Duckwalk

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The duckwalk ( German  duck walk ) is a dance show element in live performances by guitarists ( English stage and guitar move ). He was best known through rock 'n' roll pioneer Chuck Berry . Some artists, such as Angus Young , guitarist for the Australian hard rock band AC / DC , included the duckwalk in their standard program of the stage show.

description

During the show, the guitarist hops slowly forward in a half-crouching position on one bent leg, stretches the other leg forward and swings the lower leg up and down in the air. Swinging up and down the outstretched leg supports the hopping movement of the other leg. Meanwhile, the guitar is played with the instrument neck pointing forward, the body resting on the hip on the side. In another version, Chuck Berry walks from one side of the stage to the other side of the stage, quasi "crouched" with both legs bent. The resulting movement looks something like a duck's waddling in profile, hence the name. Chuck Berry also sometimes moved his head back and forth like a bird to increase the effect of the movement.

origin

In general, Chuck Berry is considered to be the inventor of the duck walk . According to his own statement in an interview with the music magazine Rolling Stone , Berry presented the Duckwalk at a show in New York City in 1956 . He did this to hide creases in his silk suit, as he usually only had to show the audience from one side in profile when performing the duckwalk . “There was applause,” recalls Berry, “so I did it again and again.” According to the autobiography of Chuck Berry, the duckwalk was created during his childhood, when he performed it - without a guitar - for the entertainment of his parents' guests.

However, the origin of this “dance step” is also traced back to T-Bone Walker , who combined his guitar playing with many dance interludes as early as the mid-1930s.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ : FOCUS about Chuck Berry and the Duckwalk
  2. ↑ Chuck Berry: The Autobiography, Harmony Books (September 1987), p. 6.
  3. ↑ : T-Bone Walker and the Duckwalk on www.bluessource.de

literature

  • Nik Cohn: Awopbopaloobop Alopbhaben . Reprint of the original edition from 1969. Minerva, London 1996. ISBN 978-0-8021-3830-9 , p. 36. (English)

Web links