Melbourne Shuffle is a dance form that originated in the underground party scene in Melbourne in the late 80s. Melbourne Shuffle is associated with trance or more appropriately, hardstyle music. The beats are fast and so are the movements.
Melbourne Shuffle requires movements of the heel and the toe, which make the person look like they are 'shuffling' from one place to the other. Most people who do the Melbourne Shuffle prefer to do it in the club, back yards, parking lots, streets, etc. Basically wherever.
A person who does the Melbourne Shuffle is called a shuffler in general. Each shuffler makes up their own name later on, examples are Impact, BoneZ, Typhoon, Eneme, Dusk, Zombie, Calippo, Ravenn, etc.
There is one thing, most people in the Melbourne Shuffle community, do not appreciate the shuffle that LMFAO created, they do not even consider it as a shuffle.
Melbourne Shuffle also acts like a great huge family. More particularly the 'family' connection is defined when a shuffler belongs to a group of other shufflers, examples of groups are HSU [Hardstyle Underground], HSK [Hardstyle Killers], LE [Legendarius Extreme], HM [Hardstyle Movement], HSA [Addicted to Hardstyle], etc.
One of my favourite shufflers is Impact, he is also the Founder and Co-Leader of HSU. He describes shuffling perfectly...
"For the ignorant majority Raves and it's music are misunderstood. Boys and girls are ment to loose them selves in the music and escape into the atmosphere of the harder dance styles. For one night or more, all the worries of work, school and family fade away into the lights, love, melody and bass of Hardstyle. The crazy speed and energy of Hardstyle shuffling reflects the value. Hardstyle shuffling has their own culture that will help any person at any age to escape from all the bullshit in the world. [:"
Items needed for shuffling:
- Phat Pants ~ they are narrow at the waist and then keep getting wider down to the legs. Shufflers usually decorate the phat pants with reflective strips and designs. They are also very comfortable when shuffling.
- Flat Soled Shoes ~ Forget shuffling in your big boots, heels or any other shoes. Flat soled shoes make is much easier to shuffle in and also fits in better with the outfit.
- A Hoodie ~ It makes you look the part. You will never spot the average shuffler without a Hoodie. Let's call it a clothing essential for the Melbourne Shuffle.
The Melbourne Shuffle also has its logo, that is recognised by many. This is it:
PHD means Pure Hard Dance.
This is a photo of a classic looking shuffler:
Also to view people shuffling go on my YouTube channel, there I have 2 playlists of shufflers.
The Melbourne Shuffle consists of many steps, but the two basic ones are the running man and the t-step. It takes a matter of time to learn how to shuffle for some it takes 2 weeks, but for others 2-3 months. It will only be a matter of time before you master it. First couple of times it will not look smooth and not the best, but practising often and it will get better. Easy way to practice is to have socks on and do it on a wooden floor, this way you will get the hang of it and it is easier to glide on wooden floors.
Tutorials of how to shuffle can be found on YouTube, but remember one thing - you create your own type of shuffle, your hand movement and feet movement maybe difference, when adding on different steps. There is no specific way to do each move, one may do the running man and add some tricks to it, some may not. It all depends on you.
Some helpful websites:
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