In retrospect, disco wasn't as bad as I thought it was at the time

[CanSocDem]

22. It got people back onto the dance floor...

...and to me that was a good thing. In the early sixties, you could still go to a nightclub and dance to swing and latin music. The rumba, cha cha and jiving not to mention the slow dance. It was such fun that I became a professional advocate with AMDS.

For the next few years while I clung to the classics in a world of hard rock, protest songs and cultural disruption, it became harder and harder to go out dancing. I had almost given up hope when along came this weird dance craze called the Hustle. First thing you know all these 'nightclubbers' were back on the floor doing 'line dances'.

The music was predictable enough that people could move their bodies with abandon and creativity which was a huge jump from the stoned weaving and swaying that characterized the dancefloors of the day. It had rhythm and tempo and enough layers to thrill an old school hoofer like me. When Saturday Night Fever came out the dancing was more like eye candy than a blueprint but the music endures even though my disco moves of the 70's have regressed to the aforementioned "stoned weaving".

I think we can thank disco for the current interest in competitive celebrity ballroom dancing that is making TV networks rich and shy, clunky celeb's less so.

Personally, learning to dance was the best education I ever received.




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