Minnie’s Rockabilly Stroll How To

Do you love retro? Rockabilly pulls the best of the past into the present. But who would be a 50’s cartoon princess? Why Minnie Mouse fits the bill for a retro rockabilly stroll how to.

About Minnie Mouse

Minnie graced the silver screen first as Minerva mouse in 1928. Even though Minnie was not an official Disney princess, she was always a princess to Mickey. She also starred as a princess in two cartoons. She was first featured as a Princess in 1933 in ‘Ye Olden Days’, and again in the ‘3 Musketeers’ (2004).

Princess Minnie loved animals. Her two pets were Fifi the dog, and later Figaro the kitten from Pinocchio. Although Micky and Minnie never officially married, their voice actors did marry one another. They were a mouse match made in heaven.

Fashion icon

By the 1940’s Minnie mouse’s redesign set trends. Minnie changed from a flapper to a more conservative polka dot dress with a bow. Her new dress influenced the pop-culture. Musicians like Frank Sinatra sang about polka dots and by the 50’s Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, and Audrey Hepburn sported spots. It is not surprising that Minnie received her star on National Polka Dot Day. This mouse knows style.

The Stroll

The Micky Mouse Club was a hit from 1955 to 1959, paralleling the popular Stroll dance. This was a 1957 mixer dance with two lines of dancers facing one another and the top couple dances down the center. By the 1970’s there was a rockabilly & stroll revival in movies like ‘American Graffiti’ & ‘Grease’. Just like Minnie Mouse morphed, the stroll mixer morphed into a line dance. The line dance version is now known as the Rockabilly Stroll.

Rockabilly Stroll How To

Step tap 3 times, right, left, right. (Step right, tap left, step left, tap right, step right, tap left, count 1,2,3,4,5,6)
Grapevine and tap left and right. (Side left, cross right behind left, side left, tap right, 1,2,3,4 Side right, cross left behind right, side right, tap left 5,6,7,8.)
Step Tap Back 2 times, Left & Right. (Back left, tap right, back right, tap left 1,2,3,4)
Chasse forward tap and turn ¼ turn to your right. (forward left, close right to left, forward left, tap right next to left turning ¼ turn to your right shoulder backward 5,6,7,8)
Begin from the top (note, each movement is one count, or beat)

Song:

“I Wanna Bop” Billy Harlan. Harlan is composer and bass player tapped by Jim Reeves to play in his band in 1958 recording “Schoolhouse Rock” and “I Wanna Bop”. From there Jimmy Harlan faded into obscurity until, in 2010 the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend brought Jimmy out of retirement. He found fame many decades after his original recordings were made.

Location

To pick my film location I did a search of Colorado to find historic diners. Rosie’s Diner came up in an article “5 authentic 50’s diners Denver.” After going to dinner at Rosie’s I was convinced this was the perfect location for Minnie Mouse’s Rockabilly stroll.

About Rosie’s Diner

Rosie’s Diner at 14061 Aurora Colorado had far from humble beginnings. This Paramount stainless steel modular diner started as the “silver dollar diner” in New Ferry, New Jersey. It’s interior 50’s charm includes diner booths, and jukebox at each booth that plays two tunes for the price of a quarter, and classis diner art and memorabilia.

How did Rosie’s get its name? This diner was featured in the bounty commercials where a waitress in the diner named Rosie would be the quicker picker up. Owner Sam Dehghani kept the tradition alive and named this 1950’s retro diner after its famous commercial waitress Rosie.

Holly Collins
WEDDING DANCE instruction
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