I sat down for most of the event. There was at least one shoulder shimmy. The two-step swaying with my friends. I would rather die than be reprimanded by my teachers for busting it down.
Wednesday Addams wasn't included. The pit of a high school dance floor is dangerous and Wednesday has a chance to take advantage of it. She sees her teachers staring at her and the people in the audience begging for a glimpse. She's Halloween's it girl but she's also a dancer and goth enthusiast.
I'm referring to a scene from the fourth episode of Wednesday if you've watched it before. The almost three-minute dance routine towards the episode's end shows Wednesday dominating her school's dance floor and turning it into a stage for her own show.
Her dance routine is a magnetic, applause-worthy spectacle, but it's also a treasure chest of Easter eggs and '80s tributes. A lot of 1980s dance footage and research were used to build the routine.
Credit: Screenshots, from left to right: Netflix / YouTube
The '80s were a time of goths and misfits that made music crazy. A lot of Wednesday's routine was inspired by goths dancing in clubs and the people behind the music. Bob Fosse's "Rich Man's Frug" added a bit of swinging '60s to her routine.
Wednesday's dance number is an homage to the '80s, when Halloween tracks made it into the club. The '80s gave us such classics as "Somebody's Watching Me", "Ghostbusters", and "Thriller", and no decade since has been able to give us anything like that anymore.
Wednesday’s dance number is a rich tribute to an '80s club scene that was as synth as it was spooky.
A dance number that was performed at the school's Rave'N is a rich tribute to an '80s club scene that was as synthesizer as it was frightening. She serves all kinds of camp, goth realness in her routine, marrying "Thriller" with "Dracula". Wednesday is like Jackson in that he does the same hands up and side to side. A human tilts his head. A shoulder shimmy goes up and down. Everything is perfect in an '80s Halloween music video.
The scene is a performance on multiple levels, as she acts out the lyrics to the song on multiple levels. The song, another '80s hit about a teenager turning into a monster, lets Wednesday embody the creature, being called to the dance floor one beat at a time, dipping in and out of frame, and popping up where you least expect her. If you put the scene's song into any of the decade's Halloween hits, it would flow perfectly.
Credit: From left to right: Abc-Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock / Netflix / Melinda Sue Gordon/Orion/Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock
The dance number beams with a fun, blink and you will miss it. The split second dance move is similar to the one Lisa Loring did in The Addams Family Show. In a 1966 episode of the show, Wednesday taught Lurch how to dance and the rest is Friday night history.
Wednesday is teaching Lurch "The Drew" in the episode of "Lurch's Grand Romance" The swinging '60s jive is adorable. She doesn't want you to think you're square? While shuffling around, wednesday asked You can see if you can catch her quick Easter egg if you watch the prom scene again.
Christina Ricci was an absolute dancing queen in the 1991 film, The Addams Family, where she danced with her cousin at Uncle Fester. Ricci keeps a straight face even though he is on the verge of flying into the air. The legacy of Ricci's lavish dancing lives on even though she didn't include a Wednesday dance in her routine. Being queens of the night and painting every dance floor with their name is what we do on Wednesdays.
Credit: Netflix
Wednesday's dance scene emboldens her with a certain Joie de vivre, and characterizes her as a kid who grew up watching parents like Gomez and Addams. Wednesday is the first day to address the Addams' Latin heritage and it subtly pays homage to her roots.
Wednesday dances a salsa snap in honor of her culture and the many nights she watched her parents dance. If you have watched any previous Addams Family works, you will know that Gomez and Morticia never stray away from an opportunity to dance, music or not, with Gomez's "cara mia" still in the air. She is proud of her heritage and family's love for both the macabre and a good dance.
The show's take on a modern Wednesday Addams really shines through in her prom's dance scene. Wednesday has always been a kid with quick wit and one-liners, but in Wednesday, we get to see her as a teenager with her own interests and sense of self. Her dancing speaks to a new Wednesday. We can imagine Wednesday watching the music video alone in her room, or dancing with her parents to the song "La Llorona" I feel like an Addams house party goes hard and Wednesday's dance routine makes me want to go.
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