Thread: Dancing - for the big folk

This video will give you a good idea of just 'moving to the beat', without using any set moves or choreography. Even if you don't choose to learn any specific moves from a style, it's good to familiarize yourself with a style or two, just so you get an understanding of how they use the beat to time their own movements.

Popping is a good example of this, because the dance, itself, is as open-ended as knowing how to 'pop' your joints and use quick muscle contractions to make your movements.

Even though the beginning of the video is choreographed, it is when they get to the freestyle that Mr. Wiggles tells them "now that's how you learn to dance", because, as was stated, is more about just moving your body to the beat, in your own movements, instead of set choreography.

(Skip to 2:45, unless you want to watch them practice their routine a few times)

Thanks for the vids and pointers.
Now if only I didn't live in an apartment above an 80 year old lady, I could practice!

Originally Posted by Bearsy

Thanks for the vids and pointers.
Now if only I didn't live in an apartment above an 80 year old lady, I could practice!

Use those knees and ankles, man! They are good shock absorbers. Might take a little honing, but how much noise you make depends on how you disperse your weight. No need to stomp around in your movements - unless your floors are like, seriously paper thin, in which case I guess you don't have a choice.

But here is a vid of me messing around in the garage. I'm a fairly big guy, and I usually have some of the lightest feet on the dance floor. It's a little hard to tell in the vid, but it's very rare that I stomp, because usually when I step, I either step with the balls of my feet first, or dip slightly with my knees. That way, even when my steps look heavy, there is actually very little shock on them at all. It's all about how you learn to soften your steps. You can still work on a lot of movement, without channeling too much power through your feet.