From The Charleston to Gangnam Style Here Are Some of the Most Popular Dance Crazes [VIDEOS]

Back in the 1920's the 'Flappers' did a dance called The Charleston. This dance was often done by young women at speakeasies. It was considered highly immoral for young women to be bouncing around dancing and drinking as these women did. The dance was done to ragtime jazz music.

I loved the Lawrence Welk Show but looking back now I'm not sure why. Bobby and Sissy performed regularly on the show and demonstrated dances that were popular with the young crowd. In this video they show a variety of steps that made up the dances of the time. Included are the Lindy, Suzie Q, Shag and more. It makes up what they call The Big Apple.

The Twist was a song that spawned a dance of the same name around 1960. Chubby Checker performed it live on the Dick Clark Show on August 6, 1960. This dance was criticized by many as being too provocative for the time. Oh, how times have changed. This is mild considering the dance moves of today.

The Chicken for sometimes called the Funky Chicken was started in the U.S. in the '70s but became really popular in the '80s. I became aware of it in 1990 when I went to college. We did this dance all the time at the clubs. It was fun, silly and EVERYBODY joined in. We looked stupid but we didn't really care.

This is a dance that became especially popular with the 80's generation, my generation. I did not do this dance, it was what we called "street dancing". Best of my knowledge this was most popular in places like New York and California. Guys would carry around their big Jam Boxes or Boom Boxes and just find a place on the street to demonstrate their talents. Not something everyone could do but it was fascinating to watch.

Now move to the 2000's and we have Gangnam Style. This is the latest dance craze and as a participant I have to say it's a fun dance. You look silly, you laugh, you relax and you just have fun doing it. The past few months this dance has turned up everywhere. Schools, bands, TV shows, old people, young people everyone is enjoying but none more than it's creator Psy. He's become the most popular thing in Korea and now has signed a record deal in the U.S. all because of the nationwide exposure of this one song and dance.