Oaklands 3rd International Annual "Best Known" Line Dances for 2001/2002

For the past few years Louise Vincent has run an annual survey to find just what dances are known by most linedancers. The survey was simple - those participating were sent a list of dances, from which they picked those dances they either knew or once knew. The results were then compiled to give this year's "Best Known" list. Voting went for two months and there were no restriction on who could vote - as long as they knew at least one linedance! The survey was operated under the ageis of the "The Oaklands Academy of Line Dance", based in England.

Most of those voting were from (where the country was given): USA (64), UK (57) and Japan (12). No other country had more than 4 respondents - which really means this survey reflects the best known dances in the US and UK linedance communities. There were only 3 people from Australia who took part in the survey. The survey had a total of 36,505 votes.

The full survey results can be found at: http://www/lhvincent.freeserv.co.uk/surdetails/.

Dance	Choreographer	% know	Year
Tush Push	Jim Ferrazzano	95%	pre 1990
Electric Slide	anon.	93% **	1989
Crusin'	Neil Hale	91%	1989
Dizzy	Jo Thompson	89%	1998
Chill Factor	Whittaker & Westhead	87%	2001
J'ai du Boogie	Max Perry	86%	1999
Waltz Across Texas	n/a	86%	1992
Red Hot Salsa	Christina Brown	85%	pre 1999
Picnic Polka	David Padden	85%	?
Cowgirl's Twist	Bill Bader	80%	1994
Islands in the Stream	Karen Jones	80%	1999
After Midnight	Judy McDonald	79%	pre 1999
Hot Potato	John Robinson	79%	?
Mony Mony	Maggie Gallagher	79%	2001
Ski Bumpus aka Black Velvet	Linda de Ford	78%	?
Slappin' Leather	Gale Brandon	78%	?
Down on the Corner	Peter Metelnick	76%	?
Got to be Funky	Dawn Beecham	74%	1998
Hideaway Cha	Brady, Davis & Thompson	74%	2000
Por Ti Sere	Jo Thompson	74%	?
Fly Like a Bird	Hedy McAdams	74%	1995
Quando When Quando	Lawrence & Fisher	73%	1999
Swamp Thang / Heart Like a Wheel	Max Perry	73%	1996
13MWZ / Uno Dos Tres	Sherry McClure	72%	1996
Coastin'	Ray & Tina Yeoman	72%	pre 1999
Jukebox	Jo Thompson	72%	2001
Boot Scootin' Boogie	Mattox & Blair	72%	?
Charleston Cowboy	anon.	72%	?
Derailed	Peter Metelnick	72%	2000
Pot of Gold	Liam Hrycan	72%	?
Black Coffee	Helen O'Malley	71%	pre 1999
Enchantment	Jo Thompson	71%	?
Midnight Waltz	Jo Thompson	71%	1993
God Blessed Texas	Shirley Batson	70%	?
Mucara Walk	John Steel	70%	pre 1999
Rose Garden	Jo Thompson	70%	?

** Note: while only 93% said they knew the 'Electric Slide' by that name, 36% knew 'The Freeze' and 32% knew 'The Elvira Freeze'. Both of these dances are essentially the same as the 'Electric Slide'. Combining the votes from each (but ensuring one vote per person), virtually all respondents knew the 'Electric Slide/Elvira' - 99%, making it the most well known linedance. One wonders about the few who claim not to know the dance. The 'Electric Slide' was choreographed in 1989. 'Elvira' which differs only in two counts dates to 1981.

The year the dance was choreographed is given, where known. The three most well known dances are also the three oldest in the 70% plus bracket.

While most of the top 36 dances (all those with a vote of 70% or more) were from the 1990's, 5 dances from 2000-plus made the list, including the two biggies of 2001/2002, 'Chill Factor' (number 5) and 'Mony Mony' (number 14) - the only two recent dances to make the top 20.

Caveat (ie: beware) - It is tempting to look at the above list (and the other dances in the full survey) and conclude that the 'oldies' are the most popular dances and that dancers are not keen on all the new stuff. However, by it's very nature, this survey *is* biased in favour of the oldies.

The survey is international (well, ok, the US and UK and a few folks from elsewhere). Popular dances today are a lot more regionalised than they were in the earlier days of linedancing - what is popular in one region, let alone one country, is usually totally unheard of elsewhere (compare the current top dances in the US, the UK and Australia, as surveyed elsewhere on this site). This means that even if a dance is spectactularly popular in one area and/or country, it probably won't be elsewhere and so it can't hope to compete against the 'golden oldies' that were taught nearly everywhere. There are exceptions to this - some new dances have a world-wide popularity, such as 'Chill Factor'.

The older a dance, the more time it has had to spread around. Some dances get almost everywhere very quickly (again 'Chill Factor' is a good example, tho' mind you, the fact that some people are still teaching it means that it hasn't gotten everywhere ... yet), but other's can take years to slowly drift around the international linedance community.

The survey itself was to determine what dances people either knew or had once known (and could probably pick up again without much hassle). It is not a survey of what dances are popular or most liked. I know the 'Electric Slide', but that doesn't mean it's a favourite of mine or that I would get up to do it!

Australian choreographed dances making the list

Dance	Choreographer	% know the dance
Jambalaya	Ian St Leon	48%
Into the Arena	Michael Vera-Lobos	46%
Titanic	Simon Ward	42%
Who Did You Call Darlin'	Kevin & Maria Smith	42%
Pick a Pocket	Jan Wyllie	41%
Larger Than Life	Simon Ward	40%

No other dances received a vote of more than 23% and were included in the main list.

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