As we all know, everything is in motion the whole time, and the modern world changes even faster because of improved communication systems and faster overall development. Also, trends are changing rapidly in every area of life. When we take a look at the fashion industry, one can notice how fast trends can go from top to flop. This phenonemon, one can also witness while looking at the evolution of the dance trends of the last hundred years. The appearance and disappearance of these trends give us information about the spirit of the time.

Dance style of the 1920s: The Charleston
The Charleston was originated in the black community in Carolina, USA. It has a lot of similarities to a lot of African folk dances because Africans, who have been enslaved, brought it from their home countries to the United States of America. At first, it lacked popularity, but when the musical “Runnin’ Wild” came out in 1923, where one could see a Charleston dance scene, it gained popularity and comes immediately to mind when thinking about the Golden Twenties.

The 1930s and the 1940s: The swing dance
Swing dance is considered one of the happiest dances in history because it is very energetic, and the dancers will probably have big smiles on their faces. This partner dance involves a lot of spinning, jumping, and flipping each other around. The upbeat music and the positive mood this dance style generates are very characteristic. “Swing dance” is a generic term that has many substyles, for instance, the boogie-woogie, the jive, or the jitterbug.

The 1950s and 1960s: rock and roll
The dance style of rock and roll is characteristic of the 1950s in the USA. It is a fuse between classical country music and the rhythm and blues. Formed by singers like Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, rock and roll achieved nationwide attention. It was also an emblem for a whole generation of teenagers who were rebelling against their parents when listening and dancing to this music. The partner dance also has some acrobatic movements in it, which makes it even more energetic.

The 1970s: Disco dancing:
The kind of dance that is probably most popular to this day is disco dancing. When the first discotheques opened up in Philadelphia in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and also on the radio, disco music got played. With the movie “Saturday Night Fever”, discos gained a lot of popularity. The movements that were performed in the disco were inspired by Latin dances like samba, cha cha, and tango.

The 1980s: The Moonwalk

This decade, Michael Jackson mesmerized a whole generation with his so-called moonwalk. With his songs “Smooth Criminal” and “Billie Jean” he conquered the music and dance world. The special technique of the moonwalk is created by an illusion in which the dancer leans forward but is actually gliding backwards. The foot positioning is also very special. The foot in the front is kept on the ground, and the back foot has the tip on the ground.

The 1990s:
The 1990s are known for a wave of creative expression and spiritual freedom. The industries of fashion and music were also changing during this decade. A very famous dance that influenced and imprinted on the 1990s was the Macarena dance. The Macarena hype still influences the current time, and almost everybody knows its movements. When you hear the first few sounds, your body starts to move almost on its own. The eponymous song Macarena was published in 1993 by the music group “Los del Río”.

The 2000s:
A very typical dance style that describes the 2000s is called krumping. Krumping is a kind of dance where the dancers often wear face paint and dance in a group in a very fast and aggressive way. The dancers pretend to fight with each other, but indeed, there is no physical contact between them. It first started to get attention through the movie “Rize” and became quite popular after that. Kruming is about self-expression, for example, feelings like anger.

The 2010s and later:
A component that influenced dancing trends probably more than anything else in the 2010s was the internet, and after the 2010s, there were smartphone applications like Instagram or TikTok that were setting trends and pushing different dance styles. In the age of modern media, everything is fast-paced, and trends disappear as fast as they appear.

Sources:
https://www.clistudios.com/dance-blog/dance-basics/most-popular-dances-of-each-decade/
https://www.rookieroad.com/dance/history/#:~:text=Dancing%20was%20invented%209%2C000%20years,spread%20to%20the%20new%20world.
https://walksofcharleston.com/blog/what-is-the-charleston-charleston-dance-history/#:~:text=It’s%20believed%20that%20the%20Charleston,brought%20it%20to%20South%20Carolina.
https://www.britannica.com/art/Charleston-dance
https://www.liveabout.com/what-is-swing-dance-1007192
https://crandall1950syoungculture.wordpress.com/rock-n-roll/
https://www.faszination-tanzen.de/rock-n-roll.html#:~:text=Der%20Rock’%20n’%20Roll%2D,T%C3%A4nze%20Jive%20und%20Boogie%2DWoogie.
http://www.dancefacts.net/dance-list/disco-dance/#:~:text=Early%20disco%20dance%20formed%20between,celebrated%20night%20club%20The%20Loft).
https://www.liveabout.com/disco-dance-basics-1007386#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20pioneers%20of,be%20better%20suited%20for%20choreography.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonwalk_(dance)#:~:text=Technique,-The%20moonwalk&text=An%20illusion%20is%20involved%20in,the%20tip%2Dtoe%20back%20foot.
https://www.yellowbrick.co/blog/music/unveiling-the-nostalgic-charm-of-1990s-pop-culture#:~:text=The%201990s%20was%20a%20decade,%2C%20innovation%2C%20and%20cultural%20shifts.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_del_R%C3%ADo
https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/music/story/macarena-pop-song-los-del-rio-turns-20-336063-2016-08-19
https://www.90s90s.de/90er-dance-moves
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/krumping
https://www.quora.com/What-is-krumping-and-how-did-it-originate