Oaklands 4th International Annual "Best Known" Line Dances for 2002/2003

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): North America (59), Europe (37), Asia (6), Australia (3), South Africa (2) & Middle East (1). There were 538 dances in the original check list and 109 submitters.

The 2001/2002 summary results can be found at:

oaklands_annual_survey_2002.html

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

Dance	Choreographer	Known by:	Last Year	How Old
Tush Push	Jim Ferrazzano	97%	95%	pre 1982
Electric Slide	anon.	94% **	93% **	1989
Chill Factor	Whittaker & Westhead	91%	87%	2001
Crusin'	Neil Hale	90%	91%	1989
Dizzy	Jo Thompson	87%	89%	1998
Red Hot Salsa	Christina Brown	85%	85%	pre 1999
Waltz Across Texas	anon.	83%	86%	1992
Watermelon Crawl	Sue Lipscombe	83%	< 70%	pre 1999
J'ai du Boogie	Max Perry	83%	86%	1999
After Midnight	Judy McDonald	82%	79%	pre 1999
Come Dance With Me	Jo Thompson	82%	n/a	2003
Islands in the Stream	Karen Jones	81%	80%	1999
Picnic Polka	David Padden	80%	85%	?
Swamp Thang / Heart Like a Wheel	Max Perry	79%	73%	1996
Hot Potato	John H. Robinson	78%	79%	?
Ski Bumpus / Black Velvet	Linda de Ford	77%	78%	?
Cowgirl's Twist	Bill Bader	76%	80%	1994
Hideaway Cha	Brady, Davis & Thompson	76%	74%	2000
Enchantment	Jo Thompson	75%	71%	?
Mucara Walk	John Steel	74%	70%	pre 1999
Slappin' Leather	Gale Brandon	73%	78%	?
Charleston Cowboy	anon.	73%	72%	?
Mony Mony	Maggie Gallagher	72%	79%	2001
Por Ti Sere	Jo Thompson	72%	74%	?
Fly Like a Bird	Hedy McAdams	72%	74%	1995
Black Coffee	Helen O'Malley	72%	71%	pre 1999
Quando When Quando	Lawrence & Fisher	72%	73%	1999
Coastin'	Ray & Tina Yeoman	72%	72%	pre 1999
Down on the Corner	Peter Metelnick	71%	76%	?
Mack the Knife	Rachel McEnaney	71%	< 70%	2000
Cha Cha Slide	DJ Casper	71%	< 70%	2001
Pizziricco	Dot Ilaria	71%	?	?
Southern Delight	Rosella & Fred Lord	70%	n/a	2003
Shakatak	Kate Sala	70%	n/a	2002
@ the Hop	Carmel Hutchinson	69%	?	2001
13MWZ / Uno Dos Tres	Sherry McClure	68%	72%	1996
Jukebox	Jo Thompson	68%	72%	2001
Midnight Waltz	Jo Thompson	68%	71%	1993
Rose Garden	Jo Thompson	68%	70%	?
Syncopated Rhythm	Rob & Michelle Fowler	68%	< 70%	?
God Blessed Texas	Shirley Batson	67%	70%	?
Cinco de Mayo	Alan Livett & Jo Thompson	67%	< 70%	?
Got to be Funky	Dawn Beecham	66%	74%	1998
Copperhead Road	anon.	66%	< 70%	?
River of Dreams	Charlotte Skeeters	66%	< 70%	?
Badda-Boom! Badda-Bang!	Karen Hunn	66%	n/a	2003
Macarena	Wil Veloz	65%	< 70%	pre 1990
S.X.E.	Rob Fowler	65%	n/a	2002
Pot of Gold	Liam Hrycan	64%	72%	?
Hardwood Stomp	Jo Thompson	64%	< 70%	?
Now or Never	Kathy Hunyadi	64%	< 70%	2000
American Pop	Michele Burton	64%	n/a	2002
Ghost Train	Kathy Hunyadi	63%	< 70%	?
Derailed	Peter Metelnick	62%	72%	2000
Just for Grins	Jo Thompson	62%	?	?
Smokey Places	Michele Perron	62%	< 70%	?
Hold Your Horses	A.T. Kinson & Tom Mickers	62%	< 70%	2000
Evergreen	Karen Hunn	62%	n/a	2002
Hooked on Country	anon.	61%	< 70%	pre 1999
Stroll Along Cha Cha	John & Janette Sandham	60%	< 70%	pre 1999

** Note: while only 94% said they knew the 'Electric Slide' by that name, 'The Freeze' and 'The Elvira Freeze' are essentially the same dances are appear seperately. Since individual voting is not reported, this 94% should be considered a minimum.

The year the dance was choreographed is given, where known.

While most of those dances with a vote of 60% or more were from the 1990's, 7 dances dating from late 2002 made the list. Particularly impressive is "Come Dance With Me", choreographed March 2003 and managing to debut as the 11th most well known dance in the survey.

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
Into the Arena	Michael Vera-Lobos	40% (46% last year)
Pick a Pocket	Jan Wyllie	39% (41% last year)
Titanic	Simon Ward	37% (42% last year)
Patient Heart	Michael Vera-Lobos	36% (<23% last year)
Who Did You Call Darlin'	Kevin & Maria Smith	36% (42% last year)
Larger Than Life	Simon Ward	35% (40% last year)

No other Aussie dances received a vote of more than 32%.