How did the dance craze of the early 1960s begin?

Question: How did the dance craze of the early 1960s begin?

Answer: The kickoff to the dance crazes of the 1960s started with a phenomenon called "The Twist," originally recorded in 1959 by a R&B group called Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. Philadelphian Chubby Checker, already no stranger to novelty records, recorded his own slightly poppier version, and after tremendous exposure on Bandstand, it reached #1 in September 1960.

With the record industry always ready to capitalize on a quick fad, several dance records began to be cranked out. Some made up new dances and created a song around them, such as The Swim. Most capitalized on dances that were already well-known: Carole King and Gerry Goffin, for example, wrote "The Loco-motion" after seeing their babysitter, "Little" Eva Boyd, dancing it around the house.

It's easy to date some of the rock and roll dance crazes by how much arm movement is used -- the nature of rock dancing, which began with hip-based dancing, was tamed down so much for the TV cameras that teens had to find something to do with their arms in order to express themselves. An arm-based dance (The Swim) is usually of later origin than a hip-based dance (The Jerk). Also, as time went on, the beach fad of the Sixties ensured that dances would switch from foot-oriented movements -- hard to pull off in the sand -- to arm-oriented movements.