Why was the twist such a controvertial dance during our mama and papa's teen yea

Question:

Why was the twist such a controvertial dance during our mama and papa's teen years.?

What's the deal?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Every new generation's social dancing is considered to be "dirty" by the previous one. This is always the case.

Waltz was considered dirty when it just came about. You'll say, Waltz? Dirty? How and where can it be dirty? Well, Waltz is danced in closed embrace, with the bodies in contact. That was new and quite dirty, by comparison to old style, when partners onlt touched each other's hands.

Twist, by comparison to Waltz, introduced the movement and twisting of the body. Waltz held the body still. By comparison to Waltz and Foxtrot, now it was emphasised that people have hips and chests and waists, and all of that can move relative to echa other.

If you think what happened next - Rock N Roll, Lambada and other types - there is always a new emphasis, and there is always a feel that it is "dirtier" that the previous one. But I think the main issue is that it is different enough. When I observe people learn Waltz in our studio I see them sometimes freak out because they didn't expect the effects of the closed dance posistion to be so prominent. It's new enough to them :-)