Rock the Boat Dance

About

Rock the Boat Dance refers to a popular wedding dance performed by wedding attendees in Ireland and the UK to the song "Rock the Boat" by The Hues Corporation. The dance involves siting on the ground in a line closely to one another and rocking their hands back and forth. The dance originated sometime in the 1980s but became an internationally known phenomenon following a 2019 episode of "Derry Girls" on Netflix in which the main characters participate in the dance. Following the episode, Twitter users in America began discussing the dance.

Origin

On February 17th, 2007, Urban75^[1] user brianx posted to a forum asking about the boat dance suggesting that it's been performed as early as the 1970s by saying,

"Can someone please help me remember the title of a song. I was in a disco in Liverpool in the late 70s early 80sish and a record came on that required people to sit on the floor in a sort of conga and do rowing boat actions, there was also a lot of arm waving and swaying from side to side. As this took place when sitting on the floor it was the perfect dance for someone like me who can't dance but likes to have a go. Anyone know the song? Any other good dances for people who can't dance you can think of? Sitting down to a James' song doesn't count as that's not dancing but taking things too literally."

Spread

In 2007, Various YouTubers posted videos of the rock the boat dance being performed at weddings in Ireland (shown below). Though, the dance may have been performed at weddings in other countries around that time, there is no online record of any.

On February 28th, 2011, in Galway many people joined together to break the world record for longest rock the boat line (shown below). The have been many more attempts at breaking the Guiness world record since. For example, on March 16th, 2016, Belfast Telegraph^[6] reported that thousands gathered to participate in a rock the boat dance line on Saint Patrick's Day.

Derry Girls Episode

On March 5th, 2019, season two of Derry Girls began airing on Channel 4. On March 26th, Twitter users began commenting on the main characters performing the rock the boat dance in episode four of season two. Twitter user @FionaRoulston^[2] posted, "Howling at #DerryGirls doing rock the boat! 😂 The highlight of any 90s wedding!" (shown below, left) and @rosielanners^[3] tweeted, "absolutely BUZZIN to see rock the boat finally getting the recognition it deserves on national tv thanks to derry girls" (shown below, right).

On March 26th, @sarahisnothere^[4] tweeted, "For those who are confused, Rock The Boat is basically a rite of passage at Irish weddings. Our weddings have late bars that can run until 2am. We love a dance. And sure a dance we can do on our arses is even better. #DerryGirls" (shown below). The tweet gained over 420 likes in four months.

On August 2nd, 2019, season 2 was released to Netflix. On August 4th, Twitter user @carovaldez93, tweeted, "Dear #irish people from the internet, is the choreography of “Rock the boat” where people sit on the floor from #DerryGirls a real thing? I NEED TO KNOW" and included a GIF from the TV series (shown below). The tweet garnered over 420 likes in five days.

Various Twitter users responded with photos of wedding attendees performing the dance in Ireland. On August 7th, @kittypotpie85^[5] replied to @carovaldez93 saying, "I’m feeling incredibly embarrassed now for all of Ireland for some reason lol. I had no idea we owned this and now that I think about it, it’s the weirdest tradition" (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References