Over the last two months, we’ve been taking ourselves and each other really, really serious as we fight the coronavirus.
We could absolutely use a day where we cut loose a little.
Today’s the day for you. May 14 is National Dance Like a Chicken Day!
While we could make this up right now, we’re not. So break out your best Chicken Dance.
This day entertains from start to finish with people flapping their arms and strutting chicken-like. Everyone has probably danced the Chicken Dance at least once in their lifetime — especially if you’ve attended a wedding reception. This silly fun song is popular at Oktoberfest and other celebrations, too. The song gets people of all ages up and moving on the dance floor.
Written in the 1950s by Werner Thomas, a Swiss accordionist, the Chicken Dance didn’t even make it to the United States until sometime in the 1970s. The Chicken Dance is associated with polkas or oom-pah-pah music. Originally written with the name Der Ententanz (The Duck Dance), rumors suggest the song was written as a drinking song for Oktoberfest. The song’s title later changed to Vogeltanz (The Bird Dance).
Upon arriving in America in the 1970s, the song acquired choreography with repetitive beak, wing, and tail motions, as well as the new name, The Chicken Dance. Other great days in Chicken Dance history include Sept. 20, 2004, when rock musician Vince Neil served as Grand Marshall at the World’s Largest Chicken Dance at the Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, and Nov. 13, 2009 – In support of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, CIHT-FM played “The Chicken Dance” continuously until they sold 389 tickets at $100 each for the CHEO Dream of a Lifetime. They played for over 3 hours straight. (Can you imagine? It’d never get un-stuck from your head.)
So how does one observe #DanceLikeAChickenDay? Simple: Dance like a chicken. Be silly. Be erratic. Do The Chicken Dance. Organize a Chicken Dance dance-off. When you do, serve chicken nuggets and chicken fries, fried chicken and chicken-fried steak. Teach someone The Chicken Dance, too, because everyone should know how to participate.
