I never thought about it being an Australian thing, one that our kids hadn't learned. But then, I think it is also somewhat of a historical thing that many kids growing up in Australia haven't experienced either. It used to be a big social gathering for the local community, especially in rural areas. Even growing up int he 70s or 80s in a largish-town, it wasn't a common thing. Our church went through a stage of having quite a lot of them, and I've also done it at various camps and possibly at school (memory's a bit vague on that point). In any case, when our youngest heard where his brother was last Saturday night, I had some explaining to do.
Wikipedia tells me that Australian bush dance is similar to the American line dances or square dances, but actually mostly came from various folk dances in the UK and Europe.
"...in that all dancers know certain steps and execute them together. Partners are often changed in the course of the dance".Here's a video I found showing you one of the common dances:
I don't have photo or video evidence of our son dancing—but have heard from an eye-witness that he did a pretty good job. I would have loved to gone myself, but we were otherwise engaged. It's been a long time since I've attended an Australian bush dance!
I'm typing this in the departure lounge of Brisbane airport, boarding a plane soon to fly to Singapore for the week. Hopefully, I'll get some time there to write at least one blog post.
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