Have you seen a few videos, but you’re still wondering what shuffling actually IS? If there’s a difference between shuffling and cutting shapes? Read on.
Timeline
Late 1980’s
Shuffling develops in Melbourne, Australia in the underground rave scene. It doesn’t have a common name yet - some call it stomping, others call it rocking. The basic moves include the running man, and t-step (a move with quick heel-toe action).
1990’s
Shuffling evolves in Melbourne and starts to take over the club scene. The style takes on a new form, as dancers from the professional dance community in Melbourne begin to incorporate ballet spins, graceful kicks, and even hat tricks into the basic backstepping and running man that others were doing at the time.
Skaters influenced the scene by bringing a competitive edge as they showed off their tricks. Hip hop and break-dancing began to be incorporated as well, with shuffle moves being spotted in what used to be typically hip-hop only clubs.
2000’s
Shuffling has become a culture of its own, and fashion is a big part of the scene. Influenced by the huge punk scene in Melbourne, shufflers used the iconic phats and hoodies of the time to identify themselves and create a bigger sense of community.
The dance begins to spread overseas with the help of the internet. Malaysia and the UK were early adopters of shuffling and forged their own distinct styles of shuffling which still exist today.
