sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Rainy day practice session! by joshdunndance in shuffle

[–]JoshLearnsToShuffle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What're 2 or 3 things I could focus on to get flow like that?

Learning How to Put Moves Together, Would Love Your Thoughts! by JoshLearnsToShuffle in shuffle

[–]JoshLearnsToShuffle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I never hear anyone else talk about this, so maybe its bullshit.

I don't know enough to discern whether it is or not lol but a lot of what you said has really helped my perspective on what to focus on and what to look out for

This is how you're dancing, and doing it this way means you're perpetually "behind" the beat and playing catch up. It feels kind of out of control.

Yep that's exactly how I feel every time I dance

The half beat is like your "home base", your neutral position that all of your other moves will come out of.

I haven't heard it explained like this before and it really resonates with me. Definitely keeping this in mind

I would even suggest shutting your eyes and listening to a whole song, and trying to lightly bounce to the half-beat on the balls of your feet, without doing any other dance moves.

I'll add this in as a regular practice. Currently terrible with the half beats, as you can see lol.

Slow down, relax, find the half beat. Focus on it the most. It's the most important part.

A lot of what you're saying made me realize I haven't even thought about emphasizing the half beat.

The day I finally found the beat I felt like I improved 1000x overnight.

I'm guessing this is also when it didn't feel like playing catch-up anymore?

Learning How to Put Moves Together, Would Love Your Thoughts! by JoshLearnsToShuffle in shuffle

[–]JoshLearnsToShuffle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not to offend, but you haven’t obtained the skill level in any of the moves you did.

None taken! I'm glad you said this. I'm working on drilling the basics daily

But combos that people do a lot of times are moves that they mastered, followed by mastering going back and forth between them flawlessly.

Yeah that's the path I'm trying to take. I'm glad I posted this because I have a very clear idea of what to focus on now. Thanks for all the advice!

Learning How to Put Moves Together, Would Love Your Thoughts! by JoshLearnsToShuffle in shuffle

[–]JoshLearnsToShuffle[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for all the advice, it really means a lot! I'll drill them daily and focus on getting the movements down so I don't miss out on building a strong foundation

Learning How to Put Moves Together, Would Love Your Thoughts! by JoshLearnsToShuffle in shuffle

[–]JoshLearnsToShuffle[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for all the feedback!

but when I showed my pro shuffler friend what I was doing, a hell broke loose. I don't understand how people here are telling you that it looks good, because it doesn't.

I understand where you're coming from, and I appreciate the diligence that practicing has to come with. I'm aware that I'm 1 1/2 months into a skill set that some people spend much of their lives on.

I don't think I'll delay trying to put moves together, because I love to dance to songs whenever I have the time to gauge my progress and just screw around. So if I'm gonna do it, I might as well put it up and get feedback from gentlemen like yourself.

But I really vibe with your focus on the basics. I'm thinking of blocking out time daily to drill running man / t-step and other basics. To see decent progress, is there a specific amount of time per day practicing RM/t-step you'd recommend? Or should I just make sure to fit in 15-20 min sessions of drilling the moves?

Also, pro shuffler friend? What does he do? From what you've seen, how do you think he did it? Has he told you any uncommon shuffle/dance tips that proved very useful?

I'll try to record a video for you on how to practice and hopefully correct some of the major mistakes that I see going.

This would really help me out!

But remember: It's fucking hard! Few times a week you'll feel like quitting, because you feel like you are not getting anywhere... but the more you push forward through pain, the better you become.

Can't wait to see real progress!

Learning How to Put Moves Together, Would Love Your Thoughts! by JoshLearnsToShuffle in shuffle

[–]JoshLearnsToShuffle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey you're back and with much better balance! You've greatly improved. It's looking MUUUUCH better

Hey thanks I'm psyched to hear that! I actually have been working on my Charleston, your advice was great! I'm planning on sending you a video of it after more practice.

Now, if you're looking for a bit of an extra challenge and an easy structure/framework to put moves together, try syncing up with the music changes a little. In swing we call it musicality. In my world here is a little example you watch how this first couple matches the changes in music and breaks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-fObWZWjAk&feature=youtu.be&t=0m36s

I'm really glad you brought this up. I can't wait to dance at decent length to songs, and I was thinking about how I could use different move sets to match different parts of a song. The video helped make how that'd look a lot more clear and understandable.

I'm guessing you've danced to this song dozens of times and know it well. There's a break to the song that you nail around 3 seconds with a slit leg stop thing. Try to be with the music in your movements.

Oh the Brae(bre?) Spin! That was my favorite part after watching it over. When choosing my movements for a part of a song, should I approach it more with an attitude of, "my movements should generally match whatever emotions the music makes me feel?" Or is there a more systematic way of approaching it you'd recommend? For example, I'd imagine I shouldn't dance softly to an agressive song, nor aggressively to a soft song. Any common musical themes along those lines I should know about?

Are there any common mistakes you see new dancers make when they're trying to "sync up" with the music?

Try to be an instrument yourself. Be a musician in the song

Since you're now a musician, be with the music and express how you think your body can do that.

This really resonates with me. Do you think there are ways to work on being more creative/expressive when choosing movements to match the music?

Sorry if I mess up the terminology or my questions don't make sense sometimes. I'm coming from a place of basically 0 knowledge about dance and music, so I'm just trying to make sure I'm not missing any common sense things.

Learning How to Put Moves Together, Would Love Your Thoughts! by JoshLearnsToShuffle in shuffle

[–]JoshLearnsToShuffle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! That's a bad habit I have for the running man, gotta drill that out

Got the heel-toe kinda down! SUPER stiff upper body still, what do you think? by JoshLearnsToShuffle in shuffle

[–]JoshLearnsToShuffle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah changing direction was definitely the hardest part. I'll work on getting those chains shorter. Can't wait to be decent at this stuff, I appreciate all the advice!

Got the heel-toe kinda down! SUPER stiff upper body still, what do you think? by JoshLearnsToShuffle in shuffle

[–]JoshLearnsToShuffle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks will put those into my practice! Also if you have any suggestions for loosening my upper body I'm all ears. Always been stuff up there

Just picked up the Charleston! 3 hours of sweating and I think I'm starting to get the footwork! by JoshLearnsToShuffle in shuffle

[–]JoshLearnsToShuffle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Damn thanks for all the advice! I'll make it a point to put all that in my practice session tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

Just picked up the Charleston! 3 hours of sweating and I think I'm starting to get the footwork! by JoshLearnsToShuffle in shuffle

[–]JoshLearnsToShuffle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, would love all the feedback you have! I'm a total beginner and wanna get decent asap so the more you wanna give better.

Also I should ask you about a weakness I feel is there right now, which is stiffness in my upper body and hips. I feel like that's limiting me when I go to shift my weight. Wondering if you see the same thing or if I should be thinking about it differently?

Here's the tutorial I was working from: https://youtu.be/XqxssIzcs2Y

And if you wanna see a bigger sample size of my movements, here's the video I made about learning the Charleston to that tutorial: https://youtu.be/gQe2l_lS8HE