Went to a wedding this past weekend in Cincinnati (Queen City on The Ohio River -- nice little segue, no?) and I noticed a phenomenon I had never really thought about before -- what's the deal with the Electric Slide? Where do (or did) people learn that little rump-shaker? I never learned it. Best friend Nick (with whom I mocked all participants) doesn't know it. His girlfriend didn't even know it, and girls know every dance (of course, she IS a foreigner). But hella people did know it, and participated eagerly. Old folks, young folks, and so forth. There's no age gap there. It's not like just the old people knew it...many folks around my age did as well, and even some younger than me. So I must've missed that day in gym. Too bad I couldn't have missed the square-dancin' days too.
I mean, I get the Chicken Dance -- as Pheobe once said on Friends, "People acting like animals! I love it!" But the Electric Slide...
Even if it was once a popular song (which I'll admit it was -- I mean, "It's Electric! Woogie woogie woogie!" That's just priceless.), is the human need for a mass dance so powerful that we need to hold onto this crusty, played-out piece? I guess it is. Other cultures seem to have their traditional groups dances -- ever been to a Greek, Russian, Polish, or otherwise wedding? They're nuts for the gathering, the throwing up of hands, the cheering, and that sort of thing. It seems a shame that the American equivalent is the damned Electric Slide.
PS: I know I questioned where people learned it, but also linked to an intructional site. Maybe I should print it out, laminate it, and take it with me to my next wedding. But I won't.