Where And When Did Northern Soul Dancing Start?

[soulalways]

On 02/12/2017 at 12:37, Roburt said:

Watch these guys go from about 3 mins 30 secs into this video ... they appeared at the Wheel in the mid 60's, guess that's what inspired the Wheel dancers to improve / adapt their style ... though at the Mojo in 66/67/68, we were still trying to learn / dance the set US dances (jerk, hitchhike, dog, etc.).

 

one of the greatest gigs ive ever seen...what a group!!...they loved it over here and couldnt believe the music they heard!..smashing blokes...

[Kegsy]

On 04/01/2018 at 21:23, Russell Gilbert said:

Hmm... the Northern Soul dance is unique to the scene. Therefore it is Northern Soul dancing. It might have borrowed or been influenced by many other scenes and cultures, but it developed its own instantly recognisable style. It is a dance form in its own right.

Sorry but the style of dancing preceded the term "northern soul" by quite a few years. 

[Amsterdam Russ]

Just now, Kegsy said:

Sorry but the style of dancing preceded the term "northern soul" by quite a few years. 

Really? When and where?

[Kegsy]

1 hour ago, Russell Gilbert said:

Really? When and where?

Any club you care to Google before the phrase "northern soul" was coined. Wheel, Tin Chicken, Lord Jims,  Plebs, Blue Orchid I could go on ..... and on.

[Hooker1951]

17 hours ago, Russell Gilbert said:

Really? When and where?

In thousands of clubs and ballrooms all over America and the U.K. In the 1950's and 60's doing backflips spins, shuffling to up tempo RNB and Rock n Roll, My first memory is being 7years old in Butlins Phwelli Ballroom 1958 staying up late because the last hour was Rock n Roll and being amazed watching the dancing,Take a look at the Flamingoes in 1958 Tommy Hunt included dancing to Jump baby Jump, or any old Jackie Wilson tapes if the music and the tempo is right you can do very similar moves to NS, and that is exactly what the dancers did then

kind Regards 

ML

[Mick Bol]

Growing up in Bolton as a mod From the Mid 60s onwards we were lucky enough to have several youth clubs and 3 top nightclubs we could go to to listen to the music we wanted to hear, underground soul music. The 3 nightclubs were Bolton Palais, Bolton Casino, and The Cromwellian and it was Sunday nights at Bolton Palais as a 14/15 year old I first heard proper underground soul being played and danced to in different styles. The best dancers at the time were a group of West Indians (male and female) from Salford who came every Sunday night and stood to the right of the stage, and always brought between 10 - 20 people and watching the guys dance blew me away as they did splits, half splits and single spins during songs. What they were doing was bringing the moves the singers/performers were doing on stage onto the dance floor. Over the next few years more and more dancers were doing these moves on the dance floors and it became the norm', with the occasional clap. It was During my visits to The Wheel during 69/70 that I saw more acrobatic moves on the dance floor, and 1 guy took it to the max. There was a wall about 4 foot high dividing a sitting area from a small dance floor/stage area and this lad during different records would dance up to the wall and jump on top of it, shuffle/dance  and spin along the top of the wall then at the appropriate time during the record would throw himself in the air towards the dance floor landing in a back drop and do a few flips and drops before coming up spinning and when he wanted to this guy could spin exactly like ice skaters spin. Wow. Some of you might know this guy, called Booper. As for the question Where and when did northern soul dancing start. Answer it started with the singers/performers on stage and the dancers took the moves onto the floor.

[Amsterdam Russ]

On 06/04/2018 at 20:53, Kegsy said:

Any club you care to Google before the phrase "northern soul" was coined. Wheel, Tin Chicken, Lord Jims,  Plebs, Blue Orchid I could go on ..... and on.

The proto Northern Soul scene.

[Amsterdam Russ]

On 07/04/2018 at 13:01, Hooker1951 said:

In thousands of clubs and ballrooms all over America and the U.K. In the 1950's and 60's doing backflips spins, shuffling to up tempo RNB and Rock n Roll, My first memory is being 7years old in Butlins Phwelli Ballroom 1958 staying up late because the last hour was Rock n Roll and being amazed watching the dancing,Take a look at the Flamingoes in 1958 Tommy Hunt included dancing to Jump baby Jump, or any old Jackie Wilson tapes if the music and the tempo is right you can do very similar moves to NS, and that is exactly what the dancers did then

kind Regards 

ML

Northern Soul dancing is so much more than the gymnastics: it has a style and form of its own. People have been performing acrobatic tricks for as long as mankind has been able to dance, so I wouldn't describe backdrops, splits, etc, as being unique to the scene.

Here's a great bit of archive footage of 1959 Nigeria, which uncannily foreshadows breakdancing by a number of decades.

