Welcome to Intermediate-level Hustle!

Hustle was designed to be a fast, flashy dance for club and party music. Some dancers refer to it as the “sports car” of the dance family. This style of dancing originated in the mid-1970s in New York Discos and spread across the United States. Its popularity skyrocketed after the release of the John Travolta movie Saturday Night Fever. It was further highlighted by the TV show, American Band Stand.  Its craze was further escalated by the music of artists like Donna Summer, the Bee Gees and K.C., and the Sunshine Band. Music for the Hustle is generally noted for its strong beats. Even though this dance was originally set to Disco music, it can now be danced to many different types of medium tempo music like pop, rock, soul, hip hop, R&B, and many other types of contemporary dance music

The Hustle is now a partner dance that is fast-moving, energetic, and characterized by its many turns. The lady spins almost constantly while her partner draws her close and sends her away using compression and extension. It can be performed in smaller spaces as it is generally non-progressive and mostly danced in a linear or rotational slot. The Hustle looks impressive and “showy” as it employs a considerable number of turns, passes, wraps in several different dance positions including closed, one hand, and shadow. While the movement is generally smooth, fancy arm styling and big presentation lines are encouraged. Like West Coast Swing, the hustle tends to spotlight the lady.

Although Hustle has footwork that is not too difficult to master, the fast tempo of the music and intricate patterns can make this dance challenging to learn. During most patterns, both partners are changing places and/or changing directions. To the observer, this makes the dance exciting; to the dancer, this can sometimes make the dance physically demanding.

This danced has been popularized to the extent that there are now 2 or 3 versions of The Hustle Line Dance. This encourages dancers to learn the Hustle even though they may not have a partner!