Overview of American Dance 1960s-1990s
Culture revolves around dance through movement, each telling their own unique stories. Dance is the center piece for many societys. “ Dance is defined as an art performed by individuals or groups of human beings, existing in time, space, force, and flow, in which the human body is the instrument, and movement is the medium” (Krause, 24)1. As many cultures differ from one another dance is one way universally they are able to communicate. Through their bodies they are able to speak to one another. Dance has been around a very long time. When you typically think of America you wouldn’t normally think of dance. You tend to think more Industrial revolution and technology, but if you look back through American history names such as Elvis Presley, Chubby Checker, and the Beatles have all contributed a great amount to give our country the name America. Dance is the blueprint for civilizations describing how they do things, their values, and beliefs. Dance had an enormous impact during America during the 1960’s through the 1990’s. Many different types of dance were being introduced during these times because of all of the quick fads people were going through. In the end dance has shaped the personality of American culture forever. Starting with the 1960’s America was going through the adolescent kids from the baby boomers. These kids tended to be very outgoing and were not afraid of new things going on around them. They were up for the new upcoming fads. This was a good thing because through the 60’s there were hundreds of new dances being introduced into America. Dance was on the up rise and brought a new light into people’s eyes. A popular artist by the name of Chubby Checker was a big hit during this decade. He introduced a lot of new music, but the biggest hit was his new version of the song called the “Twist”. It was a very simple dance and that’s what made it popular. Everyone could do it; it was as simple as placing one foot forward and twisting