Friday, March 7, 2014

The Butterfly & The Cabbage Patch Dances In Children's Cheerleader Cheers

Edited by Azizi Powell

latest Update: May 19, 2022

This pancocojams post showcases the late 1980s and early 1990s Dancehall Reggae originated dance "The Butterfly" which was adopted as a Hip Hop dance. This post also showcases the Hip Hop dance "The Cabbage Patch" that was also from that same time period.

Information and instructional videos of those two dances and seven examples of children's cheers that refer to one or both of these dances are also included in this post.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/03/videos-of-pepsi-cola-cheer-slide-slide.html for the related pancocojams post "Videos Of "Pepsi Cola Cheer" (Slide & Slide And Do The Butterfly)".

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, recreational, and aesthetic purposes.

Thanks to the unknown creators of these dances. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and all those who are quoted in this post, including the contributors of these cheer examples. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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INFORMATION & INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO ABOUT THE BUTTERFY (DANCEHALL REGGAE/HIP-HOP DANCE)
"The Butterfly" is a Dancehall Reggae dance from the late 1980s which was quickly appropriated by American (USA) Hip-Hop dancers. I believe that the earliest recorded song that mentions this dance is Macka B's "Do The Mutterfly" (1986)

Here's an excerpt of the lyrics for that song:
...Do the butterfly
Straight from Jamaica
Dem a do the butterfly.
Fly fly
Do the butterfly...

Yeah, everybody’s doin it
dance come alive
Let me tell you it’s good exercise
But some timin must be applied
Strong legs and the hip on your side
Feet together den take them wide
Move your foot from side to side
Flap your hands just like a butterfly
Whine your waist inside outside
Let the Reggae music be your guide...
-snip-
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macka_B for information about this British/Jamaican rapper. Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/02/do-butterfly-macka-b-lyrics.html for a pancocojams post that includes a video of this song and my transcription of the song's lyrics.

Note that there are "Butterfly" dances in other dance genres.

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How to Do the Butterfly | Hip-Hop Dancing



Howcast, Published on Sep 25, 2012
Watch more How to Do Hip-Hop Dance Moves videos: http://www.howcast.com/videos/505209-...

Learn how to do the Butterfly from professional dancer Charlene "Chi-Chi" Smith in this Howcast dance video.

We're taking you back to the island, island breeze, island everything. We're going to show you how to do the Butterfly. Not the swim technique, but the dance, okay?

You're going to start with your feet a little bit wider than your shoulders. You're going to bend your knees, because the motion of the Butterfly, your knees go in, and then they come out. They go in, and then they come out. In, out, in, out.

Now, there's always a waist involved, when it comes to reggae. So, especially since the Butterfly was always done nice and slow, you want to try to wind your waist, which is just taking it in a circle. I'm going to go clockwise, it's the way I like. So, you have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

You can use your arms, if you want. You can hold them up. You can do one leg, same motion, or keep it to two. And the Butterfly used to move.

Let's try some music.
-snip-
Other YouTube instructional videos for the Butterfly may slightly differ from this video.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE CABBAGE PATCH (HIP-HOP DANCE)
From http://www.niallkennedy.com/blog/archives/2005/04/whats_your_happ.html [Sorry. This website is no longer viable.]
"The cabbage patch dance was introduced to the world courtesy of Gucci Crew II in 1987 but popularized by the San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice in the 1990s. The cabbage patch dance is so simple; all you need to do is stretch out your arms, put your hands together, and move them around a bit on a horizontal plane. It is especially funny when combined with the Roger Rabbit leg motions".
-snip-
"Roger Rabbit" is the star of the 1988 animated American movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pua9UszdO24 for an instructional video on "The Roger Rabbit" Hip Hop dance

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How to Do the Cabbage Patch | Hip-Hop Dancing



Howcast Published on Sep 24, 2012

Watch more How to Do Hip-Hop Dance Moves videos: http://www.howcast.com/videos/505208-...

Learn how to do the Cabbage Patch from professional dancer Charlene "Chi-Chi" Smith in this Howcast dance video.

