Bunny hug
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bunny hug was a dancing style performed by young people, especially flappers, in the early 20th century. It is thought to have originated in San Francisco, California in the Barbary Coast dancehalls along with the Texas Tommy, Turkey Trot and Grizzly Bear.
Male and female dance partners would shake and wiggle their bodies, and grind them together (similar to grinding), usually to slow blues. The Bunny Hug, like other "animal" dances, caused a lot of uproar in polite society due to its suggestive nature. Some felt that the dance movements were an imitation of sexual intercourse of rabbits. It was singled out by critics for special censure.
Noble Sissle has been quoted as saying that W.C. Handy's The Memphis Blues song inspired Vernon Castle to create the dance when he heard James Reese Europe play the Memphis blues and Castle liked the rhythm. Apparently Castle later renamed the Bunny Hug the Fox-trot, hoping to convince the public that he invented the Foxtrot dance.
In 1914, Germany introduced a dance entitled "The Rabbit Dance" which was said to be just like the American Bunny Hug.
The dance is mentioned in "All That Jazz," a song from the musical Chicago.
