The Nutbush

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The Nutbush is a dance categorized as a line dance, performed to Tina Turner's song "Nutbush City Limits".

In the 1950's the dance was known as "The Madison".^[1] Inspired by Tina Turner's song, a variation of the dance emerged again as "The Nutbush" in the 1970's disco era and is still popular today.^[1] A comparison of the step sheets, however, does not support the conclusion the the dances are the same.

The song of the same name by Tina Turner is generally recognised as being 'the song' to which the dance is performed. The dance itself is similar to the Macarena in that it is generally performed by a group of people both male and female at a social function where dancing is appropriate. Also, the dance is performed with the dancers roughly in a box configuration, like that of a chess board.

The steps are fairly simple, such that one who does not know them can generally pick them up by watching other dancers. A key in the song and dance being a popular combination is that the song has a moderately long introduction before the strong dance beat starts, which allows people who are sitting down to get up and to the dance floor and for the dancers to assemble themselves in a grid. Without this introduction, it is unlikely that the song and dance would be as popular. For comparison, see the 'Bus Stop'.