Dave Bush, Jr. -The Godfather Of African American (soul) Urban Line Dancing (online excerpts and YouTube videos)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series about two pioneers of African American (soul) urban line dancing: Dave Bush and Ray Boyd.

This post presents information about Dave Bush and showcases three YouTube videos about Dave Bush and the Dave Bush Dancers. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/09/ray-boyd-pioneer-of-african-american.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post presents information about Ray Boyd and showcases three YouTube videos of Ray Boyd's line dance choreography. 

The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Dave Bush for his cultural legacy. Thanks also to the Dave Bush dancers and all those who are featured in these showcased videos. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the videographers and publishers of these videos.

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INFORMATION ABOUT DAVE BUSH 
Online Source #1
From https://www.phillytrib.com/obituaries/david-bush-jr-66-line-dance-innovator/article_817119e1-5fbe-5219-b547-c3476d765397.html David Bush Jr., 66, line dance innovator [obituary]
written by Ayana Jones Jun 2, 2013  

"David Bush Jr. was known as the “godfather of line dancing.”

Bush died on Saturday, May 25, 2013. He was 66.

He was born Feb. 16, 1947 to the late David and Willie Bush in New Bern, N.C. He was educated in the Philadelphia public school system and graduated from Simon Gratz High School in 1965. He was a member of Bright Hope Baptist Church.

He worked for the city of Philadelphia for 35 years as an inspector for the Health Department before retiring in February 2002.

Bush’s pastime was creating complicated dances. He started dancing at age 7 and took tap lessons until he was 13. He entered various talent shows while in grade and high school. As a teenager he learned to bop and cha-cha, but in his adult years, Bush perfected different dance styles.

“Dances kept forming in my head, from that point on, I would see visions. The visions would take me down to my basement to put the vision to foot action. These visions would come to me around three or four o’clock in the morning,” he once said.

Bush choreographed his first line dance, the “Bus Stop” in March 1991 during a casual basement dance session with friends. He began teaching line dance classes in his basement, several nights during the week. He continued to create dances such as the “Silky Smooth,” “Chesterfunk,” Grand Stand,” “Sakeem” and the “Running Man.”

In 1997, Bush selected 10 of his best students to participate in the Apollo Talent Showcase held at Cheyney University. The original Dave Bush Dancers were comprised of Karen Grady, Cherrill Conway, Shirley Sowell, Pam Perry, Deborah Willis, Sakeem Parks, Rikk Goodman, Cary Edwards, Rufus Oliver and Bush. The group would win the talent showcase and move on to appear at the legendary Showtime at the Apollo Amateur Night in New York.

Thereafter, Bush would add more members to the group. The Dave Bush Dancers would grow to as many as 18 members. They performed at many venues such as Unity Day, African American Culture Festival at Penn’s Landing and many community and social events in Philadelphia and throughout the East Coast.

Bush received the Union Crew Lifetime Achievement Award and was recognized with a City Council citation on Sept. 24, 2008."

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ONLINE EXCERPTS #2
[Numbers added for referencing purposes only.]

From https://www.facebook.com/groups/650305159094833/posts/1205586910233319/ Infamous Line Dance Page

1. Earl Miller Jr., July 26, 2022
"Dave Bush - Godfather of Soul Line Dancing doing his dance - Nasty Girl known today as the Wobble. Never forget!" [a brief film clip of Dave Bush doing this dance is given after that comment.]

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2.Bernadette Burnette, 2022
"Thanks for sharing E! This dance was choreographed in 2004 and put on VHS tape"

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #1-Dave Bush on Grooveline

GroovelineTV, Feb 15, 2008

Groove Line is The Soul Train of the 21st century. Featuring a regular cadre of polished, sophisticated, rhapsodic, elegant and funky "line dancers" whose moves are choreographed, coordinated, intricate and just plain fun to watch. Each show will feature demonstrations of new steps, new beats, new patterns captured with five cameras which survey all of the action in close-up, as well as roving imagery so that viewers at home will be encouraged to dance along. There will be "dance-offs," "team competitions" and prizes for the "best" in various categories where viewers at home can get in on the action by voting for their favorites and win prizes in the process. Grooveline is brought to you by BEMA, the Black Entertainment and Music Association.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPFXwbzgGKU

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2- Dave Bush, Jr-The Innovator /Line Dance Creator

KayKreates Music, May 25, 2016

Watch as Mr. Dave Bush, Jr. ...The Innovator/Line Dance Creator, wow you with his theatrics! This video contains, rare clips of Mr. Bush, when he used to teach line dances in his basement. It also showcases his unique style back in the late '90's, when he was able to perform with his 1st generation of dancers. This video is dedicated to his memory. (2-16-47~5-25-13) 

PLEASE NOTE Error: [The awards to the 1st generation DBDz were in 2015  but the credits read 2016].    KayK Music & GradeA Vidz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39l8eR2XbvQ&t=128s

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 - The Dave Bush Dancers-Funky Makossa Routine 1997

KayRae GradeA, Sep 2, 2015

Takin' U back 2 when we 1st started performing with Dave Bush. This one right here, is our 1st affair as The Dave Bush Dancers. We started out as 10 members, but quickly grew to 18 strong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-40Y0nxmLYg&t=20s
-snip-
Read the comment section below for the inspiration for the word "Makossa" in the name of this Dave Bush line dance.

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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.

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