Dance Styles Timeline

Dancing is the poetry of the foot. ~ John Dryden

True indeed! What is dancing but the soul's deepest expressions that seek an outlet via the limbs due to lack of appropriate words? From ballet dancing to bolero, from Foxtrot to flamenco to various forms of line dancing, each dance has a history of origin and evolution. The emergence of every dance style is stamped upon the decade in which it originated and most dance styles have evolved quite a lot since such origin, be it ballroom dance types or fad/novelty dances. Let us take a brief tour of dance styles timeline to sneak a peak into the era in which these dances evolved and were most popular. The following dance styles timeline will give us a quick glance into prominent, year by year, dance styles history of the decades of the 20th century and give us a bird's-eye glance of the popular types of dances and different dance styles that were popular during those decades.

Dance Styles of the 1910s 1910 Camel Walk, Argentine Tango, Black Bottom, Shim Sham, Open Tango, Credo Waltz, Kangaroo Dip 1911 Bunny Hug, Cubanola Glide, Gaby Glide, Horse Trot 1912 Castle Walk, Foxtrot, Irish Tango, Lame Duck Valse, Santley Tango, Whirlwind Waltz, Jazz Straight 1913 Chinese Ta Toa, Newman Tango, Pavlova Gavotte, Philadelphia Drag, Rumba, Ballin' the Jack, Innovation Waltz 1914 Castle Walk, Cinquante-Cinquante, Castle Foxtrot, Congo Tango, French Pericon, Lulu Fado, Papaltatsa Maxixe, Dengozo Maxixe 1915 Cincinnati Two Step, Peabody, Negro Drag, Walking The Dog 1916 Kathlyn Waltz 1917 Jazz Dance, Samba, The Toddle 1918 Shimmy, Valse Maurice, Tickle Toe 1919 Chicken Walk, Crapshooters Dance Styles of the 1920s 1920 Castilian Foxtrot, Cuban Son, Tango Valse, Arizona Hike, Bambouca 1921 Baltimore Buzz, Toddle, Talmadge Foxtrot 1922 Charleston 1923 Flea Hop, The Tucker Dance 1924 The Blues Trot, The Coodena, Indianola, Sonia Polish Dance, The Strut 1925 Collegiate Shag, The Princeton, Sloppy Sailor Walk, Snake Hips Dance 1926 Tragico Tango, Wildflower Waltz 1927 Kinkajou, Jitterbug, Novelette, Varsity Drag, Yale Blues 1928 & 1929 Silent Dance, Bojangles Dance Styles of the 1930s 1930 The Viper's Drag, Al Smith Hop, Hoosier Hop, Bubble Dance, Calypso, Carolina's Shag 1931 Shim Sham Shimmy, Saint Louis Shag, West Coast Swing, Siboney 1932 & 1933 Burlesque Fan Dance, Dixie Stomp, Roosevelt Hop, Carioca 1934, 1935 & 1936 Balboa, Piccolino, Champagne Waltz, Truckin, Big Apple, Suzy-Q 1937 La Bomba, Boomps-a-Daisy, Swing Waltz, Ritz Carlton, Peckin' 1938 & 1939 Cobra Tango, Lambeth Walk, Mambo, Floogee Walk, The Yam Dance Styles of the 1940s 1940 Black Bay Shuffle, Black Out Stroll, Pachuko Hop, Peek-a-Boo Dance 1941 & 1942 Jive, East Coast Swing, Harlem Shuffle, Jive 1943, 1944 & 1945 Thumbs Up, Cobra Dance, Wiggle Wobble 1947, 1948 & 1949 Swing Trot, Salsa Dancing, Ballroom Hula, Savoy Style Swing Dance Styles of the 1950s 1950 Bop or Be-Bop, La Bostella, Bristol Stomp, Rock and Roll, Lindy Hop 1952, 1953 & 1954 Cha Cha Cha, Tennessee Wig Walk, Champion Strut 1955 The Monkey, Mule Walk, The Stroll 1957, 1958 & 1959 Bossa Nova, Jamaican Calypso, Pachanga, The Bounce, The Dip Dance Styles of the 1960s 1960 Strollypso, Watusi, Locomotion, The Frug, The Jerk 1961-1968 Pilmore, The Mashed Potato, San Francisco Stomp, Grapevine Dance Styles of the '70s and '80s 1970s Texas Two Step, Hustle, Disco, Nightclub Two Step, Crip Walk, Hip Hop Dance, Punk Dancing 1980s Moonwalk, Disco Fox, Breakdancing, The Robot, The Worm, Slam Dancing, Electric Slide, Vogue, Roger Rabbit Dance Dance Styles from 1990s till Date 1990s The Macarena Dance (influenced by the Macarena song), Lambada, Casino Rueada, The Bartman, The Bump and Grind 2000s The One-Two Step, Krumping

Each decade injects a completely different influence to all dance styles evolved during those years. In tandem with the dance styles, the types of music to dance to also undergo radical evolution. For instance, the dance styles of the 1920s and '30s are more or less marked by simplicity and elegance with popularization of some Latin dances, which can be seen in the form of quite a few variants of the Tango dance, whereas dance styles in the '80s and '90s derive their influence from pop culture icons and street dancing. Lots of times, we can see strong exotic influences in some decades' dance styles. For instance, most Brazilian dance styles incorporate African rhythms and dancing influences, similar to American improvisation of many Latin dance styles. Indeed, it would not be far from truth to state that the dance styles of each decade reflect the overall feel of that time, which encompasses a collective influence of arts, economy, societal norms, popular culture, etc. peculiar to that decade. This fact is famously quoted by Kristy Nilsson as Dancing is the world's favorite metaphor.