I try to remember that history (dance or otherwise) didn't actually stop sometime before I was born, so today I'm flashing back to 1978 and the era of disco line dances and, happily, a flood of disco dance manuals. I still find disco music very danceable, so ever so often I play around with reconstructing a few line dances to use as warmups or cool-downs at my own dance practices.
Here's a simple one: Hot Chocolate. It's only sixteen beats long, which is a very short repeat for a line dance. This may not be the easiest line dance ever, but it's got to be high on the list! The dance might have been inspired by the group of the same name, probably best known for the mid-'70s hit song "You Sexy Thing." The source is Let's Disco, no author given, published in 1978 by K-tel International, Inc.
During the dance the arms swing gently back and forth, front arm's elbow bent, forward and slightly in front of the torso. While the instructions are illustrated with photos, the rhythm of the arm movements is not consistent – sometimes it's the same arm in front as the moving foot, sometimes the opposite. Sometimes they change on every beat, sometimes they hold for several. It's hard to tell if this is intentional or not, but I'm giving the arm positions as illustrated in case anyone wants to be extra-obsessive about this dance.
Hot Chocolate (16 beats)
1-2-3-4
Grapevine right and point (step side R, cross L front, side R, point L forward)
Arms: swing forward L, R, L, R
5-6-7-8
Grapevine left and point (step side L, cross R front, side L, point R forward)
Arms: swing forward L, R and then hold the R arm forward for two more counts
9-10-11-12
Back up and point (back R, back L, back R, point L fwd)
Arms: hold R forward from previous step for one beat then swing forward L, R, L
13-14-15-16
Rock and turn (shift weight forward L, back R, forward L; raise R leg, keeping foot next to calf, and pivot on L foot one quarter counter-clockwise)
Arms: hold L forward from previous step for three beats then raise R arm to match leg on the turn
Repeat as many times as needed for the music, making a quarter turn at the end of each repetition.
(Update, 2/4/09: This dance is the same as the dance "Bonaparte's Retreat," described in my post here.)
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