The Madison
Do you want to practice the stroll you learnt at our workshop?
Thank you for attending our Madison Strolls Workshop, we hope you enjoyed it.
Dancing like any other skill just requires practice. Please remember this does not mean you have to do this for hours at a time. It is better to practice for a shorter period and increase the frequency. You do this for fun after all.
The attached videos and handouts should help you with this. Practice a small section at a time, and when you can do that fluently, add more on, until you can dance it all the way through.
Good luck with your practice you can do this!
Nicola & Paul x
Full Dance & Handout
The Madison was the first line dance and originated around 1957 in Ohio, USA. Teenagers showcased this cool dance on the ‘Buddy Deane Show’ before it was epitomised in 1988 in the movie ‘Hairspray.’
Although other line dances would follow quarterly movements facing the wall, The Madison faces forward throughout the dance and figures are prompted by the ‘caller.’
Other dances like the ‘Shim Sham’ which contained 1920’s jazz patterns were originally performed by only one or two dancers at a time, unlike the resurgence of Lindy-Hop today. The Madison on the other hand was the first social dance where people danced independently in lines and danced as a group.