Average guy could use some moves

[Lennalf]

Hey all! I've been reading the forum for a little while, but I just registered today and this is my first post.

I was introduced to dance very slowly, starting with a couple of high school musicals. I also learned very basic swing moves because I was in a big band jazz ensemble for about six years. I didn't begin experimenting with social dancing until this year in college, which was unsurprisingly coupled with experimentation with alcohol. For a good four months or so I had an outrageous case of "flailing drunk white boy dance" syndrome, but I have since learned to appreciate dance as a source of fun and exercise. As a musician, I feel I have a great sense of rhythm and "mood," but I definitely lack the kind of moves I'd like to learn.

I have a fine handle on the whole "grinding" concept (thanks to supportive and stylish female friends). The thing is, I want to be able to dance alone on the dance floor, too! I suppose this would be called "freestyle."

The primary style of music here is rap/hip-hop (it's a college campus). I'd like to learn some cool, staple moves, and maybe some flavorful/interesting ones, too. The tempo is usually something along the lines of Usher's "Yeah," Petey Pablo's "Freak-a-leek," or just about any song on Black Eyed Pea's "Elephunk" album, although I especially want to be able to dance solo to songs like "Spread" by Outkast or "1, 2 Step" by Ciara.

Since I'm in the middle of nowhere, Iowa, dance lessons are really out of the question. Learning from other guys is not an option either: guys here either dance with girls or they don't dance at all, for the most part.

Here's what I've picked up on my own:
"puppet string theory" - move arms and legs together, as if elbows and knees are connected by invisible strings
stay low, bend at knees
bend waist
try leaning both forward and backward
don't flail like a drunkard
keep hands above head generally
hand positions: open palms facing ground, or loose fists (quasi-jogging)

Current basic steps mostly include step left, left, right, right... also general swinging of the arse... and some other pretty blah stuff.

I'm really in no rush to become a dancing legend, but I'd really like to improve my moves, get some style/flavor in my steps, and develop cool dance skills (or just some basic coordination! ha!).

I'm especially interested in hip-hop and pop-n-lock styles, if that is useful.

So... yeah. It would be really cool to learn some easy, fun social dance moves and maybe even a few "sweet" moves so that I can bust 'em out when I'm dancing with my friends in a circle.

Any help you guys can offer (example dance steps, music video references, home videos, etc.) would be much appreciated! Help this white boy get some *attitude*! Thanks!

[Tasek]

First off, practice, practice, practice since what you want is for moves to become muscle memory, so that you don't have to think about how to do them, but you can just do them, and then you will be able to observe/feel how they go and then you can inject your own style in them.

Went through my favourites list, had two links to hip-hop style sites, unfortunately one is down so I can just give you one link, but i'm sure others will add more.
http://hem.spray.se/sammorling/moves.html

[Sagitta]

Welcome to df Lennalf. It is *******ing to see someone come on df who doesn't want to learn to dance in 1 day or a week. Your request is an articulate one and I can esaily see what you want help in. :D Taking it easy and giving yourself time to get better definitely is the way to go. I don't really do hip-hop or rap, but hopefully some others will give some pointers, as Tasek already has done. :cheers:

[Medira]

I had an outrageous case of "flailing drunk white boy dance" syndrome

Hehehe, you're cute. :D Welcome to DF!

I'm not a hip hop dancer by any stretch of the imagination, but I have a few suggestions that may be worth trying.

Get together with a close female friend, throw on some music and just dance. Move with the music doing whatever feels comfortable. If you look silly, your friend will tell you and you won't be in public either, so it shouldn't be an embarassing thing. She can even offer suggestions for things to try. (i.e. make your arm motions bigger/smaller/wider/faster/slower/whatever) If she's a good friend, she'll be honest and you should be able to have a good time together with lots of fun and laughs.

Throw on music and dance through the house. Instead of walking down the hall, strut it. Work the hips. Feel the attitude and energy.

Watch music videos of the artists you think are good dancers. Dancers you'd like to emulate. As you become familiar with the steps they're doing, try them! Try and move like them. Check yourself out in a reflection in a window or a mirror or something.

As you get more comfortable with it, it will become easier to do. :) Just keep on practicing. If you enjoy it a lot, it won't even seem like practice or work.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes!

[TemptressToo]

don't flail like a drunkard
keep hands above head generally

What do you mean "keep hands above head"? I guess I'm invisioning some sort of horrific white boy "hey-ho-hey-ho-hiphop-horray" thing there. Not good... ;)

What you need to do is learn to be smooth. Go to a techno club and watch them glide. It is SO fluid and they usually use their arms well. This is something that you can translate to hip hop with some practice.

