But when you get the chance you're the dancing queen.....only 17....oh yeah h h h!!!....Oh hello! So you wanna dance, huh? Well you've come to the wrong place. This is Swiss Mastah Rob's Guide to Dancing..here you learn how to dance like Rob (who isn't that good). But I thought I should write an article about one of my passions (hell I don't have anything else to do at work =).
Rules to Dancing
1)Be Creative & Be Yourself!!! The one and only rule to dancing! As long as you are out having fun on the dance floor, being yourself it's all good! Thats the whole point with me and raves, I can dance however I want at raves and not worry about being bothered by others. Dancing should reflect who you are and how you feel as a human being. Poetry in motion as the expression goes...
Styles of Dance...
There are certain styles of dance have become so popular they're practiced by more than one person...
1)The Stomp- This is when you stomp around on the ground with your hands high into the air (blech!!!).
2)Quick Legs- Basically you move your legs extremely quickly, usually trying to keep up with fast BPM music(like jungle or hardcore...). If pulled off it can impress a lot of people (myself not included....I mean I can move my legs quick too if I wanted to...)
2)Glow stick dance- This really isn't dancing, but I'll include it here 'cause I see it a lot. Usually the person just moves his or her glowsticks really fast, either in their or other peoples faces...
3)Junglisitc- There are varied styles of jungle dancing. The two main that I usually see are as follows: minimaslistic & gangsta.
Minimaslitic looks very simple but its actually really hard to do correctly. Like the name says minimalistic dancing is less work for the body. Usually included moving your hands and feet at the sametime to the beat. Kinda boring to watch, but once you try it yourself you respect its difficulty. Minimalistic is not only a jungle style, but I've included it here 'cause I see more junglists doing it than anyone else (prolly 'cause I see more junglists than anyone else).
Gangsta jungle dancing usually means hopping on one foot to the other, moving your hands in random directions at the same time. When the 'phat' part of the song hits, people just move their feet and hands faster. Good gangsta dancin' include spins as well.
4)Goa-tasitc- heehee like that name? Thats a Rob original right there. Goa dancing is some tribal stuff, again moving from one foot to the next with arms out in a field goal type position(pointing infront of you....NOT pointing upwards..although that'd be funny to see=). The important thing is to stay with the beat using your whole body.
5)Breaks- Not to be confused with break dancing. Breaks is wikkid old skool dancing that goes along with breakbeats(how odd!). It's really hard to explain and there is no one definite style. But its incredibly hard to do...I still haven't a clue how to do it properly yet. Just watch for older looking people(re: 20's)in neato, b-boy/girl clothes...
6)Breakdancing- If you're not sure what this is...than you haven't watched any TV lately. Think GAP ads (ugh I know I hate them too-but its probably the most recognizable source for people!). Also can be seen on awards shows, boy groups..whatever. Anywhoo, watching breakdancing is entertaining to say the least. Big respect goes out to anyone who can do this stuff(I don't have the balls to try it-too many injuries have happened to my friends =).
7)Liquid Dancers- Mime like dancing. Usually wear white gloves (therefore accentuating the link with mimes). Favorite stuff to mime includes-->bouncing balls, butter flys, and pulling on ropes...etc.(Rob's likwit moves include grocery shopping, feeding the chickens and cutting the grass =).
8)Grinding!!!- Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!! This does NOT belong at a rave! If you want to go make out go ahead....just do it where I can't see it! But NOT on the dancefloor!
9)Booty Sytlez- Kinda of on the same line as grinding, booty sytlez is more minamalistic and one can do it by themselves. Basically you keep up to the beat by moving your body in the most erotic/sexual way you can think of. It's hilarious to watch!
Dancin' Moves
Love like you've never been hurt
Work like you don't need the money Dance like no ones watching...
Popular saying...
On to the good stuff right? Well I'll let you be the judge of that...Here are some dancing moves that are in my arsenal of a style...(if anyone wants to let me know of a move they can pull off message SwiSS mAstAH rOB?(Carp Kru)* at Techno XVI or if you want me to get back to you in around 2 months or so email me at superdude79@yahoo.com.)
All of the moves listed here are stuff I learned over time. I had no clue how to do any of them when I started out. The key word is practice: once you practice enough moves become more and more easier to pull off and stuff comes out that you thought would have never been possible! Trust me, its amazing what your body can do.....you just have to be free of any self doubts(practicing by yourself in your room helps) and JUST LET YOURSELF GO! The best dancers are the ones who just lose themselves in the music...No matter how good of a routine you may have...Nothing beats good ol' fashioned improvisation! Go to it!
Also a lot of this stuff is hard to explain on paper...so you'll probably be infront of your computer saying 'wtf is he talking about!??!'. But thats ok, the reason the moves are listed so it'll get you thinking...hopefully in the right direction.
