Although nowadays, disco is not that popular anymore, it is still considered by a lot of people as one of the more influential genres of music and dance style in its time. A lot of our genres of music and dancing styles that we have today seem to take some parts or aspects from Disco back in its time. A lot of modern day sounds and movements bear influences from Disco.
What Is Disco?
Disco is actually a dance music genre that became fairly popular during the mid to late 70s. This was actually a reaction directed against the domination of rock in the mainstream music scene, as well as the dance musics demonetization during that time. Disco was originally popular amongst the black gay community, but was introduced into the mainstream music culture as it was picked up by New York Citys white gay clubs. Even women and Latinos were hitched to Disco later on.
Disco Sounds
Disco is actually influenced by a lot of different music, which would originally include soul and funk music. Usually, music that has a four-on-the-floor steady beat with an eighth note or sixteenth note pattern with soaring vocals, electric bass lines that are syncopated but prominent, and an off-beat open hi-hat, are the music that are associated with Disco. You might even notice that certain disco tracks have other instruments in the background as well, such as strings, electronic pianos, horns and electric guitars, to add a few more lush sounds to the music. These make the music very easy to dance to.
Disco Dancing Basics
When dancing Disco, there are actually no real rules, however, there are certain basic disco dance moves that you can do, especially if you do not exactly know how to dance Disco. The most basic form of Disco dancing is simply performing a simple pattern of moving from side to side, usually, a pattern of moving from left to right to left again. You simply move from side to side in a rhythmic pattern. Just make sure that you follow the beat of the music, or you would look a bit silly. Step to the right, then bring your feet together, then step to the left, then bring your feet together again. This is practically the most basic steps that you can make when dancing Disco.
Advance Disco Dancing
Once you have the most basic Disco dancing pattern, you can now proceed to dancing more complicated dance moves. Aside from simply moving from side to side, you can also add certain moves to make your dance pattern a bit more flavorful. You can add a little bit of spin to the end of your dance pattern. Simply pick a side where you want to spin to, plant your lead foot on the floor, raise your heel, and simply turn your body. Lifting your heel ensures that you spin on the ball of your foot.
Aside from that, you could also add a couple of hand gestures and hand movements along with your dance pattern. Just make sure that you do it along with the beat in order to avoid looking foolish.
What You Should Wear
No matter how fun Disco dancing is, you still need to be able to dance comfortably, which is why you need to make sure that you wear the right type of clothing for dancing Disco. Simply choose a pair of shoes that you can dance in, and clothes that you can move in. If you wear something that will restrict your movement, then you wont be able to dance properly.