MacarenaFEB 21 2003

how to dance the macarena Does anyone do the Macarena in a non-ironic fashion anymore?

Post your recent Macarena sightings if you have them. Bonus points for non-wedding, non-Vegas, or non-children sightings...there's never any irony involved with any of those things.

There are 33 reader comments

Chris32 21 2003 9:32AM

You think the macarena is bad? Have you *seen* what's going on with that Las Ketchup song?

Maybe it's only a craze here in Japan, but the dance that accompanies the video is like the macarena without any sense of rhythm or timing.

I think in Canada some guys arranged the largest ever "spontaneous" re-enactment of the moves; at a hockey game no less.

Sigh

G Diddy41 21 2003 9:41AM

There was a small news report on the Ketchup song a while ago here in Detroit. It stated that the song would be the next macarena, and that it was spreading all over the world. However, I haven't seen or heard one iota of this claim come to fruition thus far. I think the key to becoming the next macarena is to not claim prematurely that you will be the next macarena. The only people this has ever worked for is Babe Ruth and Kid Rock.

Syd48 21 2003 9:48AM

umm, *blush*, I did the Macarena on New Year's Eve...this year. It was a party. And yes, other people saw me and joined in. I may even have picture of this random dorkiness.

Scotblog11 21 200310:11AM

VH1 ran a "best of the 90s" day recently, and the song popped up.

I honestly have to admit, I entertained my 10-month-old son to the point of tear-inducing hilarity by attempting to perform the dance.

Whilst children were involved in the making of this mirth, none were actually harmed.

Anil20 21 200310:20AM

The Macarena is featured quite prominently in the (surprisingly entertainin) recent movie The Guru. Given that its main proponent in the film is a guy from India, the land where corniness knows no shame, I'd say it is (from the perspective of the character) completely non-ironic.

Lukwam44 21 200310:44AM

The Las Ketchup craze is not just a Japan thing. As you can see from the first chart on the 2002 Google Zeitgeist, it's been all around the world already.

jkottke47 21 200310:47AM

I have somehow missed the whole Las Ketchup thing, which, as G Diddy says, was supposed to be nearly ubiquitous only a couple of months ago. Probably not a bad thing, although it will leave me unprepared for playing Trivial Pursuit - Double Ought Edition at my 50th birthday party.

Arnab51 21 200310:51AM

I don't know about Las Ketchup being the next macarena, but it's all over the playlists here in India.

As for macarena, I used to do it everyday before going out:

Check left shirt pocket for bus pass, right shirt pocket for pen, left pant pocket for handkerchief, right for wallet, check your hairstyle, and you're ready to go!

Buzz Andersen21 21 200311:21AM

Did anyone ever do the macarena in a non-ironic fashion?

Camilo29 21 200311:29AM

The Macarena was OK. But the aserejé (The Ketchups' song) is wacky.

MC14 21 200312:14PM

Wait--Kid Rock is the next Babe Ruth?

DJSUBG23 21 200312:23PM

Haven't people moved on to the "Cha Cha Cha Slide" dance by now? I went to a friend's wedding and saw it for the first time (only the black folks knew how to do it properly) and have seen it done at dance clubs too.

Brian05 21 2003 1:05PM

The Cha Cha slide i don't think caught on because it is a "ghetto" version of the electric slide, which was the original "macarena" in terms of stupid dance songs. The ketchup song was big for like a week, but then people stopped caring, or it could be that it came out at the wrong time of the year (had it been in the summer, it would've been more conducive to silly partying)

Clancy56 21 2003 1:56PM

Have you seen that Michelina's commercial in which a couple of office workers are going into the kitchen for lunch, doing the Macarena, and singing about Michelina's to the tune of Macarena? It's cheesy--not clever enough to be ironic.

alison13 21 2003 2:13PM

the busgirl at the restaurant where i work knows all the spanish words to the macarena, and can sing them while doing the dance at the same time.

it's quite impressive.

