

#MACARENA DANCE MOVES MAC#
Only after the label was bought by the giant BMG in 1994 was it decided to market the song internationally.Ī hit in several Spanish-speaking countries, the Big Mac didn’t get the Big Mo stateside until the current English-language remix by the Bayside Boys, a Miami team, in which Macarena is decidedly sassier, saying, “What was I supposed to do? He was out of town, and his two friends were so fine.” When the song was released in April 1993 on a small label in Spain, it became a summer hit there. The song tells of a vain girl who doesn’t care as her boyfriend, Vitorino (named after a major cattle company in Spain), is being sworn in as a soldier.

Macarena, a woman’s name in Spain, is also the name of a revered virgin from Seville. So vibrant was her performance that Monge called out: “Give your body joy, Macarena, that your body is to give joy and good things.” He incorporated the encouragement into a song he wrote that night. The two had been recording since the ’60s and had written 300 songs and recorded 30 albums before Monge was inspired by a flamenco dancer in Caracas, Venezuela, named Diana Patricia. It’s the sixth remake of the song by the pop-Flamenco duo of Antonio Romeo Monge and Rafael Ruiz, who think their international success might have something to do with their playing for the pope in 1994. In Spain, where all this started, a Los Del Rio sequel called “Macarena Dance Party” is heading up to the top spot. A correspondent to Billboard notes that “Macarena” was the No. It’s in the Top 5 in France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Ireland. 1 in the Eurochart this week and tops the chart in Denmark, Belgium and France. 61) and a cover version by the Canadian ban Los Del Mar (at No.

“Macarena” is on this week’s charts three times - in the hit Bayside Boys mix as well as the original version by Los Del Rio (at No. “Macarena” is a throwback to the pre-rock era, when a popular song would be on the charts in a number of different versions. Then, like a lot of dance hits in the Top 40, the song became a hit on the dance floor before it did on the radio. Then start over.Ī crucial turning point for the song came last August, when its dance moves were introduced in the big annual East Coast disc jockey convention in Atlantic City. Sway your hips three times and jump, taking a quarter turn to the right. “Thirty seconds, and you’re done.”įirst, move the right arm out, then the left arm out, then behind the head, and on the hips. “There’s more body movement, so it’s more fun.” And it’s easy to teach, he adds. “In terms of line dances, it’s more fun and exciting than, say, the Alley Cat, which is now passe,” he says.
#MACARENA DANCE MOVES PROFESSIONAL#
“It’s as popular if not more than the Electric Slide, which is a must for every party,” says Rob Guilmette, a professional disc jockey from South Windsor who has been playing “Macarena” since last September. It gained its popularity stateside at the grass-roots level, from disc jockeys at bar mitzvahs and cruise ships looking to do something besides the limbo as a novelty to get people involved.
