Disco dancing doesn’t have quite the lengthy history of many popular dances around the world but it most definitely has a bright and colourful history. Most people believe it began in 1970 with a dance we’ve come to know and love as The Hustle.

The Hustle may very well be the definitive disco dancing style but this is a dance, which like many, has more than one face. There are many variations of The Hustle. Among these variations are the solo hustle dance moves, The Hustle line dance, and The Hustle for couples. Of course the fun doesn’t end there. You will also find that as this dance has made its way around the world different cultures have left their fingerprints on The Hustle too. As a result we now have the Latin Hustle, The Tango Hustle, the Spanish Hustle, and Swing-Hustle (which is also called the Three-Count Hustle) that originated in California.

You really can’t adequately describe disco dancing without discussing the music that made these dances possible. The 1970’s was filled with music that was perfect for doing The Hustle, whichever method of this dance was preferred. Popular musicians during this time included Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer, the Bee Gees, and countless others. The sound of the seventies is as unique to music as The Hustle is among dances. In fact, it is nearly possible to think about one without thinking about the other.

Though widely attributed to the United States, the first disco club was actually opened in Paris during the 1950’s by the name of the Peppermint Lounge. The 1970’s brought plenty of disco dancing and disco clubs to the American shores however and John Travolta ushered the era of disco dancing in through his role in the movie “Saturday Night Fever”.

By this point in time, disco clubs were opening up all across the United States in cities big and small. Disco dancing offered the allure of sex appeal, sensuality, and a driving beat the likes of which had never before been experienced. Disco dancing competitions began cropping up all over and this style of dancing became more than a sensation but also an opportunity for would be dancers everywhere to have their five minutes of fame.

Unfortunately, it was the competitive nature of disco dancing that would ultimately lead to its downfall. Dances were becoming far too complicated for the average disco dancer as competitions became fiercer. In a cosmic sense of irony it would be John Travolta who would deliver the final blow to disco dancing with the release of another famous movie: “Urban Cowboy” that ushered in a new era of music and dancing style.

The good news for those that have a deep and abiding love for disco dancing as well as a true appreciation for disco music is that disco dancing is not all together extinct. It continues to live in retro styled clubs around the world, rein supreme in various countries, and has even been revived and revamped for inclusion in dance competitions that are battles of skill as well as creative choreography. It has gone through a few transformations along the way and is much more sophisticated today than in the clubs of not so long ago but it is very much alive though it is doubtful it will ever again achieve the wild popularity of the second half of the 1970’s.

The Hustle and the legend of disco dancing lives on even today. The real question is whether or not disco dancing is right for you. Watch the videos and see for yourself if you have a little bit of The Hustle in You.