We're going to take you to the Cabbage Patch. Not the dolls, but the dance.

We got Tech here. He is going to demonstrate the Cabbage Patch for us. Let's start with the arms. Tech moves his arms in a clockwise motion. Whichever way is easiest for you, counterclockwise or clockwise. You choose.

We're going to start. One, two, three, four. Just circular motions. Five, six, seven, eight. Yes, counterclockwise, that's what I meant. Let's try that again. Six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Those are the arms.

The legs lean with the arms. So let's just do the body without the arms. If you're going counterclockwise, like Tech, you're going to start your lean in the direction where your arms are going to start, which would be on the right side. Let's try slowly with the lean, six, seven, just the lean. You go one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, with a tiny little step. Two, three, four, five, six, let's add the arms. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. That's the Cabbage Patch. That's the Cabbage Patch. In a circle. In a circle.

Let's get some music going. He's ready to party.

Cabbage Patch, y'all.

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FEATURED TEXT EXAMPLES OF CHILDREN'S CHEERS THAT MENTION "THE BUTTERFLY" AND/OR "THE CABBAGE PATCH" DANCES
Note: Many examples of the "Pepsi Cola" children's cheer include a reference to "The Butterfly" (The Dancehall Reggae/Hip-Hop Dance).

cocojams.com is the name of my cultural website that was active from 2001 to Nov. 2014. Many of the examples that were posted on that website's children's rhymes and cheers pages were submitted by children, pre-teens, and teens on that website's easy to use examples submitted page. People submitting examples only needed their first name, the date the example was submitted. People were also encouraged to include a city/state and other demographic information such as age and race/ethnicity, although none of that information was usually included.  No email address was needed to use that cocojams page which I believe greatly contributed to the use of that page.

Some of the rhymes and cheers that were featured on cocojams.com are included in various pancocojams pages and/or on various cocojams2 ( http://cocojams2.blogspot.com/ ) pages. 

Example #1:
hening is our name
and football is our game
so hold the sugar
do the freddie cougar
and step on back and do the cabage patch
-talor and leelee; cocojams.com children's cheerleader cheers , September 24, 2006
-snip-
"Hening" is probably the name of the school these girls attended.

"Freddy Cougar" is a folk etymology form of "Freddy Krueger", a fictional character in the popular 1984 American horror movie Nightmare On Elm Street. If I recall correctly, the "Freddy Krueger" Hip-Hop dance imitated that character's arm slashing and stiff walking stalking movements. Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddy_Krueger.
Also, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP3C0UaD9eI "Tha 4 Horsemen Krump Freddy Kruger Hip Hop Beat" for a video of a Hip-Hop dancer doing some "Freddy Krueger" moves.

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Example #2:
heres a cheer for you

hey yall up in them stands
let me see you clap your hand ( 1 1 1 1 1)
now that you got that beat
let me see you stamp your feet ( 1 1 1 1 1)
now that you got that groove
let me see your body move (cabbage patch)
-brittany b;  cocojams.com children's cheerleader cheers , February 28, 2007
-snip-
I believe that the letters in parenthesis indicate the number of times you clap your hands and stamped your feet. Also, I believe that the dance name in parenthesis means that you do that dance, and not that you say that dance's name.)

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Example #3:
hear is a cheer i used to do when I was little:

bang bang choo choo train come
on girls lets do our thang,
i can't why not,
I can't why not,
Because my back is achin and my bra is too tight
my bootie shakin from the left to the right left
right left right. I kick so high I do the butterfly,
I squat down low and do the rodeo,
I step right back and do the cabbage patch,
I stop I drop and do the bootie pop,
boys can't do it
they really want 2 touch my bootie,
they really want 2 spin me around,
they really want 2 criss cross me down,
they really want want 2 swim through my ocean,
hey really want to oosh my body baby
oosh my body ossh ossh ossh.
-Whitney ;  cocojams.com children's cheerleader cheers,April 29, 2007
-snip-
"Bang Bang Choo Choo Train is (or was?) a VERY popular children's taunting hand clap rhyme that is also performed in various ways as a children's cheerleader cheer. [This note also included a link to the no longer active cocojams children's school yard taunting rhyme page.]

