Madison (dance)

The Madison is a novelty dance that was popular in the late 1950s to mid 1960s. The Madison was created and first danced in Columbus, Ohio in 1957. [ [http://www.columbusmusichistory.com/html/madison_1.html ColumbusMusicHistory.com] ]

The Madison is a line dance that features a regular back-and-forth pattern interspersed with called steps. Its popularity inspired dance teams and competitions, as well as various recordings, and today it is still sometimes performed as a nostalgic dance. The Madison is featured in the John Waters movie "Hairspray"; and it continues to be performed in the Broadway musical "Hairspray". Both the film and the musical feature one of many songs released during the Madison "craze" in the US.

An example of a 1960 song and album featuring music for the Madison is "The Tunetoppers at The Madison dance Party" with calls by Al Brown. [ [http://www.bsnpubs.com/bell/amy.html The Tunetoppers at The Madison dance Party] ]

The Madison took on international flavor when Count Basie visited Columbus, Ohio in 1959 and adopted the dance as a feature of his entertainment when he played London and the continent, creating press notices in London. [ [http://www.columbusmusichistory.com/html/madison_1.html ColumbusMusicHistory.com] ]

The Madison basic danced in the film "Hairspray" is as follows:

#Step left forward
#Place right beside left (no weight)and clap
#Step back on right
#Move left foot back and across the right
#Move left foot to the left
#Move left foot back and acoss the right

Called steps included the Double Cross, the Cleveland Box, The Basketball (with Wilt Chamberlain), the Big "M", the "T"” Time, the Jackie Gleason, the Birdland, and The Rifleman. "The Jackie Gleason" is based on a tap dance movement known as "Shuffle Off to Buffalo". [The Book of Tap. by Jerry Ames and Jim Siegelman. 1977. David McKay Company, Inc. ISBN 0-679-50615-2]

Time magazine noted the Madison in April of 1960. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869454,00.html]

Examples in Motion Pictures

* In a famous sequence in Jean-Luc Godard's 1964 film "Bande à part" ("Band of Outsiders"), the main characters engage in a dance, which is not named in the film, but which the actors called the 'Madison dance'. [Anna Karina, interview on the Criterion Collection edition of the film.] The music and choreography are, however, unrelated to the Madison.
* The dance is performed by a large group in the original (non-musical) version of John Waters' "Hairspray"
* In The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Brad (played by Barry Bostwick) calls out, "Say, do any of you guys know how to Madison?" after the Time Warp dance. [ [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Rocky_Horror_Picture_Show The Rocky Horror Picture Show at en.wikiquote.org] ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.columbusmusichistory.com/html/madison_1.html Columbus Music History] with definitive origin article
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6pOXjQLh7Y The Madison dance scene] from Godard's "Bande à part"
* [http://www.jitterbuzz.com/dance50.html Group Dances of the 1950s]

including description of the Madison