Abstract
The Nutbush dance is unique to Australia. It is danced to the Ike and Tina Turner track Nutbush City Limits released in 1973. It is a line dance. Anybody can join the line. This article explores the history and reception of the Nutbush. The Nutbush seems have been developed around 1975 in Sydney as a part of modernizing the physical education and creative arts curricula for state primary and secondary schools. The Nutbush is relatively simple and is danced on the beat, a characteristic of dancing to rock music. Nutbush City Limits has a driving beat. This is no doubt why it was chosen by the dance’s inventors. The dance continues to be taught to Nutbush City Limits and has now crossed generations. It is an accepted part of Australian culture and is danced in far flung cities across the world by Australians in circumstances as varied as weddings, parties and school formals.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2025
Volume
39
Issue
1
Publication Title
Continuum
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
School
School of Arts and Humanities
RAS ID
69829
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
First Page
79
Last Page
94
Comments
Allmark, P., & Stratton, J. (2025). Doing the Nutbush: How Australia got its very own line dance. Continuum, 39(1), 79-94. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2024.2331796