Who was the best dancer in the 80s…

This image asks a fun nos­tal­gic ques­tion: “Who was the best dancer in the 80s?” and shows:

Kevin Bacon (from Foot­loose, 1984) John Tra­vol­ta (known for Sat­ur­day Night Fever, 1977 — icon­ic, though it’s a late 70s film) Patrick Swayze (from Dirty Danc­ing, 1987)

Quick Break­down:

Kevin Bacon: Raw, rebel­lious ener­gy. His Foot­loose per­for­mance inspired an entire gen­er­a­tion to dance. John Tra­vol­ta: Tech­ni­cal­ly amaz­ing and styl­ish, espe­cial­ly with dis­co moves — but most icon­ic for the late 70s, not the 80s. Patrick Swayze: Pro­fes­sion­al­ly trained in bal­let and mod­ern dance — grace­ful, pow­er­ful, roman­tic. Dirty Danc­ing became leg­endary.

So, who wins?

Tech­ni­cal­ly and styl­is­ti­cal­ly, Patrick Swayze was the best all-around dancer of the 80s among the three — espe­cial­ly because of his real dance back­ground and unfor­get­table role in Dirty Danc­ing.

If we rank Kevin Bacon, John Tra­vol­ta, and Patrick Swayze by pop­u­lar­i­ty as dancers in the 80s, here’s a sol­id break­down based on cul­tur­al impact, box office suc­cess, and long-term fan recog­ni­tion:

🏆 1. Patrick Swayze

“Dirty Danc­ing” (1987) was a mas­sive cul­tur­al phe­nom­e­non. He became a sex sym­bol, and “Nobody puts Baby in a cor­ner” became icon­ic. The movie’s sound­track was also a smash hit, boost­ing his pop­u­lar­i­ty. He had both main­stream and crit­i­cal appeal.

🥈 2. John Tra­vol­ta

While Sat­ur­day Night Fever (1977) was from the 70s, his dance image car­ried into the 80s. Stay­ing Alive (1983) tried to revive his dis­co fame, and while not as big, it kept him in the spot­light. His dance per­sona was already leg­endary, so he main­tained pop­u­lar­i­ty even with­out a major 80s dance role.

🥉 3. Kevin Bacon

Foot­loose (1984) was a huge hit, and the dance scenes are mem­o­rable. But unlike the oth­ers, Bacon wasn’t known pri­mar­i­ly as a dancer — he was an actor who danced for a role. Still, he became an 80s icon because of it.

Kevin Bacon

John Tra­vol­ta

Patrick Swayze