A Slice of Harlem Shake

Bored of Gangnam style and the endless Gangnam parodies? Whether you take this with a pinch of salt or not is your decision, but there is a new diverse dance craze sweeping the nation, its none other than the Harlem Shake!

In February 2013, rapidly gaining popularity the song spawned a series of dance videos. Despite what the name suggests, the videos present a wide range of hip hop dances, including the Bernie, Twerking as well as improvisations.

“Harlem Shake” by Baauer, the stage name of American producer Harry Rodrigues, was uploaded to YouTube on August 23rd, 2012. It was met by positive reception from electronica & trap music blogs.

Originally, Harlem shake referred to a dance that began in, yes, excellent guess, Harlem, New York in 1981. It has its roots in an Ethiopian dance called “Eskista”

The web trend sees a single dancer gently bopping to Baauer’s dance track before unexpectedly cutting to a whole group going wild and pulling off some audacious freestyle moves when the bassline kicks in.

The song is even tipped to repeat the success of South Korean singer PSY’s Gangnam Style, which took the web by storm in 2012.

Northumbria is feeling the vibe in their Youtube submission:

It seems Newcastle doesn’t have as much time for the craze, with a fairly inadequate but nonetheless odd video:

One thing is for certain, now that Gangnam has been laid to rest, the Harlem Shake is the newest dance craze to sweep offices and morning shows all across the nation.

Other notable shakers include The University of Georgia men’s swim team (under water) and the Maker Studies production team.

There is also a self-titled black edition of the Harlem shake, and you will see once more near the end of the video the respected and globally recognised milking craze making a cheeky appearance!

Happy shaking Newcastle.