Wat is Melbourne Shuffle?

History

Beginning in the late 80’s in Melbourne's (Australia) underground dance party scene, a revolutionary freestyle dance began to grow and has now developed into one of the most unique and robust dance styles since the birth of Breakdancing.

Initially grown from the roots of Acid House/Techno music along with back stepping and psychedelic arm movements, the Melbourne Shuffle has no set steps but encourages individuality and imagination, incorporating dance moves from numerous styles such as Miming, Popping & Locking, Liquid and Breaking. But the basis of the Melbourne Shuffle has traditionally been the footwork either performed sliding left to right, on the spot or in a triangular direction, but is evolving everyday. When done well Shufflers can seem to be gliding across the dance floor and breaking the rules of gravity.

The Melbourne Shuffle was one of several dances that emerged during the Acid House era. Some have described the main dance styles in that period as Jacking, Stepping and Shuffling. Jacking came first (from overseas) and was the definitive dance methodology for Acid House. It was a dance done in a stationary position and consisted mainly of overhead arm movements with occasional knee-bends and knee-ups whilst bending at the waist. However, as Acid House became more diverse and rhythmically complex and music genres evolved and broke apart, Jacking simply didn't cut it any more and became virtually extinct. Two different, but not mutually exclusive dance philosophies evolved to keep up with the increased rhythmic demands of early techno; 1) The Back-Step and 2) The Shuffle. Since then the Shuffle has continued to evolve in Melbourne nightclubs and events over the years and new concepts such as hat tricks, spins, running on the spot moves and almost anything imaginable have been thrown in over this time. Some of the major events/clubs that took part in the evloution of the shuffle over the years are; Hard Kandy, Bass Station, Every Picture, Hardware, Frantic, Teriyaki Anarki Saki, Earthcore, Pharmacy, PHD, Bubble and GOD.

Wat kind of music

The music that Melbourne Shufflers generally dance to includes various forms of Electronic music such as; Acid Techno, Hard Trance, Hard Dance, Hard House, Psy trance, Breakbeats, Drum’n’Bass amoung other styles of electronic music

Dancing

Generally known as “Rocking” to the Melbourne locals the name "Melbourne Shuffle" has been derived from overseas DJs, partygoers, visitors and the media trying to describe this phenomenon. The Melbourne rave/electronic music dancers don’t generally dance for competition; or to show off, but for themselves, for fun and self-expression. Learning is generally achieved through watching other dancers and incorporating variations into their own style, by which they create an individual style representing their own personality.

Media

The Melbourne Shuffle has remained relatively underground over the years since its birth in the late 80's and early 90's. However, a front page newspaper article appeared in Melbourne's The Age newspaper in 2002, attempting to illustrate what the Melbourne Shuffle was for the first time to the mainstream public because thousands of young Melbournians were shuffling at dance parties every week.

Recently the shuffle has spread to Malaysia in a big way, most likely due to Malaysian students studying in Melbourne, discovering the electronic dance music scene and taking the unique shuffle back with them. Shufflers have also taken thier art form and self-expressive dance style overseas and is a regular sight to be seen at rave parties in the UK, Malaysia, Germany and Thailand. The internet has also been a factor in the spreading of knowledge and interest in the shuffle with thousands of people from around the world downloading videos from the following websites; MelbourneShuffler.com Xes.cx Clept.net

for futher info visit www.clept.net or http://www.xes.cx/mp3.htm