There is not much better on an early Tuesday evening than a throwback to the legendary rock n’ roller, Elvis Presley. And that’s exactly what we are here to bring you on this day.
Elvis Presley was an extremely talented and gifted musician. We all know that he had an incredible voice, but he also instrument skills, acting skills, and he was a great dancer.
In fact, the way Elvis Presley danced turned heads in every direction. The iconic shaking of his hips drove all of his fans crazy — especially the ladies. However, it wasn’t always rainbows and flowers for Presley. In fact, he actually faced quite a bit of scrutiny over his dance moves.
The Elvis Presley Estate’s official Instagram page made note of just that in their most recent post.
“Although Elvis fans loved his dance moves, he had to deal with some backlash from his choice of movies! #ElvisPresley #King #RockNRoll #Dance #Move #Icon #Rhythm #Music”
Not Everyone Loved the Dance Moves of Elvis Presley
When the late Elvis Presley first began to show off his hip and leg-shaking dance moves, no one knew how to act or what to think about it. The King was a pioneer of rock n’ roll music in many different ways, and his dance moves were one of them. It was the first time people had ever seen someone move the way Presley did, so there were a lot of mixed reactions.
Many fans actually considered Elvis’ moves on stage to be vulgar and inappropriate. He was particularly criticized by those in the religious community — they said his moves showcased “vulgarity” and “animalism.” They were concerned that young people across the country would engage in juvenile delinquency. As a matter of fact, the Catholic Church once released its weekly organ with a headline reading, “Beware Elvis Presley.”
Elvis Presley once spoke out about that and more in a 1956 TV Guide interview. He also said he hated being called “Elvis the Pelvis.”
“And another thing. I don’t roll my — what they call ‘pelvic gyrations’ — my pelvis has nothing to do with what I do,” he said. “I just — I get rhythm with the music, jump around to it because I enjoy what I’m doing.”
Elvis made it clear that he wasn’t trying to be vulgar with his dance moves. It was just the way his body got in tune with the music.
“I’m not trying to be vulgar, not trying to stimulate sex. I just do a lot of wigglin’ and quiverin’, but I never do a bump or grind. I can’t sit still when I sing, so the kids can’t sit still.”
