Hokey Cha-Chicken Slide: Dance Party Music!
There are few things more controversial in the world of wedding receptions than the Chicken Dance and the Macarena! Other examples include the YMCA, Hokey Pokey, Cha-Cha Slide, Electric Slide, and Limbo Rock! (Click the links to see some videos!)
Here’s one opinion: from Wedding Receptions – The Do Not Play List by Nina Callaway, “Sure, DJs love these songs. They’re great for entertaining kids, and they get people on the dance floor. But there’s absolutely nothing elegant, sophisticated, or hip about them...”
| Photo courtesy of Angelic Angles |
Here’s what The Knot says about the Macarena “You may know how to do the dance — but do you really want to? Besides, everyone has a few certain relatives they’d rather not see get down with that hip swivel move.”
| Photo courtesy of Angelic Angles |
Now that we’ve heard the negative… why do these songs remain popular at wedding receptions and other dances? If everybody hates them, why do DJs play them? Perhaps it’s because people vote with their feet. We may not say it out loud, but most people secretly appreciate these dances. Everyone knows the moves- and if they don’t, they’re easy to follow along. It’s a very effective way to liven up the dance floor! Nobody’s claiming they’re elegant or sophisticated- you’ve been elegant and sophisticated all day. These dances are an opportunity to relax a bit and be less elegant and sophisticated.
So, in the end, it’s really up to you! You know your guests. Do you want your guests to dance? Are they people who are comfortable on the dance floor?
If your friends are ballroom dancers and can recognize a waltz, cha-cha, or foxtrot within the first few bars, you can probably skip the Hokey, Cha-Chicken Slide.
| Photo Courtesy of MFR Photo |
If, on the other hand, your guests are regular folks who aren’t particularly comfortable on the dance floor, these dances can be awesome ice breakers, and…ssshhhh!… a lot of fun!
As a DJ, I've heard these songs many times but if the bride/groom are O.K. with them, then I play them and watch the people enjoy them. I figure it may be my 1,000 time playing it but it's not about me it's about my bride/groom and their guests.
Chicken Dance is actually probably the most popular dance 🙂 last time I was at a wedding in London and the same dance:)))
Additional collected yet many other popular dance styles together as if he wanted to Goś might look:)