Fad dances are dances which are characterized by a short burst of popularity, while Novelty dances typically have a longer-lasting popularity based on their being characteristically humourous or humour-invoking, as well as the sense of uniqueness which they have.

Fad dances

These are also called "dance crazes". Dancing style fads have always been a part of social dancing, sometimes gliding smoothly into tradition after their "newness" has faded, and sometimes simply fading away into oblivion. Dances such as the Waltz or the Charleston were once fads, that have become a part of dance tradition.

In modern times the rate in which new dances ("fads") are introduced seems to be much faster and more often. This is certainly spurred by modern communication improvements (printed media, radio, movies, television, internet).

During the 1960s and 1970s new dances appeared almost every week, often choreographed to popular songs ("Mashed Potato Time" by Dee Dee Sharp, "Freddy (Freddie)", the "Twist"). Their steps were often printed in dance magazines. Dance crazes have continued into the 1980s with "YMCA", and the 1990s with "Macarena". Contemporary sources for dance crazes include music videos and movies.

There are fad dances which are meant to be danced individually (solo), others are partner dances, and yet others are danced in groups. Some of them were of freestyle type, i.e., there were no particular step patterns and they were distinguished by the style of the dance movement (Twist, Shake, Swim, Pony, Hitchhike). Only some of them survived until now, sometimes only as the name of a step (Suzie Q, Shimmy) or of a style (Mashed Potato) in a recognized dance. Fad dances are in fashion at the time of their popularity. They are associated with a specific time period, and evoke a nostalgia when danced nowadays.

Novelty dances

Novelty dances might include quirky and unusual steps, or have an unusual name. Novelty dances may also have been fad dances which have remained popular over a longer period. It is not necessary that they ever were fashionably popular. These are also referred to as "party" or "dance party" dances. Novelty dances that have remained popular are no longer associated with a specific time period--they are timeless. Novelty dances are meant to be funny, and to evoke general mirth verging on silliness in participants.

List of novelty and fad dances

• Bunny Hop
• Bus Stop
• Carioca
• Chicken Dance
• Electric Slide
• Fly
• Freddy
• The Frug
• Hitch hike
• Hokey Pokey, also known as Hokey-cokey, Okey-cokey
• Hully Gully
• Jerk
• Lambada
• LetkaJenkka (also known as Letkajenka, Letkiss, Letka-Enka)
• Limbo
• Macarena
• Mashed Potato
• Madison
• Mexican Hat Dance
• Monkey
• Pony
• The Robocop
• Shake
• Shimmy
• The Smurf
• Swim
• The Steve Urkel Dance
• Suzie Q
• Time Warp
• Twist
• Watusi
• YMCA

See also

• Dance basic topics for a list of general dance topics.
• list of specific dances for a general, noncategorized index of dances

External links

• Streetswing.com (http://www.streetswing.com)'s Dance History Archives (http://www.streetswing.com/histmain.htm) hosts a large information base about more than thousand dances.