Have you ever done the Bunny Hop? This fun 1950’s conga line dance is hopping to a wedding near you. Join me as we learn how to dance the 1950’s Bunny hop.

History of the Bunny Hop

Where do new dance trends come from? Hip kids! Band leader Ray Anthony got wind of a new dance in San Francisco in 1952. He took a trip to Balboa High School to check out the conga line inspired bunny hop the kids were doing. This inspired him to write the song to fit their dance.

Bunny Hop on Air

Ray Anthony got the world a hoppin by featuring the bunny hop on his show in 1953. This was not the last time it aired on TV. It was in Family ties, Fresh Pince and Everybody Loves Raymond. My favorite is the version in “When Your and Addams” from the Addams Family Musical that I did a tutorial for.

Inspired by Bunny hop Dances

The bunny hop inspired other dances. In the 1960’s Finnish composer Erik Lindström wrote “Letkajenkka” (first recorded by The Adventurers) as a line dance schottische using the bunny hop but starting with the left foot. It was later renamed Letkiss. It 2014 Arabian weddings went viral with “rasqat al-batriq” or “Penguin Dance” featuring the bunny hop conga line steps. In the gaming world Fortnite created a emoji of the Bunny Hop with just a hop, hop, hop.

Bunny Hop:

1. RF heal out, toe in, heal out, stomp (1,2,3,4)
2. LF heal out, toe in, heal out, stomp (5,6,7,8)
3. hop forward (1,2)
4. hop back (3,4)
5. Three hops forward (1,2,3, hold 4)
6. Begin again until the end of the song

Lyrics

Put your right foot forward
Put your left foot out
Do the Bunny hop
Hop, hop, hop

Backdrop location.

Lakewood historic main street preserved as a park. I used my photo of the 88c Variety Store and Ethel’s Beauty Salon at Heritage Lakewood Park in Colorado. It was built in 1948 at a laundromat, and converted to a five-and-dime store in the 1950’s. It was converted into a beauty salon in the 1960’s by Gil and Ethel Gomez. You can see the original fixtures in this museum building to this day.

Holly Tomazin
WEDDING DANCE instruction
DANCE LESSONS.
Certified Licentiate in
Ballroom, Latin, Smooth & Rhythm
with ISTD, DIVDA, FADS, & Arthur Murrary’s
author of
Holly’s hot wedding tips, 
Historically Accurate Princess Dances,
Winner of:
The Knot Hall of Fame best wedding dance instruction,
top 50 Dance Blogs
Champion Ballroom Dancer & Coach
owner of
Adventures in Dance Club
720-276-0562
info@adventuresindance.com
www.adventuresindance.com

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunny_hop_%28dance%29

https://www.libraryofdance.org/dances/bunny-hop/

Library of Dance – Letkiss

https://www.songlyrics.com/ray-anthony/the-bunny-hop-lyrics/

https://fortnite.fandom.com/wiki/Bunny_Hop

https://www.lakewood.org/Government/Departments/Community-Resources/Arts-and-Culture/Heritage-Lakewood/Historic-Structures-and-Tours

The post What the Bunny Hop? How To Dance the 1950’s Bunny Hop first appeared on Adventures In Dance.

How to dance the Bunny Hop

The bunny hop is a fun party dance that has been around since the 50’s. It began in San Francisco in 1952 as a high school mixer. Ray Anthony recorded the bunny hop as a single with the hokey pokey on the other side in 1958. The bunny hop is still a fun party dance today.

The bunny hop is danced in a conga line fashion, with each person holding the shoulders of the person in front. I adjusted it so that no one gets run into. The original has a hop forward and back on instruction 3, 4. I substituted the kicks to avoid collision.

The Sequence is:

1. RF heal out, toe in, heal out, stomp (1,2,3,4)
2. LF heal out, toe in, heal out, stomp (5,6,7,8)
3. RF heal out, stomp(1,2) (originally hop forward)
4. LF heal out, stomp(3,4) (originally hop back)
5. Three hops forward (1,2,3, hold 4)
6. Begin again until the end of the song

I hope you enjoy this fun dance for Easter. I know we had fun making it.

For more dance tips or for personal and wedding dance coaching and classes
south of Denver, north of Highlands Ranch, east of Ken Caryl Valley, west of Cherry Hills & Greenwood Village,
in Littleton, join my email or contact:

Holly Collins
WEDDING DANCE instruction
DANCE LESSONS.
author of
Holly’s hot wedding tips, 
Historically Accurate Princess Dances,
Winner of the Knot best wedding dance,
Winner of top 50 Dance Blogs
Champion Ballroom Dancer & Coach
owner of
Adventures in Dance
720-276-0562
info@adventuresindance.com
www.adventuresindance.com

The post How to dance the Bunny Hop first appeared on Adventures In Dance.