The Opening Credits and Limbo Dancing

The Dirty Dancing opening credits last about a minute and a half. The last 30 seconds feature dance moves where the female leans backward so that her torso is horizontal.  

From the first time I watched Dirty Dancing, those particular dance moves evoked thoughts of limbo dancing. Limbo dancing is fun to watch, especially when the dancer is a woman, because of the watchers' suspenseful anticipation that her knockers might knock the bar down.

The Dirty Dancing movie takes place in 1963, a year when limbo dancing was quite popular. The song Limbo Rock had become a huge hit. In 1962, Chubby Checker's single recording "Limbo Rock" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 list and number one on the Cash Box charts. In 1963, his single recording "Let's Limbo Some More" reached number 20 on the Billboard charts.

Chubby Checker's 1962 hit album "Limbo Rock"

The following video shows Chubby Checker performing "Limbo Rock" on a 1962 television show.

Here are the song's lyrics:

Every limbo boy and girl
All around the limbo world
Gonna do the limbo rock
All around the limbo clock

Jack be limbo, Jack be quick
Jack go unda limbo stick
All around the limbo clock
Hey, let's do the limbo rock

Limbo lower now
Limbo lower now
How low can you go

First you spread your limbo feet
Then you move to limbo beat
Limbo ankolimboneee,
Bend back like a limbo tree

The musical group Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass included a performance of "Limbo Rock" on their 1962 hit album The Lonely Bull (the title song reached number six on the Billboard chart).

See also my previous blog article about the movie's opening-credits sequence.