Some songs really bring out the dancer in you. When these tracks beckon, you feel compelled to  let go of every ounce of shyness and just go crazy on the dance floor. It helps if the song playing has its own dance routine. When that happens, you feel in control since you don’t have to rack your brains to come up with steps that make you look cool, and not like you’re having a minor stroke. That’s probably why Village People’s Y.M.C.A is so popular and so is the Nae Nae song by Silento. Here are 5 other such popular tracks that we’ve loved all these years. Read on to discover some cool trivia behind these songs. Also, we’ve added some really cool dance videos to help you learn some new moves. Enjoy!

Macarena

This Spanish dance hit became a staple at every celebration. The moves are so simple, it’s almost like performing a couple of aerobic dance steps. Also, it looks best when performed in a group, making it the perfect move for bashful dancers. One cannot imagine doing the Macarena any other way but with these trademark steps!

Forgotten how to do the Macarena? Here’s a short video to remind you.

The Twist – Chubby Checkers

This dance move is a favourite with dancers and non-dancers alike, because it’s one of the easiest moves to pull off. All you need to do is twist, swivel your hips in time with the music. If thinking of it as a dance move makes you want to distance yourself from it, you can think of it as a move to put out a rather stubborn cigarette, or something you do when you’re trying to dry your back using a towel. The Twist was first performed by Hank Ballard, an RnB singer who came up with the song ‘The Twist,’ after seeing people enjoy this 60s dance move. However, it took a Chubby Checker version to really propel this song and dance move to fame.

Here are some of the best twists in the history of twisting. Watch and learn.

Walk Like an Egyptian – The Bangles

The Bangles made it cool to stick a camera in the face of dancing pedestrians’ way before Pharrell Williams came along with that ‘Happy’ idea. In the video, we see people on the streets of New York striking an old pose – one that was a hit with the Pharaohs of Egypt. This pose, which can be found quite easily on Egyptians relics, requires the hands to be positioned quite like the arms of the ‘Swastika.’ If you aren’t familiar with Hindu iconography, imagine a person miming the nursery rhyme ‘I am a teapot.’ Thinking you are a teapot will surely help you walk like an Egyptian.

Here’s a cool video with an animated character performing some kickass moves to this song.  The original song video is another good place to pick up the trademark ‘walk like an Egytian’ step.

Vogue – Madonna

As Madonna croons in her Pop Queen voice “Common Vogue! Let your body move to the music,” a group of well-groomed, slick young men make sharp hand gestures in time to the music. The lyrics are interspersed with close ups of these gentlemen striking runway model-like poses, facial expressions included. What these fine lads are doing is ‘voguing,’ a dance style that emerged in the streets of Harlem in the 1980s. Inspired by the graceful gait of runway beauties, young gay black men created a dance style that mimicked the runway flamboyance of models. Called ‘Voguing’ after the fashion magazine ‘Vogue,’ this dance style features exaggerated hand movements, smooth spins, and poses based on those struck by catwalking models. Madonna’s pop hit brought this forgotten dance style back into popular consciousness in the 90s.

Gangnam Style

Psy’s Gangnam Style broke the internet when it released in June 2012. Everyone from little kids to grandmas enjoyed mimicking the horse-riding-like dance move popularized by Psy. Quite frankly, it’s impossible to try any other dance move with this song. It’s almost like Michael Jackson’s iconic Thriller move, where one couldn’t imagine replacing zombie-like walk with anything else.

This hilarious video of wizard Gandalf doing the Gandalf style, sorry, Gangnam style is pure gold.