The "Bootie (Booty) Pop" (also known as "the Bootie Bounce") is a 1990s butt shaking Hip Hop dance.

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Example #4:
butterfly i learnd it from hannah Montana

"i move i slide i do the butterfly
i dance i twist
i shake my little hips
and i want you and you to cheer it with me to"
-kelsey ;  cocojams.com children's cheerleader cheers , July 7, 2007
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Montana
Hannah Montana, also known as Hannah Montana Forever for the fourth season, is an American musical comedy series created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien which focused on Miley Stewart (portrayed by Miley Cyrus), a teenager living a double life as an average schoolgirl by day and a famous recording artist Hannah Montana by night. It follows the day-to-day life of Miley"...The series, produced by It's a Laugh Productions and Michael Poryes Productions, premiered on Disney Channel on March 24, 2006 and concluded on January 16, 2011 after airing four seasons and ninety-eight episodes"...

I believe that the "I move I slide" cheer pre-dates* its inclusion on the Hannah Montana show. However, the fact that it was chanted on that show probably undoubtedly greatly contributed to that cheer's popularity.

*This is a presumption on my part. I don't know when this cheer was first chanted.

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Example #5
when i was growing up we said

i like to kick up high
and do the dirty wine
i like to get down low
and do the rolley pole
i like to step right back
and do the cabbet pack
i like to stop drop pop pop pop
shake shake shake viiiiiibrate
my momma short and fine
got a butt like mine
and when she cross the street
then cars go beep beep beep beep
-nana ;  cocojams.com children's cheerleader cheers , November 3, 2007
-snip-
The phrase "the "dirty wine" in this example probably comes from the Jamaican dance "the Dutty Wine". Interestingly enough, "dutty" means "dirty" (as in "nasty"; "sexually provocative" in Jamaican patois.

"The rolley pole" is probably the dance "the roly poly". Notice that that this reference to "the roly poly" pre-dates the popular 2014 Soca song “Rolly Polly by Mr Killa.* I don't remember how the "Roly Poly" dance was done (if I ever knew.) But it probably was a "hip and butt shaking" (wining) dance similar to or the same as how the 2014 "Rolly Polly" dance is performed.

"The cabbet pack" mentioned in this cheer is "The Cabbage Patch" dance.

*Warning: Videos of these Caribbean dances are rather risque.)

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Example #6:
My momma's short and fine,
she gotta butt like mine.
And when she crossed the street,
all the cars go beep beep beep.
She likes to kick up high,
and do the butterfly.
She likes to get down low,
and do the rodeo.
She likes to slide and slide
and do the butterfly.
And dip and dip
and shake my little hips
and i want you and you
to do it with me too. Whoo!
-Ally ; cocojams.com children's cheerleader cheer , November 16, 2008
-snip-
The Rodeo" was a Hip Hop dance in which the dancers did rhythmical skipping like movements in a (individual) circle while pretending to twirl a lasso.

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Example #7:
Rock the boat. Don't tip it over.
Rock the boat. Don't tip it over.
Hey, ______. "
Hey what?"
Hey, ______. "
Hey what?"
D'you wanna rock the boat? "
No way."
D'you wanna rock the boat?!
"Ok."
She slides. She slides.
She does the buttafly
She turns around, touchs the ground
And wiggles it just a little bit*
Rock the boat dont tip it over
rock the boat dont tip it over
-Aria StyPayHorLikSon, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9QuTsAtQPY [comment], 2010
[reformatted for this post]
-snip-
*Instead of the line "And wiggles it just a little bit", in the 1990s (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) I heard this line “she gets back up and breaks it down” [“Breaks it down” meaning dances really good, does her best dance moves]. That line fits the cheer better because it rhymes.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-hues-corporation-rock-boat-video.html for a pancocojams post on The Hues Corporation's record "Rock The Boat" that includes examples of children's rhymes with that "rock the boat/don't tip it over" lines.

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