Hitch hike was a dance craze

Dance Craze

Dance Craze is a 1981 British documentary film about the English 2 Tone music genre.The film was directed by Joe Massot, who originally wanted to do a film only about the band Madness, who he met during their first US tour. Massot later changed his plans to include the whole 2 Tone movement...

 of 1960s. It started with the 1963 Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....

's hit "Hitch Hike" and refueled with the gold disc of Vanity Fare

Vanity Fare

Vanity Fare were a UK pop/rock group formed in 1966, best remembered for their million selling song, "Hitchin' a Ride," which became a worldwide hit in 1970.-Career:...

, "Hitchin' a Ride

Hitchin' a Ride (Vanity Fare song)

"Hitchin' a Ride" is a song written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander issued as a single by the UK-based band, Vanity Fare in late 1969. It reached #16 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1970, but was a bigger hit in the United States, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1970. ...

" (1969).

The dance is extremely simple and is based on the hitchhiker's gesture: waving the stuck out thumb. The classical Motown pattern is three times right thumb to the right over the shoulder, clap hands, three times left thumb to the left over the shoulder, clap hands. All this is accompanied by the shimmy

Shimmy

A shimmy is a dance move in which the body is held still, except for the shoulders, which are alternated back and forth. When the right shoulder goes back, the left one comes forward. It may help to hold the arms out slightly bent at the elbow, and when the shoulders are moved, keep the hands in...

 body ripples popular at these times.

Since these times the dance move firmly established itself in various line, club and jazz dances, especially disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

, and may be seen, e.g., in Hairspray

Hairspray (2007 film)

Hairspray is a 2007 musical film produced by Kolaja Productions and distributed by New Line Cinema. It was released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2007. The film is an adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on John...

's dance films.

The style of the move depends on the dance and may be accompanied with steps back or sideways or hip movements.