From the 1960s through to the late 1980s, organised group dancing formed a routine part of life in New South Wales public schools. These dances were not extracurricular entertainment but embedded educational practices, delivered through physical education, music, and community engagement programs. They were designed to promote coordination, social cohesion, obedience to instruction, and shared cultural literacy.
The dances themselves—simple, repetitive, and collectively performed—were selected for their accessibility rather than artistic merit. Whether drawn from folk traditions, children’s action songs, or popular music adapted for group movement, these routines were intended to standardise participation and minimise difference. For many students, they became enduring bodily memories tied to school halls, assemblies, and compulsory participation.
Key Points
- Community education origins - Post-war education policy emphasised “whole child” development. Dance was framed as a tool for physical health, cooperation, rhythm, and social discipline, particularly in regional and suburban schools.
- Folk dancing in schools - Structured folk dances—often simplified versions of European or Anglo-Celtic traditions—were widely taught during the 1960s and 1970s. These emphasised:
- Group formation
- Following set patterns
- Synchronisation over expression
- Action dances and compliance - Songs such as the Hokey Pokey required students to follow explicit verbal instructions in real time. The educational value lay less in dance skill than in:
- Listening
- Immediate response
- Collective conformity
- Popular music adaptation - By the late 1970s and 1980s, schools increasingly adopted simplified routines set to contemporary music, most famously Nutbush City Limits. These dances were:
- Performed en masse
- Taught identically across schools
- Often compulsory regardless of student interest
- Embodied memory - Unlike classroom instruction, dance education was physical and public. Many former students retain strong emotional and sensory memories—ranging from enjoyment to discomfort—linked to forced participation, visibility, and peer scrutiny.
Explore Online
- **Researchers trace Nutbush origins to NSW education department; distribution as a teacher-training aid (1975)** - ABC News (May 2024)
- **Folk Dance Footnotes – Hokey Pokey history**
Walks through the folk/dance history of the Hokey Pokey and Cokey, including early 20th-century origins. - **Portable Press – What it’s all about (Hokey Pokey origins)**
Deep cultural history and claims about who wrote the versions that became widespread (good for historical depth). - **ECU PDF (open access full text)** — Jon Stratton (2024) analysis explicitly noting school PE uptake around \~1975
Further Reading
Allmark & Stratton (peer-reviewed, 2025) — Doing the Nutbush: how Australia got its very own line dance (Continuum / Cultural Studies). This is the big one for “schools + why it spread nationally.”
Gorzanelli (2018, PhD, University of Sydney) — The three-legged race: A history of physical education, school sport, and health education in NSW public schools (1880–2012). This is your best “dance-in-PE-context in NSW” backbone reference.
Hart, Jean — Dance (teaching resource; NSW; folk dancing study/teaching primary) via NLA record. This is a direct “schools taught folk dance” artefact rather than a modern blog recollection.
Ethnomusicology and Australian Schools (Informit PDF) — includes discussion linking music education, departments of education, and folk dance in schooling contexts (good for “folk dance was there, institutionally”).