New to Dancing (street/hiphop), would like some tips

[Esc]

Hi guys,

I've read quite a few of the posts on these forums, and I especially enjoyed the ones stickied under Club Dancing Index.

Here's a little about me: I am 19, not a very good dancer, probably average for someone my age. I have only danced 20-25 times in my life, all at school dances, a few clubs, bars, etc.

The only way I don't feel self-conscious is if I am griding. It's not very hard for me to do that sufficiently. Not well, but well enough.

I would love to get good at dancing solo, and improvisationally at that. The type of dancing you see being done by good dancers at clubs and bars to popular music. Or, if you don't go to places like that, the type of dancing on Soul Train or some show like that.

I am not looking for a quick cure, and I don't have a dance in a week to go to :wink: , but I have been in those situations and know how it feels to be powerless, knowing you won't dance too well. It doesn't help that my gf is a danceaholic :lol: .

So, here's the question: How do I get good at club/street dancing? I don't even know what its called. I just want to have a solid foundation in this type of dance so I can freestyle.

Should I go to classes? These can be expensive, so maybe I should practice to music and a mirror first? I would love to improve all aspects of dance, but especially what to do with my hands when dancing alone. I always feel self-conscious about raising them too high, because they look stupid that way.

As you can see, I am having lots of problems with this post veering from too general to too specific :oops: . Hope a few of you read this and give me some pointers. I have all my life to get there, but I just need a few shoves in the right direction!! Thank you.

[Sagitta]

Welcome esc.

A couple suggestions:

(1) Watch music videos
(2) Go out by yourself and see how people dance

Then go home and practice while playing muisc and in front of the mirror

Another option is go out with someone who is bursting with energy and grooves. Tonight I danced with this lady and she got me to move in ways that I never imagined I could. I danced to hip-hop/merengue etc, just because it was so much fun to dance with her.

[Lita_rulez]

Hey, welcome aboard Esc !

Well, IMO, the best thing to do is to take Hip-Hop classes. That will teach you moves like those you can see on MTV (thank god they stopped puting that in the clubs I usualy dance in... Having MTV on while you dance salsa is not the best thing they had come up with !)

Go rent You Got Served, check out the way this guys dance/move...

Sure as hell is something I'd like to ad to my salsa if I get a chance to, precisely to improve the "solo" parts of the dance, so since this is what you are interested in ;)


Then as far as pointers go, there is one you have to understand at the very begining, it will help you a lot :

Even if you do not feel all that confortable because you only know 4 and a half steps, and you don't want to raise your arms to high for fear of looking ridiculous, remember those :

- Do not keep your arms down, unless it is a specific effect you want to achieve. You should always at least hold your elbows at an angle so that they move with your body, and not break the wrists but hold them up.
This way, you will look like you have a better frame, and most of all, not like your arms are broken and disabled !

- Do not look at your feet. If you do, two things will happen : you will be much more self concious (my god, my foot should be further there, and god, is this guys foot close to mine...), and well, every body will follow the direction you are lookin in, so every body will be staring at your feet like you are going to do something very hard (that's got to be the reason he's looking at his feet) and well, if you end up doing something very basic, believe me, you will not come out of it like such a hot shot...


Funy thing if you apply those 2 simple advices :

You keep your arms up, move them around (you don't even have to go above the shoulder line to achieve this effect) and you smile, either to someone in particular, or if you are shy, you just switch from faces to faces...

Well, nobody is going to notice your feet anymore, so even if you do the most basic move you know, but you add a smile, a few arm movements, and a wink, you'll come out great.

(I know, I sometimes do it when I have to shine in front of someone who is great at that : once I'm done with the 2 and a half shines I CAN do, well, I turn into "the amazing Lita" smiling and playing, and no one ever told me "gee, you can't shine to save your life", it would rather go "hey, I didn't quite catch what you did up there, but you did look like you enjoyed it, and it looked good too !")


That's my 2 cents