1)The Step- For me this is the sign of a good dancer. If a person can pull off the step than they are well on their way to becoming an accomplished dance mAstAH. At the start you'll be wondering what the hell is going on? Why am I doing this dumb ass move? I liked my old moves(thats what I found myself thinking anyways)!!! But after awhile (for me it was probably around a month and a bit-I partied A LOT during that month and a half though-yay summer!=) doing the step becomes like walking. The more natural it looks the better...So here is how I learned how to do the step...
1)Move your legs like your marching in a band. But keep the knees just a smidgen lower...
2)Move your arms to the beat at the same time.You can move 'em in any direction you want.
Sounds easy right? Well it kinda is.....but your body isn't used to moving in a way like that so for the first while it might look a bit awkward. But you'll get the hang of it, and soon you too can be a dancing queen as well... =P
2)Spins- Spins are easy to do and impress people. There are several ways to do them but the only thing you have to remember is to put all of your weight on one side...then keep moving your legs as you spin around...The important part is keeping your feet moving. If you stop your feet and just try to spin around by pure force or speed, you'll lose your balance. Usually this doesn't mean you fall on your ass.....but its happened to me once or twice before. Tricks: Put your arm out and put all your weight on it....then do the normal thing for spins. Your spin becomes a lot faster & tighter this way...
3)Hat Moves- Again easy to do and they impress people a lot. Just tip your hat here and there and it really adds to your look on the dance floor. For a bit it'll feel weird tipping your hat for no reason. But again if you keep doing it, it'll become natural. I can't dance without my hat anymore! Other stuff to do is to move your hat from side to side or bring the bill of your baseball cap or visor as far down as it can go, that just looks cool. Or the best (and most difficult) move is to actually follow your hat when you dance. Like bring your hat down as far as it'll go....then look down and dance. When you're ready to come, come up....turn your head to the side and lift your hat. Argh its hard to explain but if you come up to me at the next party (Jeff freakin' Mills & LTJ freakin' Bukem at Sona and Club Soda in Montréal!!!whoohoo!) and I'll show you...That last move even caught the eye of dancing addict, Sp|n|n Mandy...=P
4)Repeat- A repeat is when you do the same step twice, usually in time with the beat. For example, it looks like I'm going to do a spin, so I gear up for it...but wait instead of going all the way around I just take a little shift to the left...bring my feet back and THEN do a spin....
5)Upper Body Movement- This is sooo important. Your legs and arms must move at the same time when you dance! I know what you're saying "Well of course! What do you think I am an idiot?". Well yes, but thats not the point. You would be surpirsed at how many newbie dancers concentrate on either their legs or arms. In order for it to all mix, one most have both going at the same time. Again, just practice enough and you'll work out the kinks.
6)Hips- Hips? But Rob you have no hips! Screams the ever intelligent visitor to my site. Well I say that is true oh wise one, but I make use of what little I have. Moving your hips to the music can look good....if done PROPERLY. If you don't do it properly well than you just look like a horny skank(touché). The way to make it look good is if you have your hands & arms moving in the same direction. I know thats really general an' stuff but again this is here just to get your motor started...
Problems wit' tha Swiss mAstAh's style
Like I mentioned before I'm not the greatest of dancers out there. So I'm putting this up so I can remind myself that I still have lots to work on and so people know before taking my advice up above that I'm not be all and end all of dancing. So here we go...
1) I'll be the first to admit it....I bite Shawn's style HARD(look in Favorite dancers). I didn't mean to, its just whenever I watch him dance I think "Hey that'd be neat to do." So when I practice I guess my subconcious just starts gravitating towards his style. Also, it doesn't help that we're both tall white guys with short brown hair and usually wear light blue baseball caps. I'm either going to have to dye my hair or get a new baseball cap because I think its pissing him off. So I'm sorry Shawn, I didn't mean to!
2) I try to work stupid minimalistic stuff into my dancing. It would look cool if I could do minimalsitic dancing, but I can't. So I do dumbass stuff that doesn't fit in with my style. Oh well, hopefully someday I'll be able to do minimalistic stuff...until then I'll keep practicing
3) I need to stop depending so much on the step. The step doesn't lend itself all that well to some types of music (re:breaks, jungle & hardcore-all forms of music I enjoy dancing too). The REALLY good dancers(I mean legendary amazing-I'll never-be-able-todo-that dancers) don't do the step. Basically they can either move their legs in this likwitty type fashion or they have come up with a new way to move their legs altogether...
4) I can't dance to breaks!!! Bah it's frustrating 'cause breaks are sooo0 freakin' wikkid and I love to move to them. But again my style is dependant on the step for movement, so it looks like I'm dancing to trance...bah....I think I'll just become a DJ, much easier =D
5) NO STYLE.....I could pull off an absolutely wikkid move but no one would ever notice 'cause I am severly lacking in style. Style is a natural thing, one of those (many) things I wasn't born with. It's something that I'll have to deal with. But I've learned that one can achieve a certain amount of style through hard work. Just some have to work harder than others to achieve it...
Well thats all I haveta say about that...to the Moon ALice!!!SwisS mASTAH ROb?
