Limbo (dance)

Encyclopedia : L : LI : LIM : Limbo (dance)

Limbo is a novelty dance that actually originated on the island of Trinidad. (Hawaii is often confused with limbo).. The dancer moves to a Caribbean rhythm, then leans backward and dances under a horizontal stick without touching it. When several dancers compete, the stick is gradually lowered until only one dancer - who has not touched the stick or the floor - remains.

In recent years, limbo dancing has been conducted as a social "icebreaker" game for tourists at Caribbean and other tropical resorts. The winning dancer often receives a prize.

The name comes directly from the English of Trinidad; [Merriam-Webster] lists the etymology as "English of Trinidad & Barbados; akin to Jamaican English limba to bend, from English limber" (see definition #2 at http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?limbo).

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.