“Saturday Night Fever” was the movie that epitomize the ’70s with John Travolta in a white suit dancing with his legs apart with a finger pointing in the air. It was so popular that it was turned into a Broadway musical. Everyone loved dancing under disco balls, wearing their polyester suits and doing the Hustle.

Or I should say, the Hustles, for there were actually several dances under the Hustle name, including a line dance and freestyle versions. Many people don’t realize that the Hustle came from Latin origins set to a disco beat. The Hustle line dance steps were based on the Merengue. Dancers moved in unison with steps that turned the line a quarter turn to the left at the end of the movement, then they began the steps all over again. Why dance in a disco with flashing lights if you can’t see all of it at some point while you are dancing?

Sometime around 1970 the Hustle was created in New York City and when Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony recorded “The Hustle,” it created a Hustle and line dance phenomenon. Other line dances include the Continental Walk and the Bus Stop which later merged into the LA Bus Stop Hustle. But the most popular line dance today is the Electric Slide. The movie “Saturday Night Fever” featured both the line and partner dance versions of the Hustle. The movie made dancing cool and every guy want to be John Travolta.

Just as the Hustle line dance was based on the Merengue, the partner version was based on Latin dances like the Mambo and Salsa, with a number of moves from American Swing dancing thrown in for good measure. Freestyle dancing could be performed solo or with a partner (each performing solo around each other) or in classic ballroom style dancing in unison. The partner dance version survives today as the New York Hustle or Latin Hustle.

Its various expressions leaves the Hustle difficult to define. The only specific rule is that the male partner leads. And unlike other line dances, there are no specific steps that identify it. The very variety and flexibility is what makes it the Hustle because so many of the steps are borrowed from other styles of dance. Anyone can learn to do the Hustle because there is bound to be at least one movement that can be mastered. So go out and “Do the Hustle!”

Tony Meredith and Melanie LePatin have been choreographing, educating, performing and composing fantastic choreography for over thirty years. The run NYC’s top-notch dance center If you interested in learning more history of any dances make sure you check out their site. They are currently teachingdance lessons in NYC

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