The trailer for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie begins with the doll (played by Margot Robbie) describing her modest plans for that evening: “A giant blowout party with all the Barbies and planned choreography and a bespoke song.” Sure enough, there’s a big, pink, extremely sequined party, soundtracked by Dua Lipa’s Dance the Night. The song provides the Barbies’ slick choreography with a gesture that’s very familiar to pop music fans: the disco double clap.
Like the disco string sound, gated reverb or the orchestra stab, it is traceable through generations of pop.
