Yesterday I went to a performance of the play 'Bubblin Brown Sugar'.
Thoughts that occurred to me after attending a performance of the play 'Bubblin Brown Sugar' that showcased 1920s harlem[ New York, USA songs & dances such as "The Stoll" & "Ballin The Jack"

I'm not a dance historian, but it seems to me that
most social dances are a recycling of old dance steps.

In no specific order, here are the dances that immediately come to my mind from my pre-teen & teen years in the late 1950s-1960s:
The Twist
The Pony
The Stroll {a line dance; same as 1920s dance?}
The Jerk
The Mashed Potatos {though I could never really 'do' this dance]
The Cha Cha
The Football {actually late 1960s, early 1970s}

Then there was "The Grind". But, I hasten to say that since I was [and still am] a good 'girl', I really didn't do the grind [which was 'danced' by female/male couples basically standing in place REAL close together and sensuously rockin to the record's beat]

I also remember the names to the R&B line dances "The Hitch Hike" The Locamotion, and "The Madison" but can't remember dancing them.

I recall reading that there was a famous Harlem male dancer who was called 'Snake Hips' {in the 1920s?} I remember seeing 'The Snake' done in the 1960s, but didn't do it since I ws [am] too stiff. People are still doing The Snake today. It's performed by rotating your hips the same way as that core Caribbean soca movement "whine" {whining}[and Brazilian Samba?] is performed. But I also read that in the 18th/19th century and earlier the Snake dance was the same as the Conga processional dance...

When I was a teen I also remember doing a fast partner dance but it beats me what we called it [it wasn't called "jitterbug" or the jitterbug's contemporary name "swing"]. And I also can't remembered what we called 'acceptable' slow partner dances-maybe we just called it slow dancing..

In the 1960s, I also recall seeing [more than doing]the line dance called "The Electric Slide".' This dance is still performed the same way today. A girlfriend of mine refers to it as single Black women's national dance though men, and teens/children of both genders will also join in The Electric Slide line...But playing this record is guaranteed to get most single Black women of all ages out of their chairs and on to the dance floor. A performance of The Electric Slide is featured at the end of the movie "The Best Man" .

I'd be interested in reading what social dances you remember and if you think that some of those dances are based on older dance steps.

Ms. Azizi