Me personally, I do smooth, latin and swing. I also have jazz and ballet training. I picked up techno-style on my own mostly watching others, improvising and developing a style unto my self. I can do some pretty cool stuff. And usually draw a crowd just to watch me.

Learn to dance on your toes....I don't mean tip toes, but from the ball of your foot thru your toes. You get a whole variety of steps and it allows you to rotate better (as in instant changes of direction). Your body form will be more low.

Also, learn to be comfortable in your own skin and careless of what others may think. If you are having fun, who cares. :)

[Lennalf]

Thank you for this advice and for the welcome! The website that Tasek linked is a great resource, and I'm gonna check it out for the rest of the morning. Classes are almost over for the week so you'd better bet that I'm going to be dancing my butt off until Monday looking at some of these steps!

I have a few female friends who are dancers, so I might ask one of them to come over and boogie down this weekend (ha ha! this weekend is the annual disco dance! Funky!). I also do a lot of dancing in front of a mirror so I can see what I look like. I started doing this after I saw a candid video of myself dancing like a crazy fool. It was hilarious, but definitely not the look I was going for :)

Thanks, all! I'll be back soon!

[Lennalf]

don't flail like a drunkard
keep hands above head generally

What do you mean "keep hands above head"? I guess I'm invisioning some sort of horrific white boy "hey-ho-hey-ho-hiphop-horray" thing there. Not good... ;)


Ha ha... I totally meant to say "keep hands *below* head" and typed the opposite!

[Ms_Sunlight]

Hi there Lennalf! Greetings from one newbie to another!


Here's what I've picked up on my own:
"puppet string theory" - move arms and legs together, as if elbows and knees are connected by invisible strings
stay low, bend at knees
bend waist
try leaning both forward and backward
don't flail like a drunkard
keep hands above head generally
hand positions: open palms facing ground, or loose fists (quasi-jogging)


I've always been taught that it's a basic principal of musical improvisation to play with the beat until you know it well enough to play around it. So I'd say the number one primary rule is pay attention to the music and let that guide you to a rhythm that feels right.

Try paying attention to what it feels like to do stuff. Like, try just standing there with your feet slightly apart and shifting your weight between one foot and the other in time to the music so you sway slightly from side to side. Can you feel how that is? Can you put a little bounce or strut into that, or a twist? Can you make it feel rolling and smooth, can you make it feel jerky and angular, can you feel how it affects your knees, your hips, your shoulders? What feels good with the tune you're playing?

I always reckon the important thing about club dancing is to feel good. Otherwise, what's the point? :)

[leftfeetnyc]

So great to hear you want to work on your dancing!! I miss the college days when so many people thought they could dance but looked more silly than anything else.

But good dancing will always be with you.

My suggestion: Sometime when you're alone, setup a play list of your favorite dance-able songs. Give yourself an hour. Then just move to the music.

I hear people complain about that suggestion. I'm not saying you should just let yourself dance to the music. I'm saying just move. If it means nothing more than bobbing up and down to the beat, so be it. This is basically an exercise I love. You will become very intune with nuances of particular songs which will help you when you go out dancing, you'll know what's coming in the music and be able to tailor your dancing to it. Also, you'll get to know your body really well. Once you get good at moving to the beat, try picking out other bits to dance to, like the vocals (anyone can dance to a beat or bass line especially when drunk, it looks incredible to be able to dance to other parts of a song).

As you move, if you do something that feels neat or might look cool, keep doing it until it becomes muscle memory and starts to take form into a move. This includes anything you "steal" from watching dancers on tv or the dance floor. There a lot of websites and clips you can checkout online to learn moves. Don't be afraid to watch partner dancing too, you can get great ideas from it like small step grapevines using the lower body.

The important part isn't to know moves, it's to ingrain them into yourself and to be comfortable with them. Working alone or with a trusted friend is a great way to commit moves to memory until you're comfortable taking it out in public....then again you're in college, everyone will be too drunk to remember if you do something that looks silly...and sometimes silly can turn into the greatest moves and dances!

[delamusica]

Music videos! Watch them as much as you can and really try to figure out what it is that you like about some people and what you don't like about others. First decide who you like, and then (this is the hard but important part) really try to pinpoint what it is about their dancing that draws you in. That'll give you a more specific idea of what you need to work on to emulate them. Then put on some music, get in front of a mirror, and go at it.

