As much as I hate to admit it, I am not a very good dancer. That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy dancing, just that when I dance it’s usually in my living room with only my dogs to witness the embarrassing spectacle. As hard as I try, I have absolutely no rhythm.
Fortunately, I don’t think that talent is really a necessity in my case — just having fun is enough for me. However, the talented dancers in this video show us what real talent and hard work can do. With expert skill, they show off the high-energy boogie-woogie dance style.
In case you’re like me and had no idea that boogie-woogie was even a dance style, Our Pastimes explains the history of this particular dance:
“Boogie dance, or boogie-woogie, is a form of swing dancing. It is called boogie-woogie in Europe, but this dance is more commonly known as East Coast swing in the United States. It’s most often seen now in dance competitions, which are run by the World Rock ‘n’ Roll Confederation.”
Boogie-woogie is a later evolution of swing dancing, which began in the 1920’s.
“Swing dance dates back to the 1920s when the [African American] community began dancing the lindy hop and Charleston to jazz music. When the Savoy Ballroom opened in New York in 1926, it became the swing center of the world. In the 1930s, a new style called the jitterbug was introduced, followed in the 1950s by the boogie-woogie, or East Coast swing.”
Boogie-woogie was originally called “barrelhouse” dancing and was usually danced to the rock’n’roll music of the time. However, because “Rock’n’Roll” was already a type of dance featured at dance competitions, dancers had to come up with an original name for this unique style. They adopted the name “boogie-woogie” because of the boogie-woogie piano music that accompanied it. Today, boogie dance is often performed with rockabilly music that was originally performed by artists like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis.
The couples in this video show us, with their lively footwork and exciting performance, that the art of boogie-woogie dancing is alive and well. They show off their energy and athleticism in a routine that must have taken hours of hard work and practice to master but looks easy when they perform for the crowd. Not only are the moves incredibly challenging, but both couples are perfectly in sync with each other and the music.
Watch the video below to see the impressive performance for yourself!
