The decade began with "The twist" which iniatiated a long series of solo dances. Solo dances could not be, generally speaking, precursors of line dance just because their supporters didn't need to be synchronous!
Solo Dance Craze of the 60s
These long series of dances derived from the twist quickly appeared in the years of the first half of the 60s. They reached their climax in the middle of the decade before slowly fading out at the eve of the 70s. They were replaced by a surging tendency for disarticulated dances!
Three events bring this decade to a close:
1• The famous festival of Woodstock in August 1969
Public Domain Photo Woodstock
2• The 2-day Gold Rush Festival on the 4th & 5th October 1969 at Lake Amador, CA
This event marked the definite decadence of this decade.
Lake Amador Gold RushFestivain Wikipedia:
Gold Rush (music festival) - Wikipedia
More information: [Grok's Cortesy]
A notable event from 1969 that involves themes of "gold rush" and dancing is the Gold Rush Rock Music Festival (also called the Lake Amador Gold Rush Festival), held on October 4, 1969, at Lake Amador in Amador County, California.
This was a one-day hippie-era rock festival attended by thousands, featuring acts like Ike & Tina Turner, Santana, Taj Mahal, and Bo Diddley. Contemporary accounts and attendee recollections describe a free-spirited atmosphere with widespread dancing, including reports of "naked girls dancing in clouds of marijuana smoke" (as headlined in local newspapers like the Tribune). The event embraced 1960s counterculture vibes: sunbathing, skinny-dipping, drug use (largely ignored by authorities), and enthusiastic crowd participation in dancing to the music.
It was named after California's historic Gold Rush mining era and is remembered positively by attendees as a peaceful, high-energy gathering—often compared favorably to Woodstock (which happened earlier that year) or contrasted with the later chaos of Altamont.
3• A chaotical deadly end with the Altamont, CA "festival"
In a most heartbreaking and decadent way, 1969 ended in deadly event in Altamont, CA on December 6th, 1969: "The Altamont free Concert".
Read here:
Altamont Free Concert - in Wikipedia:
4• Legacy of these solo dances to the Country and Line Dance
Although the success of these dances was short-lived, they left some legacy to the country and line dance:
— many dance steps
— popular songs for which choreographers will write new dances, even 60 years after the success they had in the 60s
— a foretaste of future line dance
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