# Rock the Boat Dance
Rock the Boat Dance is a wedding floor routine from Ireland and the UK where guests sit in a long line and sway their arms to The Hues Corporation's 1973 song. Local dancers date it to the 1970s or 1980s[1], but American audiences only discovered it in March 2019, after season two, episode four of Derry Girls aired the routine on Channel 4[2]. By August, the show's Netflix release had Irish Twitter users posting old wedding photos as proof the tradition was real[6].
## Origin
Online documentation starts on February 17th, 2007, when Urban75 forum user brianx asked whether anyone remembered a sit-down wedding dance from the 1970s, describing the same arms-rocking routine[1]. Within the same year, Irish YouTubers uploaded wedding clips showing the dance in full[7]. On February 28th, 2011, a crowd in Galway lined up for a world-record attempt, and in 2016 the Belfast Telegraph reported that thousands repeated the routine on a Belfast street for St. Patrick's Day[3].
- **Platform:** Irish/UK weddings (tradition) / Twitter (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Unknown
- **Date:** 2019
## Overview
Guests form a line sitting on the floor, each person tucked up against the back of the one in front, and sway their arms side to side like rowers. The soundtrack is almost always 'Rock the Boat' by The Hues Corporation, a 1974 US number one that caught on at Irish weddings alongside other mid-century party records[1].
Lines can run the length of a function room, and outdoor gatherings have attempted Guinness World Records for the longest Rock the Boat Dance formation[3]. Videos uploaded by Irish wedding guests throughout the 2000s captured the same choreography at receptions around the country[7].
## How to Use
No props or costumes are needed. Guests sit single-file along the dance floor, each one against the back of the person ahead, and sway their arms left and right in time with 'Rock the Boat'[4]. Pace picks up with the chorus, and the line can snake around a function room. Outdoor attempts at Guinness World Records organize hundreds of participants in a street or square[3].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Rock the Boat Dance?
A sit-down line dance performed at weddings in Ireland and the UK to The Hues Corporation's 'Rock the Boat,' with participants seated single-file and swaying their arms in unison[2].
### Where did Rock the Boat Dance come from?
Guests trace it to Irish and British weddings of the 1970s or 1980s, with the earliest online discussion appearing on the Urban75 forum in February 2007[1].
### What does Rock the Boat Dance mean?
It is a party-floor routine, not a message, and Irish users describe it as 'a rite of passage at Irish weddings'[5].
### How do you use Rock the Boat Dance?
Guests sit on the floor in a line, each pressed against the back of the person in front, and rock their arms side to side to the song[4].
### Is Rock the Boat Dance still popular?
It stayed a wedding staple in Ireland and reached a wider international audience in 2019 after Derry Girls aired the routine on Channel 4 and Netflix[2].
## References
1. [https://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/the-rowing-dance-song.125012/]()
2. [https://twitter.com/FionaRoulston/status/1110655060919373824]()
3. [https://www.independent.ie/videos/irish-news/video-massive-rock-the-boat-on-belfast-street-on-paddys-day-34551792.html]()
4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/rock-the-boat-dance]()
5. [https://twitter.com/sarahisnothere/status/1110655525602148352]()
6. [https://twitter.com/kittypotpie85/status/1159088107234439168]()
7. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0_5O0sVqlc]()
8. [https://twitter.com/rosielanners/status/1110654892354531329]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/rock-the-boat-dance
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