Week 1: Learning to Shuffle
For my inquiry, I want to learn how to dance, more specifically shuffle. I have experience dancing when I was younger. However, this style is completely new to me. I’m planning on learning through youtube tutorials as well as attending shuffle meet ups with other experienced dancers. I’ll attach a video of my progress as well as the video I am learning from weekly. I think each week I’m going to try and learn a new combo or step and combine them by the end. I’m excited to see what I am able to learn and to watch my growth over time.
Heres an example of the style of dance I am wanting to learn:
Week 2: The Running Man
This week, my goal was to learn one of the main steps when learning to shuffle. This step is called the running man. I watched a tutorial video on youtube and practiced the steps over and over again until I could understand the pacing. I realized its much easier if I practice shuffling in my socks verses barefoot or in shoes because its easier to slide on the hardwood. In all honesty, I was exhausted after 10 minuets of practicing so I’m curious to know how ill be able to keep up without getting tired as this goes on.
Heres the link to the tutorial I followed, it was very helpful to follow especially if I got stuck I was able to rewind, pause, and fast forward until I was confident.
Heres video recording of my attempt at the running man:
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Week 3: The Kick Side Step
This week my goal was to attempt a new step called the “kick side step”. It took some playing around with before I understood it. It reminded me of a similar dance step I used to do when I did hip hop when I was a child but with more sliding. The socks helped again as well as the youtube video. I was surprised I didn’t need to watch the whole video before understanding how to complete the move. I experimented by trying it in different directions to see what it looked like.
Heres’s the link to the tutorial I followed:
Here is my video completing the step:
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Week 4: The Side Step
This week the move I am wanting to learn is interesting because it can be used in many different directions. I love how its moving from the traditional shuffle forward and into moving sideways and using the space. I’m excited to see what all the moves look like when I put them all together. I’ve been practicing the other steps on my own in my basement for my own personal exercise and practice. Its amazing how much practice really does make a difference. It’s just a matter of drilling the different steps into my head until I feel comfortable with them. After this, I want to try to learn more challenging moves because I feel like I’m ready for something different.
Heres the link to the tutorial I took it from. There are multiple steps and I used Step 3 at 1:20. I really liked this tutorial and think I’m going to try to learn more steps from it during my inquiry.
Heres the link to my attempt of this step:
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Week 5: The Swivel
This week I’m building off of the same tutorial I did last week but learning a new step. This specific step took lots of practice because there was so much happening at once. I struggle staying in the same spot, my body and feet keep wanting me to move forward. I’m sure with more practice I can keep it steady. When I was younger, I did lots of jazz, musical theatre, and character dancing. Every time I try and do this step, my arms automatically perk out as if I’m doing the Charleston. Thats one thing I find uncomfortable is my arms and hands. I’m so focused on what my feet are doing, my arms tend to go stiff. This is something I want to become more comfortable with as well.
Heres the tutorial I took this step from starting at 0:32
Heres the link to my attempt:
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Week 6: Back and forth
I really liked the tutorial video I referred to the past following weeks. They were simple and easy to understand. This week, I took the last step to try out. It looks easy and simple but I really struggled to pick it up and it took lots of practice. Its difficult to move your feet two different directions at the same spot and then immediately back into a new position. I think this step would be helpful when I want a break from dancing, but I can still be moving. I personally loved the dancers light up shoes and thought it would be fun to try a pair. I’ve found I’m getting more comfortable sliding and moving my feet with music. However, I wonder what it will be like when I try to put all the steps together because I have no idea how I will remember all of them.
Heres a link to the tutorial (Again) @ 1:50
Heres a link to my video practicing the back and forth step:
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Week 7: The Cross Jump
This step is different than the other ones I’ve been learning. There is less sliding and more jumping all while coordinating your foot movements and knee bends. I think this one would be more difficult to transition in and out of if there I wehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iasl1LHD3rwre doing a muti-step dance.
Link to tutorial (first step):
Link to my dance video:
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Week 8: Moonwalk
Oh my goodness, this was so much more challenging than I thought it would be. Since I’m getting towards the end of my inquiry, I wanted to learn a new step from a more advanced tutorial and I don’t think I was quite ready. When doing this step, I find I’m really jumpy and I’m about to fall. My friend showed me a way I can complete it in a circle and I honestly found that to be slightly easier which I also incorporated into my video. Its interesting how learning one move can be incorporated into others. I think I just need to practice more to get better at the flow of the moonwalk. Maybe next week ill go back to learning beginner steps.
Heres the link to the tutorial I am following (@1:00)
Heres the link to my attempt:
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Week 9: Heel Toe Cross
This week I explored a new step. It reminded me of the swivel when I had to go on my tip toes and twist at the same time. It takes a lot of coordination to do flexed feet when I transition within the step. It took a bit of practice but after watching it back on camera I realized its one of my favourites. I discovered that filming myself and watching it back is a helpful growth tool when wanting to improve on my skills. I can see what I need to work on and try and fix it. I think it would be helpful if I could use a dance studio with a mirror to see my footwork while I’m doing it. Overall, I feel like I can learn each step when I focus on each one independently but I’m curious how it will look next week when I put all the steps together.
Link to tutorial (@6:07)
Link to my attempt:
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Week 10: Final
This week my goal was to try and put all of the 8 steps I’ve learned over the past couple months together in one video. I was unsure of how it would turn out because I haven’t learned or practiced any transitions and I was scared of messing up. I ended up writing all the steps down on my computer to refer to so I didn’t miss anything. I found some transitions difficult and watching the video back found it would look better if I didn’t stop between steps. Overall, I found this self inquiry project to be amazing. I’ve always wanted to learn and now I know some basic steps to throw it in any way I want. I realized the more I practiced and repeated stuff, the easier it was to dance. I have some friends that attend shuffle meet ups and now I feel comfortable enough to attend and maybe get some tips as well as learn new moves. I realized its really exhausting so I either need to practice more or dance in short increments. I edited the final video to showcase the individual moves I learned over the course of the term. It was helpful to learn about movie editing in class so I could implement it into my final reflection.
Heres my final shuffle video showcasing all the steps I’ve learning during this inquiry: