John Travolta Recreates Iconic ‘Grease’ Dance With Jimmy Fallon

John Travolta taught Jimmy Fallon his signature dance move from the 1978 classic film Grease in a bit where the star of the new film Gotti recreated his moves as Danny Zuko and Fallon, well, played Sandy Olsen, Danny’s love interest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The dance has been copied by fans of the film for 40 years since the film’s initial release, but did you know it had a name? The move called “The Four Corners” was seen at the end of the film while the characters of Danny and Sandy sang the tune “You’re The One That I Want.” In the film, the character of Sandy was played by singer and actress Olivia Newton-John.

Travolta remarked to Fallon that he wanted to incorporate a signature dance move that fans could easily recreate at home to the film’s soundtrack. Said the actor, “Like with Pulp Fiction, I grew up with all these kind of novelty dances,” Travolta said. “So in Grease, they needed a step for ‘You’re the One That I Want’ at the end. I said, ‘Well, we used to do the Four Corners – why don’t we do that?’ The choreographer said, ‘Show it to me,’ and I did.”

Fallon was positively giddy with excitement at the prospect of doing the iconic move with the actor, even if he was playing Travolta’s female partner in the dance.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the 71st annual Cannes Festival, Travolta reflected on the continued popularity of the film and the joy it brings each new generation that discovers it.

“This is a film that’s so timeless that keeps on giving to each new generation,” Travolta remarked. “When people watch this, they just get happy. They want to become the characters they’re watching. They want to sing along with it, they want to dance, they want to be part of this film. When mutual enthusiasm comes together and creates an environment you can create almost anything – and we created Grease.”

Travolta was honored by the borough of Brooklyn, New York on June 12 with a proclamation of “John Travolta Day.” A press release regarding the event penned by New York State Senator Marty Golden, according to NPR read, “Travolta changed the culture of Brooklyn and America forever in both fashion and music. The movie Saturday Night Fever brought millions of Americans to the dance floor to the rhythm of disco.” The event was held at Lenny’s Pizza in Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst neighborhood, where Travolta was seen in an iconic moment of the film Saturday Night Fever ordering pizza and strutting down a Brooklyn street. Fans crowded the streets in anticipation of Travolta’s arrival.

The actor has been promoting Gotti, his new film where he plays the “Teflon Don,” John Gotti. The film depicts John Gotti’s rise to the top of the New York underworld to become the boss of the Gambino crime family.

Gotti hits theaters June 15.