Liz Faulkner

Dance of the Decades

Dr. Cone

March 9, 2015

  1. I decided to pick the 1980’s, this decade seems like it was very fun. I thought it would be fun to research about disco and other fads during this time.
  2. In 1980, Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States. He defeated Jimmy Carter, with the most electoral votes ever won by a non-incumbent presidential candidate. Larry Bird was also an important person in the 1980’s he was a Professional Basketball player for the Boston Celtics. He wont 3 NBA championships in this decade, 2 NBA Finals MVPs, and 3 NBA Most Valuable Player from 1984-1986. One popular television show started in the 80‘s, Baywatch. This show starred David Hasselhoff it was about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrolled the beaches. In 1982, E.T. came out also known as Extra Terrestrial. It was filmed and directed by Steven Spielberg. It remains the 46th highest grossing film of all time. In 1985, the wreck of the titanic was found. Dr. Robert Ballard, found the Titanic over two miles below the ocean’s surface by using an unmanned submersible called Argo. This discovery gave new meaning to the Titanic’s sinking and gave birth to new dreams in ocean exploration.
  3. The 1980s reflected the beginning of a period of great income disparity and a focus on this was reflected in the music. New genres that popped up include, Hip Hop, New Wave and Hair Metal. Another One Bites the Dust was very popular in 1980, this was sung by Queen. Jesse’s Girl came out in 1981 sung by Rick Springstein. In 1984, Madonna came out with the song Like a Virgin. In 1987, Welcome to the Jungle came out by Guns and Roses. The last popular song I found was in 1989, Tom Petty sang Free Fallin’.
  4. I chose the Cabbage Patch dance. The Gucci Crew II had a song describing the dance, as well as Dr. Dre and DJ Yella (of the rap group N.W.A.) in 1987. It was then featured in a song called The Cabbage Patch. The cabbage patch dance was named after the once popular Cabbage Patch Kidscollector dolls. This dance is not very strict and is fairly easy so I think this is why everyone liked it. There is no formation in this dance everyone can stand anywhere. This song is meant to loosen up your rib cage. To start you can shift your ribs to the left. Then you should shift your body weight to the right. While this is happening your arms are in front of you going in a circular motion. Your hands should be in fists. With this dance you can go as slow or fast as long as you stay with the beat. People also tend to turn all the way around in a circle while doing this dance.
  5. There were so many different fads and things that correspond with the 80’s such as break dancing. This became a big thing in the 80’s. Cabbage patch dolls were also very important just like in my dance I described. Converse were huge in the 80’s which shows how big of an impact they were because they are still worn today. They were also known as chuck taylors. Horror movies also had a huge impact. Movies like Jaws, Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th came out. Every kid wanted to be Freddy or Jason for Halloween. Nintendo was the big system, kids these days usually played Mario Bros and Techmo Bowl. The Rubik’s Cube was also created at first to teach students about 3D things. But later the creator patented the idea and made millions. Saved by the Bell was made about 6 teens who were trying to survive high school. Sony Walkmans were created to take tapes on the go and listen to them. Pac Man also became immensely popular in this decade. In 1984 the Macintosh 128K the first successful person computer to use a graphical user interface.
  6. "Crazyfads.com - Crazy Fads." Crazyfads.com - Crazy Fads. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.

Rosenberg, Jennifer. "1980s History Timeline." N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2015.