sidewaysThe passing of Tina Turner is sad news, of course. It also sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole, as I consequently learned a) she is the singer behind Nutbush City Limits, the classic backing track to my childhood social life, and b) this song is apparently not associated with a goofy line dance anywhere but Australia!
A little fishing around suggests it originated in the 'Blue Light Discos' of the 80s, when the Queensland Police would fund and run dance parties as a way to keep the youth entertained and out of trouble. It became a cultural staple, with public schools baking it into the curriculum to Pavlovian effect - my generation learned it in phys. ed. classes and carried it forward to school dances, birthday parties, and weddings. I still distinctly remember being at a bowling night with the Girl Guides, hearing Nutbush come on over the speakers, and taking a timeout with the rest of the establishment to obligingly boogie.
We even hold a world record for it. Apparently there are plans to break it this year, in fond memory.
From there I ended up idly looking up the Macarena as that other Dorky Dance Everybody Knows, and accidentally stumbled into this enormously charming competition where swing dancers are paired up at random and have to throw together a short routine on the spot! The pair below absolutely nail it.
I also quite enjoyed this Mamma Mia pair (though it took the lead a while to come around!), and then had to look up the lady dancer from the first video when she's not improvising - she's just so stunningly fluid.
Gives me a bit of a wistful itch to try out dancing. I mean... the Nutbush is a starting place, right?
A little fishing around suggests it originated in the 'Blue Light Discos' of the 80s, when the Queensland Police would fund and run dance parties as a way to keep the youth entertained and out of trouble. It became a cultural staple, with public schools baking it into the curriculum to Pavlovian effect - my generation learned it in phys. ed. classes and carried it forward to school dances, birthday parties, and weddings. I still distinctly remember being at a bowling night with the Girl Guides, hearing Nutbush come on over the speakers, and taking a timeout with the rest of the establishment to obligingly boogie.
We even hold a world record for it. Apparently there are plans to break it this year, in fond memory.
From there I ended up idly looking up the Macarena as that other Dorky Dance Everybody Knows, and accidentally stumbled into this enormously charming competition where swing dancers are paired up at random and have to throw together a short routine on the spot! The pair below absolutely nail it.
I also quite enjoyed this Mamma Mia pair (though it took the lead a while to come around!), and then had to look up the lady dancer from the first video when she's not improvising - she's just so stunningly fluid.
Gives me a bit of a wistful itch to try out dancing. I mean... the Nutbush is a starting place, right?