[boco]

i have this urge to give you advice, but i dont know how to put it right now.

ive been doing hip-hop for about 2 months now, and it's a whole lot of fun.

where are you from? what college do you go to?

i guess we'll start there.

-justin

[Lennalf]

This is great advice! Wow!

In re: to boco, I'm from Madison, WI and I go to Grinnell College in Iowa. Yeah... there's a pretty huge divide between the two. What passes as "pretty good" in Iowa is definitely "not so great" at the UW-Madison parties. It's the whole state school vs. private school dynamic...

[boco]

Any help you guys can offer (example dance steps, music video references, home videos, etc.) would be much appreciated! Help this white boy get some *attitude*! Thanks!

haha. the attitude part made me laugh.

ok, for starters.

if youre not a broke-ass college student like i am, id suggest looking around for studios in your area that have hip-hop lessons.

theyre a little nerveracking at first, especially if youre the only guy in it (and white at that ;D ) but they get easier.

if you are broke, find a hot girl that can dance (or any girl for that matter... being cute is a bonus (im not shallow, im just talking to a normal college guy :-p)) and ask her to show you some stuff.

OR. find a guy that can dance, since girls dancing and guys dancing are usually 2 differnt things.

if youw ant to teach yoruself, google 'hip hop dance videos'. youll get the You Got Served - Take it to the Streets video...

its not for "beginners", but work hard, rewind, youll be ok.

you can watch music videos, and copy that, and then try and add your own style.

but remember, those are choreographed.. but after learning basic moves, you put them together yourself on the fly.

ill have more to tell, but im getting my butt kicked inthis game.

hope this helps fcor now


-justin

[huey]

There's some great advice here

[luh]

k, so first at all - I'm not a hiphop dancer either.
But if you want to be able to dance on your own on the dancefloor, there are some sweet things you can learn.
There are these funk steps. They look great. Just saw someone few days ago do them, and everyone was impressed (I can't do them btw)
if i want to dance on my own somewhere, i normally do some charleston. (preferable 20s charleston), but also another one, where there are some fun moves to it like scarecrow (did i spell that correctly?) big kick, touchdown... you can mix that with hiphop, and develop your own style.
hf
luh

[new-ish]

Most gym/aerobic studios usually have some sort of Hip-Hop or Cardio Funk classes.

[Ms_Sunlight]

Most gym/aerobic studios usually have some sort of Hip-Hop or Cardio Funk classes.

There's a lady at my work who's been doing aerobics and for years. Fair dos to her, she loves it and she's far fitter than I am. However, whenever I've seen her dance at an office party she looks like she's taking an aerobics class...

[Sagitta]

Most gym/aerobic studios usually have some sort of Hip-Hop or Cardio Funk classes.

There's a lady at my work who's been doing aerobics and for years. Fair dos to her, she loves it and she's far fitter than I am. However, whenever I've seen her dance at an office party she looks like she's taking an aerobics class... :lol: I have seen this too. :lol:

[boco]

word.

aerobic dancing = funny to watch, yet sad at the same time

advanced hip-hop class tomorrow. i wonder if ill do ok!

-justin

[Lennalf]

Hey all!

Just thought I'd let you know that I've been following a lot of the advice that you guys posted. It's all about peer support, practice, and, most of all, confidence, isn't it!? Anyhow, this week is mid-terms at my college, so if anybody else is taking a lot of exams this week, I feel your pain.

Last weekend was the annual Disco party. Now that is some groovy dance music! Fun!

[leftfeetnyc]

Just thought I'd let you know that I've been following a lot of the advice that you guys posted. It's all about peer support, practice, and, most of all, confidence, isn't it!?

You Got it!

It's also about having fun. As Ben & Jerry say: "If it's not fun, why do it."

[Sagitta]

Hey all!

Just thought I'd let you know that I've been following a lot of the advice that you guys posted. It's all about peer support, practice, and, most of all, confidence, isn't it!? Anyhow, this week is mid-terms at my college, so if anybody else is taking a lot of exams this week, I feel your pain.

Last weekend was the annual Disco party. Now that is some groovy dance music! Fun!

Great. :D

[Ms_Sunlight]

Last weekend was the annual Disco party. Now that is some groovy dance music! Fun!

Yay! Having fun is what it's all about! If it's not fun and you're not getting paid why do it? :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Medira]

Yeppers! Nothing can be wrong on the dance floor as long as you're having fun. :)