Be The Dancing Queen With ABBA You Can Dance

Let's get one thing out of the way up front: I'm not the most coordinated person you'll meet. Far from it. I can usually trip over my own feet on a smooth flat surface. So when it comes to dancing, I'm generally the one hiding in the back to avoid looking like a fool or taking out a group of dancers with one wrong move.

The rise of dancing video games, however, has given me the chance to practice my dance skills a little more in the comfort (and privacy) of my own home. But when the time comes to play a game as a group, I suddenly get shy and encourage everyone else to go before me.

I've found one dance game, however, that simply needs a party. Why? One word: ABBA.

If you know nothing of ABBA, then you are likely under thirty years old or avoid musical theatre. ABBA was one of the great disco groups of the 1970's and their music has persisted well beyond that decade. Even in college in the mid-90's, we could count on the song Dancing Queen being played at every sorority dance. Eventually a Broadway musical was made using only songs from ABBA, and Mamma Mia! quickly became a hit that still tours the US today. (It's actually in Columbus right now!)

When I received my copy of ABBA You Can Dance for Wii, I expected it to be like many of the other dance games available. And in many ways, it is. You can select the song you want to dance to (all ABBA, of course), choose up to four players to dance, and then try your best to match the dance moves on the screen for a high score.

But this is ABBA. These songs are party songs - disco songs that you can't help but move to and sing along with. When you've got songs like that, dancing by yourself is a crime - you need a group.

To properly try out this game, we went to my brother-in-law's house for a proper dance party with friends. I also received a small gift to help set the mood:

Disco time!

The result? We had a blast! We won't be winning any dance competitions anytime soon, but we laughed and sang and danced ourselves silly. 

Even Mira joined in for some dance time.

Some of the songs feature a single set of dance moves, while others have you select a character to follow and your dance moves won't always match those of your fellow dancers, giving you the feel of a choreographed performance. This is especially fun in Mini-Musical mode, where you can live out your Broadway dreams by dancing in a sock-hop style musical. Adding a USB microphone lets you sing along if dancing isn't your style.

While we weren't dancing queens, with practice we did have a few moments of being in sync. Very short moments, of course.

ABBA You Can Dance is a great Wii game for all ages, and perfect for any party. Whether you're a loyal ABBA fan or have never heard them, the songs are fun, the dancing is challenging without being too difficult, and there's plenty of entertainment to keep the party going for hours.


Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own. And I have to brag that I was AWESOME at Super Trouper.