Running man (dance)
The Running Man, originally an African dance, is a street and fad dance that originated between late 1986–early 1987 and was performed notably by Janet Jackson in the video of her hit "Rhythm Nation" and subsequently on the Rhythm Nation World Tour and various live performances. An early performance of the dance was in a Fela Kuti concert called "Cross Examination" by one of his back-up dancers/ex-wife in Berlin in 1978. Additionally, it was performed by MC Hammer, Bobby Brown, Milli Vanilli, and Vanilla Ice during their live concert shows and music videos, but achieved renewed popularity in the 2000s. It is also used in some forms of the Melbourne Shuffle dance style. It consists of a hopping or sliding step done in such a way at speed to simulate a runner.
The Running Man achieved celebrity focus in 2007 with Britney Spears doing an homage to it during her and Scarlett Johansson stating of her dancing in an interview with Seventeen that, "I do a great Running Man."
2008 saw the re-release of "Something Good" by the Utah Saints. The video, set in 1989, comically suggests that the Running Man craze started in Cardiff, Wales. It features many people dancing the Running Man and ends with the "rights" to the dance being signed over to MC Hammer under duress.
