Watusi, a popularized dance move during the 1960s, became an artistic inspiration for a late bloomer painter Alma Thomas. Thomas, an African-American, sees her world in a simpler form and any distraction is removed during the process of creating her work. Her colors are bold, and bright and resembles the nature in most of her works. Although her debut as an artist was delayed, she received numerous recognitions for her delicate but bold works in the world of modern art.

In order to understand her paintings deeper, the viewers must look at it in a bird's-eye view for most of her works. In Watusi (Hard Edge), she uses vivid and hard edges of shapes to portray the wild movement of the dancers in the center. The blues that surrounds the dancers in the center can be seen as the crowds. The color pallete of her choice for this painting is subtle, calm and pleasing to the eyes, and the use of her negative space gives the painting chances to breathe.