Ray Anthony, Feb 3, 2014
-snip- Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7rQVQNReAE&t=28s&ab_channel=MusicMaker1979 for another 1950s film clip of this dance that is entitled "Alice Lon, The Lennon Sisters and The Bunny Hop".
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Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest Update: April 4, 2023 This pancocojams post showcases a 1953 film clip of Ray Anthony and his orchestra performing his song "The Bunny Hop". That film clip shows men and women performing the now iconic Bunny Hop dance. The Conga Line roots of Ray Anthony's "The Bunny Hop" is evident based on the song's lyrics and the way it is danced.
This post also shows a video of Trinidadian vocalist Colin Lucas singing "Soca Congaline". That video shows Lucas and others forming a line to do the Conga.
The Addendum to this post showcases a video of a family doing the bunny hop during a young child's birthday party. The Addendum also showcases a contemporary African American line dance that is called "The Bunny Hop". The performance style of that line dance is significantly different from the performances of the other two showcased examples is also shown
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and entertainment purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to Ray Anthony, and all those who are featured in these videos. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONGA LINE DANCE From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conga_line
"The conga line is a novelty line dance that was derived from the Cuban carnival dance of the same name and became popular in the US in the 1930s and 1950s. The dancers form a long, processing line, which would usually turn into a circle. It has three shuffle steps on the beat, followed by a kick that is slightly ahead of the fourth beat. The conga, a term sometimes mistakenly believed to be derived from the African region of Congo, is both a lyrical and danceable genre, rooted in the music of carnival troupes or comparsas.[1]
Origin
The conga dance was believed to have been brought over from
Africa by enslaved people in the West Indies,[2] and became a popular street
dance in Cuba. The style was appropriated by politicians during the early years
of republic in an attempt to appeal to the masses before election. During the
Machado dictatorship in Cuba, Havana citizens were forbidden to dance the
conga, because rival groups would work themselves to high excitement and
explode into street fighting. When Fulgencio "El Checho" Batista
became president in the 1940s, he permitted people to dance congas during
elections, but a police permit was required.[3]
Description
The conga dance style is more of a march, which is
characterized by its distinctive conga drum rhythm. It differs from the Cuban
rumba, which uses more hip movements and shows the sensually aggressive
attitude of each dancer. Conga music is played with a staccato beat as its
base, which gives rhythm to the movements of the dancers. Conga dancers lift their
legs in time with the rhythm of the music, marking each beat with the strong
motion of their body.
The basic dance steps start from left leg 1-2-3 kick then repeat, opposite. Originally, a band member wearing a drum would venture onto the dance floor and begin zig-zagging around while drumming out the rhythm. Dancers would start joining up behind the drummer, forming a line that moved like a slithering snake in an open circle. The line (or the circular chain) would grow longer and the drumming more intense until it finally stopped. The dance has two styles, which is a single line form and partners. The single line is more popular in Cuba.[2]
Western popularity
Beginning in the late 1930s and booming in the 1940s, it became wildly popular in the US, due in no small measure to Hollywood's "Latin" musicals. RKO Pictures' offerings were particularly influential, notably Too Many Girls (1940), in which Desi Arnaz appeared as a conga-playing Argentine student.[1] Spanish-Catalan bandleader Xavier Cugat, who gave Arnaz his musical start, helped to popularize the dance, but the biggest impact belonged to Arnaz himself.[1] It is prominently featured in the 1941 Deanna Durbin film, It Started With Eve, in which Durbin and Charles Laughton dance it together in a nightclub.
With its simple march step, the interlinking of dancers circling about in single file, and one-two-three-bump rhythm with the fourth beat strongly marked, the dance was not only attractive but also readily accessible to US and other foreign audiences. The dance started to gain a foothold in the US around 1929, when the original La Conga nightclub opened its doors in Manhattan. It is believed that the La Conga was at Broadway and 51st Street.[2] By 1937, the conga was well known in New York.
The widespread popularity of the dance resulted in many cultural references in contemporary media. For example, the conga line was a recurring theme in Warner Bros. animated cartoons of the 1940s.
This music and dance form has become totally assimilated
into Cuba's musical heritage and has been used in many film soundtracks in the
US and Mexico.[3] One of the earliest and most successful of 20th-century Cuban
musical exports, the conga lacked the polyrhythmic sophistication of the son,
mambo, or salsa but served to nurture the future receptivity of an
international public to the wider gamut of Cuban musical styles.[1]"....
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LYRICS: THE BUNNY HOP
(Composer: Ray Anthony)
Put your right foot forwardPut your left foot out
Do the Bunny hop
Hop, hop, hop
Dance this new creation
It's the new sensation
Do the Bunny hop
Hop, hop, hop
All join in the fun
Father, mother, son
Do the Bunny hop
Hop, hop, hop
Put your right foot forward
Put your left foot out
Do the Bunny hop
Hop, hop, hop
Dance this new creation
It's the new sensation
Do the Bunny hop
Hop, hop, hop
All join in the fun
Father, mother, son
Do the Bunny hop
Hop, hop, hop
Source: https://genius.com/Ray-anthony-the-bunny-hop-lyrics
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