The Evolution of Dance from 1950 to 2019: A 7‑Decade Joy Ride in 6 Minutes

I see Michael Jack­son as a dance style, okay? — Ricar­do Walk­er 

Ricar­do Walk­er and his Crew’s The Evo­lu­tion of Dance, 1950 to 2019 will make you regret every minute spent hug­ging the wall in mid­dle school.

The break­neck, 6‑minute romp led by dancer, chore­o­g­ra­ph­er, and Michael Jack­son imper­son­ator Ricar­do Walk­er, not only show­cas­es the all-male Brazil­ian crew’s tal­ent, it makes a strong case for throw­ing your­self into some seri­ous dance floor silli­ness.

The Crew, formed by a mutu­al pas­sion for the King of Pop’s moves, is plen­ty cool, but their will­ing­ness to ham their way through “Flashdance…What a Feel­ing,” the “Macare­na,” and Dirty Danc­ing’s “Time of My Life” sug­gest that the joys of dance are avail­able to ordi­nary mor­tals such as our­selves.

They cavort in sag­ging ear­ly 90s-style Ham­mer Pants for “U Can’t Touch This” and don West­ern wear for Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” the most recent num­ber on this musi­cal tour.

Troupe mem­bers Gabriel Zaidan and Alexan­dre “Lelê” Mayrink seem unham­pered by van­i­ty, toss­ing their envi­able locks into the 35 cos­tume changes’ goofi­est styles.

The Crew took 16 hours to get the video in the can on a day when one of their num­ber felt under the weath­er, and they had to be out of the stu­dio by 7pm. (Our com­pli­ments to the edi­tor!)

While such hits as Chub­by Checker’s “Let’s Twist Again,” Jackson’s “Bil­lie Jean,” Madonna’s “Vogue,” Beyoncé’s “Sin­gle Ladies,” and — who could for­get? — “Gang­nam Style” instant­ly sum­mon a peri­od, the 90s place­ment of Tom Jones’ sig­na­ture tune, “It’s Not Unusu­al,” is throw­ing view­ers for a loop.

How did that old chest­nut wind up between Madon­na and Back­street Boys?

By virtue of its first stu­dio ver­sion, released in 1995 as part of the com­pi­la­tion album The Leg­endary Tom Jones — 30th Anniver­sary Album, that’s how.

Pri­or to their vir­tu­oso turn in the Evo­lu­tion of Dance, 1950 to 2019, the group guid­ed view­ers through the Evo­lu­tion of Michael Jack­son’s Dance. (Jackson’s influ­ence is also evi­dent through­out the for­mer, earn­ing him 4 nods.)

For those whose feet have begun to itch, chore­o­g­ra­ph­er Walk­er teach­es a Mas­ter Class in Michael Jackson’s dance moves for $100.

Songs used in The Evo­lu­tion of Dance — 1950 to 2019 — by Ricar­do Walk­er’s Crew

00:03​ — 00:13​ — Singin’in the Rain — Gene Kel­ly

00:13​ — 00:23​ — Hound Dog — Elvis Pres­ley

00:23​ — 00:30​ — Tut­ti Frut­ti — Lit­tle Richard

00:30​ — 00:35​ — Let’s Twist Again — Chub­by Check­er switch to col­or

00:35​ — 00:45​ — I feel good — James Brown

00:45​ — 00:57​ — I Want You Back — The Jack­son Five

00:57​ — 01:09​ — Stayin’ Alive — Bee Gees

01:09​ — 01:16​ — Danc­ing Machine — The Jack­sons

01:16​ — 01:20​ — Shake your Body — The Jack­sons

01:20​ — 01:24​ — You’re the one that I want — John Tra­vol­ta, Olivia New­ton-John

01:24​ — 01:31​ — Time of My Life — Bill Med­ley, Jen­nifer Warnes

01:31​ — 01:46​ — Bil­lie Jean — Michael Jack­son

01:46​ — 01:55​ — Rhythm Nation — Janet Jack­son

01:55​ — 02:03​ — Foot­Loose —  Ken­ny Log­gins

02:03​ — 02:13​ — Thriller — Michael Jack­son

02:13​ — 02:18​ — What a feel­ing — Irene Cara

02:18​ — 02:22​ — U can’t touch this — MC Ham­mer

02:22​ — 02:31​ — Black or White — Michael Jack­son

02:31​ — 02:42​ — Vogue — Madon­na

02:42​ — 02:51​ — It’s not unusu­al — Tom Jones

02:51​ — 03:02​ — Every­body — Back­street Boys

03:02​ — 03:13​ — Macare­na — Los Del Río

03:13​ — 03:26​ — Crank That — Soul­ja Boy

03:26​ — 03:33​ — Sin­gle Ladies — Bey­once

03:33​ — 03:46​ — Bye Bye Bye — NSYNC

03:46​ — 03:54​ — Ragatan­ga — Rouge

03:54​ — 04:04​ — Gang­nam Style — PSY

04:04​ — 04:15​ — Despaci­to — Luis Fon­si

04:15​ — 04:25​ — Uptown Funk — Mark Ron­son , Bruno Mars

04:25​ — 04:34​ — Par­ty Rock Anthem — LMFAO

04:34​ — 04:43​ — Can’t Stop The Feel­ing — Justin Tim­ber­lake

04:43​ — 04:51​ — Watch Me — Silen­tó

04:51​ — 05:03​ — Swish Swish — Katy Per­ry

05:03​ — 05:17​ — In My Feel­ing — Drake

05:17​ — 05:35​ — Old Town Road — Lil Nas X

Relat­ed Con­tent: 

How Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” Video Changed Pop Cul­ture For­ev­er: Revis­it the 13-Minute Short Film Direct­ed by John Lan­dis

The Dance The­atre of Harlem Dances Through the Streets of NYC: A Sight to Behold

Twerk­ing, Moon­walk­ing AI Robots–They’re Now Here

Ayun Hal­l­i­day is an author, illus­tra­tor, the­ater mak­er and Chief Pri­ma­tol­o­gist of the East Vil­lage Inky zine.  Fol­low her @AyunHalliday.