Why Is John Travolta Doing the Chicken Dance in Italy?

John Travolta recently did the Chicken Dance in Italy — and we’re still trying to figure out why.

Recently, Travolta made an appearance at the Sanremo Music Festival. While there, he decided to (very not enthusiastically) participate in a time-honored tradition: doing the chicken dance.

While the average American may see this as nothing more than a celebrity having a weird but good time (it’s at least better than some of the other stuff celebs get up to), Italian newspapers are talking about this simple act as though it’s the end of the world.

Reuters summarized the media response in an article from February 8th: “‘How to destroy a myth in a few seconds,’ Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera said in a headline. Il Fatto Quotidiano daily called it: ‘One of the saddest things ever seen on television.’ Il Giornale daily said it would ‘go down in the annals of the singing event for the embarrassment it generated.’”

There was also a debate about whether Travolta knew he would be asked to do the Chicken Dance at all. A few claim he was tricked into the dance, but “Amadeus, the main Sanremo host, denied Travolta had been tricked into the dance, saying he was fully informed in advance,” reads the Reuters piece.

Despite this, EuroNews alleges, citing local reporting, that Travolta “has denied Italian state TV permission to broadcast again pictures of a bizarre dance he performed on Wednesday.”

Overall, I really don’t know what to make of this. Maybe next time, just stick with the classics from your movies — or go all out and throw in the Macarena.