The standard highschool dance of the 1950s was an informal, school-chaperoned occasion at which compliant teens removed their footwear and danced of their socks to protect the gymnasium ground. A brand new model of rowdy pop music called rock 'n' roll, mixed with the liberating freedom to remove their sneakers whereas dancing, gave teenagers the inspiration to jitterbug, shake, rattle and roll in ways that went far past the dance moves from their mother and father' technology. Some historians credit score the Beat motion with sowing the seeds of the flower energy generation of the 1960s. The beatniks' dark berets, sunglasses and goatees have been a far cry from the lengthy hair, colorful clothes and psychedelic consciousness that got here to define the era that followed the 1950s. But the alternative, rebellious lifestyles promoted by the hippie era owe a debt of inspiration to the subversive creativity that the Beatniks promoted. For the 1950s, that came within the type of a black-clad, poetry-reading set: the beatniks. The Twist, although related to the period, really got here late to the occasion: It originated in a Hank Ballard song in 1959, however didn't capture the spotlight till 1960, when music juggernaut Dick Clark released a recording of it by 17-yr-outdated singer Chubby Checker.