THE MADISON TIME Instructional Series

THE MADISON TIME 3.0 | LINE DANCES at the PIER SERIES

LEVEL: 1+

This class was recorded LIVE during our filming of Line Dances at The Pier in SEPT of 2020. It is our newest release on the line dance with an extra focus on styling. This download includes a full length demonstration of The Madison Time (from the Lindyland team of dancers) and then break down each step and pattern by the line historian Paolo Pasta Lanna.

The Madison Time is choreographed to match the calls of DJ Eddie Morrison on the track with the same title by The Ray Bryant Combo. Back in the day, its appeal stemmed from its calls, such as the “Jackie Gleason,” which imitates a shuffle performed by the iconic comedian, or the world famous "Wilt Chamberlain hook", which calls for the dancer to stylishly dribble and shoot a basketball. These variations poked fun at popular figures in the era, providing amusement for the dancers and a certain prestige for the caller.

Dance historians also consider this dance to be the first of the Line Dances of America. Read more at Lindyland.com

THE STEPS

The Basic Madison

Two Up, Two Back, & The Big Strong Turn

Two Up, Two Back, Double Cross and The Rifleman

The Big Strong M

T Time

The Cleveland Box Step

The Basketball with the Wilt Chamberlain Hook

The Jackie Gleason

Birdland

Two Up, Two Back, Double Cross and FREEZE

END

More:

The onset of the 1960s brought a wave of new fad dances to the social scene with The Madison topping out as one of the most popular.

There are a handful of theories of the origin of The Madison but is believed to have been brought to Baltimore by a local disk jockey (and football star), Claude (Buddy) Young. He first saw it while traveling through Chicago. He claimed that organist Bill Doggett recorded an instrumental number dedicated to the Bar “The Madison” in Cleveland and that later, while visiting his hometown Chicago, he saw teens dancing choreography to the tune. Then just 6 months after the dance landed in Baltimore, two major recordings were released. The first was by Al Brown who called out the steps to the accompaniment of his small dance orchestra. The second recording exploded by chance, when local radio disc jockey, Eddie Morrison, began doing calls on a whim over jazz records he played on the air. Listeners begged for more, and eventually Morrison was offered a recording deal with Ray Bryant and his New York Jazz Band. The tune sold 10,000 copies in the Baltimore area in its first week.

The music used for in this episode is provided by The Ray Bryant Combo and BenSound.com