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moshing
EntityQ1463560· pop 29· linked from 847 articles

Also known as slam dancing, slamming

Moshing (also known as slam dancing or simply slamming) is a style of dancing in which participants push or slam into each other. Taking place in an area called the mosh pit (often simply the pit), it is typically performed to aggressive styles of live music such as punk rock and heavy metal.

Key facts

Dance.name
Moshing
Dance.image
TH - Mosh Pit (5370150223).jpg
Dance.image_size
300px
Dance.caption
Audience members moshing to American thrash metal band Toxic Holocaust
Dance.origin
Late 1970s, Huntington Beach and Long Beach, California, United States

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Image
Moshpit2.jpg
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Commons category
Moshing
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Article

10 sections
Contents
  • Etymology
  • History
  • Origins and early developments (1970s–1980s)
  • Mainstream crossover (1990s–present)
  • Variations
  • Physical properties of emergent behavior
  • Opposition, criticism and controversy
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

Moshing (also known as slam dancing or simply slamming) is a style of dancing in which participants push or slam into each other. Taking place in an area called the mosh pit (often simply the pit), it is typically performed to aggressive styles of live music such as punk rock and heavy metal.

The dance style originated in the southern California hardcore punk scene, particularly Huntington Beach and Long Beach around 1978. Through the 1980s it spread to the hardcore scenes of Washington, D.C., Boston and New York where it developed local variants. In New York, the crossover between the city's hardcore scene and its metal scene led to moshing incorporating itself into metal beginning around 1985. In the 1990s, the success of grunge music led to moshing entering mainstream understanding and soon being incorporated into genres like electronic dance music and hip hop.

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