Melbourne shuffle

The Melbourne shuffle is a rave dance that developed in the 1980s.[1] Typically performed to electronic music, the dance originated in the Melbourne rave scene and was popular in the late 1980s and 1990s.[2] The dance moves involve a fast heel-and-toe movement or T-step, combined with a variation of the running man coupled with a matching arm action.[1] The dance is improvised and involves "repeatedly shuffling your feet inwards, then outwards, while thrusting your arms up and down, or side to side, in time with the beat". Other moves can be incorporated including 360-degree spins and jumps and slides.[2] Popular Melbourne clubs during the dance's heyday included Hard Kandy, Bubble, Xpress at Chasers, Heat, Mercury Lounge, Viper, Two Tribes at Chasers and PHD.[1] Melbourne's first techno dance parties Biology, Hardware and Every Picture Tells A Story were popular with Melbourne Shuffle innovators.[3]

Melbourne shuffle
Dance typeRave dance
Year1980s–present
CountryAustralia
Related topics

In 2009, the German hard dance group Scooter featured dancers Pae (Missaghi Peyman) and Sarah Miatt performing the Melbourne shuffle on the streets of Melbourne (Australia) in the music video of their single J'adore Hardcore.

In 2014, researchers at Brown University named a new computer security algorithm after the Melbourne shuffle. The algorithm deletes traces of users' access on cloud servers by shuffling the location of data on those servers.[4]

UK and Netherlands

While the Melbourne shuffle was growing popular in Australia a different style of shuffling was growing in the UK which would go on to be referred to as "cutting shapes" by 2012. The adopted slang term for the UK style of shuffling "cutting shapes" has been popularized and categorized as a subgenre of shuffle dance today.[5] While cutting shapes is considered shuffle dancing, it is largely different in style, technique, and history from the Melbourne shuffle.

Technique
T-step
A slowed down Running Man

The underlying dance moves involve the T-step, combined with a variation of the running man.[1] The dance is improvised and involves "repeatedly shuffling your feet inwards, then outwards, while thrusting your arms up and down, or side to side, in time with the beat". 360-degree spins, jumps and slides are also incorporated.[2] It is often associated with another style of dance, "cutting shapes."

Some dancers sprinkle talcum powder or apply liquid to the floor beneath their feet to help them slide more easily.[2]

References
  1. Fazal, Mahmood (28 June 2017). "Which Is Sicker: Melbourne Shuffle or Sydney Gabber?". Vice. Vice Media. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  2. Tomazin, Farrah; Donovan, Patrick; Mundell, Meg (7 December 2002). "Dance Trance". The Age. The Age Company Ltd.
  3. Stanmore, Carl (22 June 2021). "Australia's Forgotten Rave Culture – Who Did It Better, Sydney or Melbourne?". The DJ Revolution. The DJ Revoltion. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  4. "'Melbourne Shuffle' secures data in the cloud". American Association for the Advancement of Science. 10 July 2014.
  5. "Shuffling: the War at the Heart of London's New Dance Scene". vice.com/en_uk. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2015.

Further reading
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