Papaya Dance: Clap, Clap, Shuffle, Shuffle, Point Your Fingers In The Air
No, we are not talking about the clap-clap-point-point strategy of Hillary Clinton. Good Morning America calls it the latest international craze that started in the Philippines. Introducing the Papaya Dance.
It began as a gimmick on the Philippine noontime T.V. gameshow “Game Ka Na Ba (Are You Game)?“, where a correct answer may signal the whole audience to stand up and dance. Filipino choreographer Mel Feliciano together with actor and gameshow host Edu Manzano took an old gay-disco-funk hit from the 1970s, “Papaya”, by Polish jazz vocalist Urszula Dudziack and turned it into a global dance fad–much like the Macarena craze.
Host Edu Manzano said, “The song just kinds of tickles people in the right way… It brings a glint through your eyes, a smile to your face, and a kind of sway to your hips.”
The Papaya Dance was launched in “Game Ka Na Ba (Are You Game)?” on April 2007 and became so popular that by August, Manzano had already released an entire dance album titled “Edu Manzano: World’s Greatest Dance Steps” with “Papaya” as its carrier single
March 27th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
If Good Morning America says it’s a craze, then it must be a craze.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
So this is what OMB chairmen do in their freetime!
June 10th, 2008 at 10:35 am
I did not know Edu Manzano was ghetto. What’s up with the hand gestures, yo’?
June 10th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Yeah, he’s like 53 years old and acting hip. But then again, I guess it doesn’t matter if you can papaya dance.