Let's All Boogaloo!

The Boogaloo or Shing-A-Ling was a 1960's dance craze which caught on with the public thru American Bandstand and gained momentum in the late 1960s. It was considered a Latin dance because of it's Mambo patterns, but was used in the Blues and Rock and Roll as well. The Boogaloo replaced the popular Latin Pachanga dance in popularity.

The dance basically involved simple jerky movements with your feet, hips and body. Anybody could do it! (The Americanised version, that is.)

Early Boogaloo used a twelve-step sequence that was later sped up into a thirty-step sequence. The most common musical feature was a mid-tempo, looping melody that doubled as the anchoring rhythm, often played on piano or by the horn section. The presence of vocals, especially a catchy, anthematic chorus, was another distinguishing feature, especially in comparison to more instrumental dances like the mambo, guajira and guaracha. Ray Baretto, Eddie Palmieri, Joe Bataan, Joe Cuba, Johnny Colon, Ricardo Ray, King Nando, Joey Pastrana, the Lebron Brothers, the Hi-Latins, Pete Terrace and Pucho and the Latin Soul Brothers were all heroes of the boogaloo.

You can read more at this great resource, salsacrazy.com