The History of Melbourne Shuffle

The Melbourne Shuffle (also known as Rocking as its oldskool style) is a rave and club dance that originated in the late 1980s in the underground rave music scene in Melbourne, Australia. The basic movements in the dance are a fast heel-and-toe action with a style suitable for various types of electronic music. Some variants incorporate arm movements. People who dance the shuffle are often referred to as rockers, due in part to the popularity of shuffling to rock music in the early 90's.
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Melbourne Shuffle info page
The Melbourne shuffle is a style of dance, which originated in the late 1980s in the Melbourne underground scene. The basic movements in the dance are a fast heel-and-toe action with a style suitable for various types of electronic music. Some variants incorporate arm movements.


History
The Melbourne shuffle was one of several dances that emerged during the acid house era around 1990. Although the precise origin of the style is unknown, it does bear a resemblance to earlier jazz dance styles.


Late 1980s to early 1990s
The Melbourne shuffle begins to emerge as a distinct dance, incorporating more hand movement than previous styles. Early footage of the style exists from a night on the 31st of August 1991 at the Sarah Sands Hotel in Melbourne. Techno music was gradually replaced with trance music and house music.


Mid to late 1990s
A number of videos documenting the style during this era exist as the style increased in popularity. There are many variations of this dance but the main heel to toe movement remained the key motion giving it the term "the Melbourne shuffle".


2000 - Present
Dancing style returns to more "on the spot" with less hand movement. A significant point in the evolution of the Melbourne Shuffle.


In 2006 with the emergence of YouTube, dancers internationally now contribute to the Shuffle online, posting their own versions and learning from others.


Music
The music that early Melbourne shufflers danced to was house music and acid house in the late 1980s. In the early 1990s, as trance music became popular, the dancing style changed to a glide. It regressed to the previous style when minimal house came in. In 2007, the music that Melbourne shufflers typically listen to are hard trance, hardstyle, jumpstyle, hard house, psytrance, breakbeat, drum and bass, tribal house and Techno. Although the shuffle dance style could be performed to any genre of music, there is a preference for the 130-150 bpm hardstyle.


Dancing
Today known as "shuffling" to the Melbourne locals, the name "Melbourne shuffle" has been derived from overseas DJs, party goers, visitors and the media trying to describe this phenomenon. The Age referred to it as looking like "a cross between the chicken dance and a foot stomping robot" to the untrained eye, but locals have simply called it the "shuffle" since 1992.


Some dancers sprinkle talcum powder on the floor beneath their feet to help them glide more easily, some including 360 degree spins or jumps into their moves.


Media
The Melbourne shuffle dance style has remained relatively underground since its birth in the late 80s and early 90s. The term "Melbourne shuffle" was recorded in the media when Sonic Animation's Rupert Keiller was interviewed by rage, an all night Australian music TV show. The interviewer asked Rupert what his unique style of dance was and the reply was "the Melbourne Shuffle". In December of 2002 The Age, an Australian newspaper, made mention of the term in a front page article, attempting to illustrate what the popular Melbourne Shuffle was for the first time to the mainstream public.
The shuffle has spread to Malaysia and there have been "Shuffle Competitions" held in Malaysia. Shufflers have taken their art form and self-expressive dance style overseas and are a regular sight to be seen at rave parties in the UK, Germany, Malaysia and Thailand. The internet has also been a factor in spreading knowledge and interest in the shuffle. A documentary on the topic entitled Melbourne Shuffler was in production during 2004-2005 and was recently released in late 2005 on DVD.


sumber : http://www.indorockers.com/t135-the-hist...ne-shuffle