THE MAJESTIC

If you would like to contribute to our productions and online lessons, please consider purchasing a download of this instructional or others at our Selz Store. https://lindyland.com/downloads

​This episode is our instruction for how to dance the Majestic line dance. Taught by Paolo of the Covid Busters Swing Team, this is a detailed class that takes you from the start of the steps through to the final patterns. Then when you’re ready, you can pull up our demo on youtube or here for the FREE join along dance demo led by the Cover Busters Swing Team.

The Majestic swing line dance is a tribute stroll to the fabulous 50s and 60s. This line dance was choreographed to fit the phrasing and lyrics of Dion DiMucci’s 1961 recording of The Majestic. While it captures the dance styles of that time period accurately, it’s a modern addition (choreographed in 2016) to the landscape of dance crazes from yesteryear. We hope you’ll learn it and join us in capturing that era, bringing recognition to a long lost tune that deserved top billing on the billboard charts.
choreography by Paolo Pasta Lanna.

​THE STEPS
The Fish Tail
The Grape Vine
Birdland (Two pivots)
Cross over into The Camel Step
4 Triple Steps
3 Cross Steps
3 Hops Back
Back & Forth Twice
The Heel Break (combining a Rock Forward on your Heel, A stomp off and cross, then a spin).
Note: During the spin, the dancer then rotates 1 and ¼ Turn leaving the line turned ¼ to the Left. Since this is a stroll, the line turns ¼ at the end of each completed run of choreography)

By the late 1950s and into the 1960s, dance crazes were sweeping the nation. It seemed that a new dance would be invented every other week. Dances like The Stroll, The Twist, The Mashed Potato, The Hand Jive, The Hully Gully, The Hucklebuck, The Swim, The Fly, The Madison (which combined many steps into one line dance) and the list goes on. In the same light, many musicians of that time period released music in the hopes that their recordings would spark a new dance sensation thus catapulting their originals onto the top of the music charts. Many did just that from Fat’s Domino to Chubby Checkers to the Temptations and other vocal harmony groups.

Dion DiMucci released the tune The Majestic in 1961 as a single with hopes of sparking a new dance sensation. But remarkably it was the B Side of the 45 record that garnished the most attention. “The Wanderer” became a Top 10 while The Majestic never achieved nearly that level of popularity. Still, Dion performed it in the 1961 film “Twist Around The Clock”. It became a favorite of ours more recently when we discovered the tune around 2000.  Paolo Pasta Lanna © 2020