The Evolution of Social Dancing

After a recent newsfeed update on Facebook, I have been wondering about just how much social dance has evolved and changed through the years. I've been really thinking about just how different social dance is now compared to how it was even in our parent's or our grandparent's generation.

It all started on Sunday night, when the newsfeed on my Facebook blew up with pictures from the weekend college parties. The pictures ranged from group shots, to posed shots, to shots taken during the night. Some of the action shots showed the dancing that took place at these parties. I don't think I need to describe the dancing, but I will say that a lot of today's dancing consists largely of grinding. This is not just in the college setting either. School dances in both middle school and high school consist of grinding and full contact dancing. It's gotten to the point where my teachers in high school, and family members with younger children are left speechless at the things they see and hear about when they are told about how people dance these days.

When my grandparents were young, swing was the thing. They loved to swing dance. The energy and the movement made it fun for them. The different steps and variations always kept it interesting. It was mostly partner-dancing, holding on to one another to dance with and maintaining a frame. However, they could also dance alone if, for some reason, they weren't able to find a partner. There was also slow dancing, mostly using the box step, for the more romantic moments. It's funny, because during the '50s, some variations to swing dancing, especially dancing influenced by Rock 'n' Roll, were considered rebellious.

During my parents' teenage years, dance was more freestyle-based. The beat and the rhythm influenced the movements. Partner dancing didn't necessarily mean you had to hold on to your partner. My mom told me she frequently danced with a group of friends, or if she had someone to dance with, she would dance facing him but they didn't often hold onto each other, especially if the beat was faster. Slower songs brought about slow dancing which consisted holding on to someone while dancing in a circle. How someone danced depended on the beat of the music.

Through my years of middle and high school, I did all kinds of social dancing. One of my best friends knows how to swing dance, so he frequently took me out on the floor to swing dance no matter what kind of song was playing. I remember dancing to "Time of My Life" with another friend of mine, to imitate Johnny and Baby from Dirty Dancing (though we only did the step where when I stepped back, my friend stepped forward and vice versa). I also was one of the first to jump onto the floor when the electric slide, the Cotton-Eyed Joe, YMCA, or any other popular group dance came on the stereo. I slow danced at times. I danced with friends. I also danced alone. I guess I was a mix of both my parents and my grandparents.

Then there's today, where dancing consists of grinding, or jumping around, or moving your hips from side to side while lowering your body to the floor, or simply holding on to someone's neck to dance in a circle with. It's not such much about foot movement, or much movement at all. Movement of the hips is emphasized, and the rest of the body follows. Modern social dance is quite different from the dance days of the waltz, swing dancing, and even dances of the 80s.

My question is, why do you think today's dancing has become so sexualized? Or if you don't think that, how would you describe modern social dancing? What do you think has influenced such a dramatic change in social dance within the last 60 years? What has strong influence over how we dance today?

I don't think this post is very offensive or upsetting, but just in case, I'm sorry if I offend or upset anyone. That was not my intention. The thought has been in my head for a while so I wanted to see what everyone else had to say about the subject.