 

[Amsterdam Russ]

Some excellent spinning going on in 1943 Tibet...

 

[Woodbutcher]

Looks like the over-exuberant use of 'talc' is no modern phenomenon either , judging by the state of the dancefloors on both of these clips ...  

[Kegsy]

1 hour ago, WoodButcher said:

Looks like the over-exuberant use of 'talc' is no modern phenomenon either , judging by the state of the dancefloors on both of these clips ...  

Perhaps the squad pulled up nearby and all the powder ended up out on the floor. 

[Hooker1951]

2 hours ago, Russell Gilbert said:

Northern Soul dancing is so much more than the gymnastics: it has a style and form of its own. People have been performing acrobatic tricks for as long as mankind has been able to dance, so I wouldn't describe backdrops, splits, etc, as being unique to the scene.

Here's a great bit of archive footage of 1959 Nigeria, which uncannily foreshadows breakdancing by a number of decades.

 

It's a hybrid of what came before with maybe not all the time feeling the music that was done before with Rock n Roll and And RNB people felt those same emotions and danced accordingly to it, there's a hell of a lot of NS dancers great at gymnastics but not so good at feeling the music and there's a hell of a lot of NS dancers not good at Gymnastics what can feel the music, what you feel on the dancefloor you can express with your movement not a preplanned Olympic event  I for one can spot someone going through a routine and somebody feelin it, you cant analyse a feeling you just go with it if it feels right I've been dancing all my life, if I couldn't feel it I wouldn't do it simple as that it's freestyle dancing to your own emotions to the music you love if you wanted to generalise but it's much more than that to the person feelin it and moving to it but to think that'its completely original is being in denial of what came before and anybody who knows about music knows that lots of things came before and made that evolution into the term NS dancing, I'm saying all this before some Boffin of Ballyhoo decides that it was them or some prima Donna they worship invented it , NS dancing came from the evolution of RNB Rock n Roll dancing plus all the many dance styles of the early sixties simple as or as complicated as that

ML

[Amsterdam Russ]

6 hours ago, Hooker1951 said:

It's a hybrid...

ML

I'm pretty sure that's what I said five years ago in my post on the first page of this thread.

[Hooker1951]

9 hours ago, Russell Gilbert said:

I'm pretty sure that's what I said five years ago in my post on the first page of this thread.

Yes Russell

Great minds think alike , try reading all the rest of what I wrote did you say that too?

Have a great day

ML

[Amsterdam Russ]

28 minutes ago, Hooker1951 said:

Yes Russell

Great minds think alike , try reading all the rest of what I wrote did you say that too?

Have a great day

ML

Yup. I read what you said, and if I'd said it too you can be sure I would have pointed it out. 

[Hooker1951]

1 hour ago, Russell Gilbert said:

Yup. I read what you said, and if I'd said it too you can be sure I would have pointed it out. 

I'm sure you would LoL,

[Stevesilktulip]

Officially I switched from rock to Soul in the spring of 74, but I remember going to a youth club in Waterhouses, I'm guessing in73, and 3 girls doing set dance pieces to Third Finger Left Hand, some Motown (Chartbusters 2 (I think)) and Donnie Elbert Little Piece of Leather, which I only realised years later was a northern record, though in hindsight it was kinda obvious. Although it wasn't boys dancing with girls, it was still about girls; Freud was right about that; it's always about girls.

Saw country blues artist Michael Roach a few years back and he demonstrated how we got from picking cotton to dancing and it wasn't too far away from northern soul. I'm not advocating slavery, but they had the best music.   

[Jkpnefc]

 

 

[Preston Soulie]

On 15/01/2013 at 16:22, davebanks said:

When I were a lad in the 60's most dancers at youth clubs etc danced with partners or girls danced around handbags and then lads joined in.

 

Only a few hardy souls danced alone to club sounds and then Northern soul but they may have seen this at the Wheel. I didnt see NS dancing proper until I attended the Torch, then WOW. Then we started attending other NS events large and small and everyone was NS dancing, but in "mainstream" clubs it was still dance around your bags time.

 

Where did this solo style of NS dancing start, the Wheel?

 

We did do some solo dancing in the youth clubs to specific records like Harlem Shuffle and I seem to remember one dance probably best forgotten called the shitshaker where you stood still and waggled your legs!! Well we were young and foolish.

 

Dave Banks

 

[Preston Soulie]

I think you could be right with the Wheel Dave. We used to go to local youth club dances and clubs, and you could always tell a Twisted Wheeler they danced differently to all others. That was one of the reasons that I started going, together with the music of course. And when the wheel finished we usted to make our way to the top twenty club, which i think was in Salford. And then dance all day as well. God i wish those days back again.

KTF.