The Real Inspirations Behind Wednesday's Dance Scene
If you haven't already started watching Netflix's Wednesday, what are you waiting for? Wednesday has broken records these last two weeks with hours streamed on Netflix, and it's clear that everyone is equally obsessed. One of the most iconic moments from the first season is Wednesday Addams' dance sequence at the Rave'n Dance. This scene, specifically, has taken the internet by storm, but why? With the build-up of Wednesday's personality up until the dance in Episode 4 "Woe What A Night", it's presumed that she would tackle the dance with her classic cold, stand-offish vibe and not participate in anything mainstream. Instead, viewers get to see Wednesday cutting loose on the dance floor, still stone-faced of course, in a very on-brand goth dress showcasing some incredibly unique moves.
Some might be surprised to hear that Jenna Ortega choreographed that dance entirely on her own just a few days before Tim Burton filmed it. Jenna Ortega spent her time researching the perfect moves to encapsulate who Wednesday is and bringing goth culture into popular light where it hasn't been before. With the sound of "Goo Goo Muck" by The Cramps streaming through the speakers, Wednesday continues to showcase that she doesn't care what others think of her and will continue to march to the beat of her own punk drum.
The Frug and Bob Fosse
One of the inspirations came from Bob Fosse in his broadway musical Sweet Charity. The specific part of the musical that Ortega derived inspiration from was entitled "The Rich Man's Frug". In the 1960s, The Frug was a dance craze that came about from the Chicken dance, and primarily involved the dancers using just lateral body movements and as they got tired, using less energy by only using their hips to dance.
Moving forward to the 70s and 80s, Ortega found some other ideas for moves from Siouxsie Sioux, of Siouxsie and the Banshees. The British rock band was pivotal in the emergence of gothic rock music and dance and use similar types of moves to The Frug. Siouxsie still remains a goth icon, and watching 80s goth club dance videos will show the influence she and The Frug had on the culture. An often misunderstood niche community stood behind Wednesday after the release of this episode, stating that her moves nailed the aesthetic. She nailed it so well, in fact, that her dance has gone viral on TikTok. Users of TikTok have started a new trend and challenge to recreate the dance scene and so far, there are over 14.6 billion views for the #wednesday.
The Dance Pulls From The Previous Addams Family
Observant viewers and fans have also pointed out that Ortega took a few moves out of the original Addams' book. During her dance, Wednesday performs moves just like one of the most iconic black and white video clips from The Addams Family (1966) where we see Wednesday (Lisa Loring) and Lurch (Ted Cassidy) getting down and kooky in their family room. That dance is from the episode "Lurch's Grand Romance" and they called the dance in that episode "The Drew". There's also a move that could be seen as homage to the same show from Gomez dancing, played by John Astin.
Some other notable inspirations come from Denis Lavant in the final dance scene of Beau Travail and Lene Lovich, another late 70s and early 80s British artist who helped to popularize new wave and gothic rock music.
Wednesday's Dance Has Become a Part of Her Transformation
Jenna Ortega admitted how challenging this was to put together and despite all the positive feedback, felt a little insecure in choreographing the entire thing. Fans, on the other hand, have attributed this moment in the season to being the pivotal moment that Wednesday truly became Wednesday, and Ortega became her fully. In addition to digging graves, stabbing, and not blinking, we can add cutting up the dance floor to special skills that Wednesday Addams has.
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