1960 - 1969: The solo-dance craze of the 60s

 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

(from : Wikipedia)

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

1959: The Madison Time

 The Madison Time

In 1959, Joan Darby and Joe Cash danced "The Madison Time" in the Buddy Dean show. 

Music: The Madison Time by the Ray Bryant Combo.

During the end of the 50s and the beginning of the 60s, the "Madison craze" involved a large number of singers, musicians and dancers and was the potting soil of a lot of solo dances which became the landmark of a whole generation of youths throughout the world.

Ref: Wikipedia

STEPS

The following steps were currently danced on Madison music, however with many variants:

Fetched by Grok:

The **Madison** is a classic novelty/line dance from the late 1950s–early 1960s that became a nationwide craze (especially after being featured in movies like *Hairspray* and on TV shows). It is a non-partner, set-pattern line dance done in straight lines facing the same direction (not a circle or contra formation). It is very structured, repetitive, and easy to learn.

The dance is built around a repeating 16-count sequence (sometimes described as 18 counts with holds). The original music it was done to was “The Madison” by Al Brown’s Tunetoppers (or Ray Bryant’s version), but it works with almost any medium-tempo 4/4 music.

### Basic Madison Step Sequence (16–18 counts total)

Everyone starts facing forward in straight lines, feet together.

1–2 | **Touch left heel forward** (1), **step left beside right** (2)  

3–4 | **Touch right heel forward** (3), **step right beside left** (4)  

5–6 | **Touch left toe back** (5), **step left beside right** (6)  

7   | **Touch right toe back** (7), **hold** (&), **step right beside left** (8)  

(Now a little “hitch” or bounce in place)  

8+  | Double bounce/heels apart-together (or just step together on 8)

9–10 | **Step forward on left** (9), **slide/step right beside left** (10)  

11–12| **Step forward on left** (11), **touch right beside left and clap** (12)

13   | **Step back on right making a ¼ turn left** (pivot on left foot so you’re now facing left wall) (13)  

14   | **Touch left beside right and clap** (14)

15   | **Step back on left** (15)  

16   | **Touch right beside left and clap** (16)

17   | **Step forward on right** (17)  

18   | **Touch left beside right and clap** (18)

After count 18 (or 16), you immediately restart the entire sequence now facing the new wall (left of original).  

Every time you hit the turning step (count 13, you turn 90° left, so after four complete cycles you’ve made a full square and are back facing front.

### Styling Notes

- The dance is done very “cool” and relaxed in the original 1960s style – loose knees, almost a slight swagger.

- Arms swing naturally or hang loose; claps are crisp.

- Some versions add a little “freeze” or pose on the claps.

- In modern country or line-dance settings, you’ll sometimes see a slightly simplified version or people doing it to faster country songs.

### Summary of the pattern (short form people use to call it)

- Heel, together, heel, together  

- Toe, together, toe, together-together  

- Forward two, clap-turn  

- Back, clap, forward, clap  

(repeat, turning ¼ left each time)

That’s the classic Madison – simple, social, and instantly recognizable once the music starts!

1957 July 4th: The first modern dance which could be a dance in line

The Madison is now recognized as one of the very first first modern line dances in America, but it is not the starting point of country line dancing. Country line dancing is a separate tradition that began about 15–20 years later in the country-western bar scene.

In the summer of 1957, the first public modern line dance was performed by a group of people in Columbus, Ohio:

‐~~~~~~~~~~~~

History of Country Line Dance (CLD)

THE HISTORY OF COUNTRY LINE DANCE

❓️

 Many people believe that Country & Line Dance is a traditional North American genre, comparable with the farandoles, bourrees, tarantellas, and other dances of Old Europe. This is not the case!

By creating a comparative table of dances practiced in North America from the 17th century to the present days, we find all the dances that lie at the intersection of two axes:

- one representing the states or provinces of the North American Continent

- the other representing both the ethnic origins of the inhabitants of these lands and the folkloric contributions of immigrants.

 At the cross point of these two axes, we find: polka, western waltzes, Cajun waltz, jazz, powwow dance, blues, etc., and square dance, foxtrot, jitterburg, charleston, lindi hop, madison... and, in terms of time periods, "country & line dance," which appeared amidst this galaxy of dances around the 90s‼️

So, what exactly is the origin of the American Country Line Dance?

In fact, while the Folk and Western style existed since the conquest of the West and the Gold Rush of the mid-19th Century, these words primarily apply to the music and songs. Dancing in lines on American folk songs is a phenomenon of the last quarter of the past century.

I know that many will be disappointed...

But what does "line dancing" even mean?  You simply need to:

- remain in a line while dancing

- AND follow a choreography written for the music of the chosen song.

Note: Many new dances appeared in the 1960s: the stroll, the twist, the mash potatoes, the hully gully—all these new rhythms are danced in solo and based on a limited number of steps... but there were no choreographies written specifically for those songs.

Today, it is generally accepted that the first line dance was performed in Columbus, Ohio in 1957: Click on [50s], under the "labels" column on the right of this screen.