Karl21 21 2003 6:21PM

As Al Gore was responsible for developing the internet, and Al Gore was made moderately famous for doing the Macarena poorly at some democratic convention, family and friends of mine habitually do the moves from the Macarena while we're waiting for a slow web page to display.

maura49 21 2003 6:49PM

wait, people actually do something in a non-ironic way these days? stop the presses and hand me a rheingold!

paul28 21 2003 7:28PM

on a local tv station, cityTV, they videotaped some people on the street do it as a dare (well not really a dare... a camera goes around the city and films people pulling random notes with silly things to do out of a toque and the macarena was one of them).

jkottke35 21 2003 7:35PM

Maura, are you being ironic, or....

smokeymischief49 21 200310:49PM

I work with the developmentally disabled and we have one fellow that can dance to the beat of any song with quite a bit of accuracy but only the macarena.

Regardless of tempo or complexity of beat, this man can out macarena just about anyone I know, it is very charming to witness.

Michael Hanscom17 21 200311:17PM

A few years back, I was DJ'ing an all-ages dance club in Anchorage right when the Macarena broke big, so I ended up not just knowing the dance, but owning my own copy of the single with four - count them - four different remixes!

And, whether or not this is something I should actually admit in public, I was once told by a girl that I "did good things for the macarena". An unusual, but not unappreciated comment.

I'm still tempted to break into it from time to time. Usually when I'm in the middle of the dance floor at the goth/industrial club I frequent. One of these days my common sense will take leave, and I'll actually do it.

Armando44 22 2003 2:44PM

The mariachi band at El Chapala, Asheville's finest inexpensive Mexican restaurant, performs the tune as part of their regular "Macarena"/"Tequila"/"La Bamba" hit parade.

They don't do the dance, though.

Amy45 23 2003 7:45PM

I don't know if this is in the same category as weddings, but you can find the Macarena at just about any Bar/Bat Mitzvah party with a dj. Bunch of old rhythmless Jews wiggling what's left of their asses. Usually, the kids are too embarrassed to be on the same dance floor with them.

lee40 24 2003 8:40AM

on a cruise ship. over and over on a cruise ship, just last month.

my brother-in-law is convinced that he brought the macarena to the US from a cruise he took several years ago. he had never heard the song until that trip, and when he came back, it was everywhere.

semi-pro hockey loves the macarena. and there's always one guy there...he's not being silly...he really thinks he's helping the home team by doing the dance as vulgar as possible.

Poop26 24 2003 7:26PM

When my alarm clock went off this morning, the station it was tuned to was playing the Macarena song.

ess20 25 2003 9:20AM


I've never seen or heard of anyone doing the Macarena in an ironic fashion. Smug, silly, sarcastic, yes; ironic, no.

ess20 25 2003 9:20AM


I've never seen or heard of anyone doing the Macarena in an ironic fashion. Smug, silly, sarcastic, yes; ironic, no.

ess21 25 2003 9:21AM


I've never seen or heard of anyone doing the Macarena in an ironic fashion. Smug, silly, sarcastic, yes; ironic, no.

Chuck38 25 2003 3:38PM

The DJ for my sister's wedding reception ('97) had been specifically forbidden from playing "Macarena" and "YMCA", but when the playlist that my sister and I had put together ran out, those were the first two songs he played.

My comment upon hearing the first notes of it became one of the most oft-quoted when my family tells stories of the wedding: "The DJ dies."

Diana19 26 200311:19PM

I had just performed this dance the other day, completely at random. Irony or no, I still looked like quite the buffoon.

CHris18 28 200311:18AM

Just last Friday I saw a crowd of about 50 doing the Macarena at the Houston Livestock show and Rodeo BBQ Cook-off. Both my wife and I wondered why these folks hadn't moved on to the Ketchup song already.

ess09 28 2003 3:09PM

Triple-post heck!!

For the last month or so, reading through other people's posting-stutters has been driving me to distraction. Now I'm guilty of a triple-post. Is this a Movable Type issue?

As far as I know, everything people do at a barbecue cook off is a joke. Except for the cooking.

This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.

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