Shuffle On

The Melbourne Shuffle is a style of dance, which originated in the late 1980s in the Melbourne underground scene. The movements are typical jazz dance steps incorporated with a modern twist. The basis of the Melbourne Shuffle has traditionally been footwork performed by combining three basic steps. It is known as "shuffling" in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Sliding to the left or right and then back and forth. When performed well Shufflers, can seem to be gliding across the floor seemingly defying friction. Shuffling on Spot is used for different reasons. A Shuffler using this step can conserve energy for a few moments prior to a change in beat and pattern of music. A Shuffler may step back and allow another dancer to take centre stage meanwhile Shuffling on Spot. Arm movements come into play more often while in this step as it allows the dancer to express a connection with the music as to the beat with the feet.
Shuffle in a triangular pattern is a very energetic step which can be performed with great flair.
The modern shuffler usually performs around 5 different moves while shuffling:




The Running Man


The most popular move where the shuffler "runs" on the spot. One foot is lifted from standing position and placed in front while the other slides back, then the foot at the back is lifted up into the standing position while the forward foot slides into the standing position and the process is repeated to the beat. This is also known as the two-step technque.


The Shuffle

A t-shaped movement, where the shuffler moves to the right with their left foot, shifting left and right as the right foot rises up and down, creating a T-shaped like shape. It is a common move amongst Shufflers.
• Slides, where the shuffler normally slides left and right occasionally, the slide is usually and long
"glide" along the dance floor and is mostly followed by a spin.
• Spins can be "normal" or "inverted". A normal spin meaning you lift one foot from standing
position and use it to propel your body in a clockwise direction. An inverted spin is the opposite,
where you lift one foot from standing position and use it to propel yourself in an anticlockwise direction. Both spins are common and are incorporated into the shuffle.
• Kicks are done with one foot while the other is used to "shuffle" along to one side. Kicks can be
low (some shufflers prefer to kick at the ground while shuffling to one side) and high (some
shufflers kicking up to their waists). The point of kicking is to look balanced and controlled, so
when kicking multiple times shufflers prefer not to bend their knees while their leg is in the air.

Dance moves from other styles such as mimeing, popping, locking, liquiding, running man and breaking can also be incorporated into shuffling.

History

The Melbourne Shuffle was one of several dances that emerged during the acid house era. Some have described the main dance styles in that period as jacking, stepping, and shuffling. However, as the acid house genre became more diverse, two different but not mutually exclusive, dance philosophies evolved: the back-step and the shuffle. The Shuffle has continued to evolve in Melbourne nightclubs and events over the years, and has adopted moves from established dance styles such as hat tricks, spins, and running on the spot.

1985 - 1988 - Melbournians dance on the spot with a bit of bopping. (Not recognizable as the Melbourne
shuffle).

1989 - 1990 - People mixed skanking with funk, additional leg movement while remaining in one position and a bit of bop still in it. Classically trained dancers incorporated tap and contemporary dance with break dance steps. B-Boys and mainly female trained dancers, exchange moves and experiment with new steps
to suit the new music style, generically called Techno.

1991 - 1992 - The Melbourne shuffle begins to emerge as a distinct dance, incorporating more hand movement than previous styles. Techno music is gradually replaced with trance music and house music.

1993 - 1995 - Was the centre point, people were gliding because now trance music & house music was a big part of the Melbourne Party/Rave culture and the foot movement of the Melbourne shuffle was well into existence. The key move to the Melbourne shuffle was one foot lifted off the ground and the other foot was making a heel to toe movement along to the beat of the music for a short period of time and then reversed. This allowed a dancer to glide side to side whilst holding their hands in front following the trebles of the music, making the dancing style look hypnotic. Some dancers could spin in a 360 circle before changing to the other foot. 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.”

1996 - 1997 - The Melbourne Shuffle is recognized by interstate and overseas partygoers as a unique dance.

1997 - 1998 - Minimal house was gradually introduced, and the glide reverted to a funk again.

2000 - 2001 - Dancing style returns to more "on the spot", with less hand movement. The key turning point in the evolution of the Melbourne Shuffle.

We Live For The Music

Smoke surrounding you, so that you can't see or feel anything around you, not even yourself.

Lasers blinding you, you forget everything else, locked inside your own dreams, your own mind.

Your body is numb, cold from the dead of the night, overheating from this endless night of movement.

The music consumes you, fills your mind, soul and body with this unknown feeling.. of passion, of beauty, of pure happiness.

You can't stop. We dance until the sun beats us home.

.

In your eyes I see your broken soul

And there's no where for my spirit to go

See the light that burns inside of you

And I know that I'll be close to you

Into the darkness we can find

A purple rinse of your desire

I see the light

We floated on the cloud of love

With you I just cant count enough

I see the light

.

I See The Light - DJ Hixxy

It's All About The Music

Throughout all music genres, among them there are always more genres offshooting from the differentiating styles and structures. There are too many types of music to name; and more are being created every day. Of course, throughout the dance scene, there are several particular genres which seem to dominate the Australian rave scene.

In my opinion, these are..
(The artists included are moreso the ones which have made these genres for what they are; but there are afew that still influence the scene today..)

• Acid house - Phuture, 808 State, The KLF, Guru Josh
• Breakbeat Hardcore - Acen, Brainstorm Crew, The Prodigy
• Goa Trance - Hallucinogen, Astral Projection, Infected Mushroom
• Drum & Bass/Jungle - Pendulum, Andy C, Goldie, Dieselboy
• Hardcore Techno styles: Happy Hardcore, Gabber - Dune, Luke Slater, Dave Clarke, Darren Styles, Neophyte, Enzyme X, Tommyknocker, Hellfish, Vagabond
• Hard Trance - Cosmic Gate, DJ Scot Project, Alphazone
• Hardstyle - Technoboy, DJ Zany, Donkey Rollers, Q-IC, DJ Greg, Blutonium Boy
• Breakbeat - DJ Mikey Mike, DJ 303, Brad Smith and DJ Phunx

Non-dance styles that might be heard in "chillout" arenas:

• Ambient Music - Brian Eno, Harold Budd, The Orb
• IDM - Aphex Twin, Autechre

There are many more, but of course, the list continues endlessly of what any individual can produce. However, two of the most popular in the contemporary rave scene (in my opinion, please comment with other suggestions..) would have to be hardstyle and happy hardcore. Now I know at least thousands of people across Australia would disagree with me on this, however, in my experience these are the genres which attract the bigger crowds and what the majority of raves are based around.

In most of the harder genres; the average tempo is between 140 and 160 bpm (so generally, rather fast..)

The typical Hardstyle sound generically consists of various musical elements: a heavy sounding kick which is extremely unique to hard dance, intense reverse basslines, and "adrenaline-rushing" melodies which usually come in at the middle of the song, the "Qlimax". Mostly, the genre coincides with the same elements as Hard Trance, yet heavier and faster.

So Hardstyle holds it's stylistic origins in Hard Trance and Gabber, of which it employs many of their elements which has resulted in a totally unique sound which has swept the rave scene by storm since the 80s/90s.

Culturally, Hardstyle originates from the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Switzerland, as most of the decent dance genres originate from. The Netherlands and Germany in particular, still pump out some of the hottest DJ's of today.

The typical instruments that hardstyle artists/DJ's use would have to be software synthesizers, sequencer(s), sampler(s), audio filter(s).

The countries of today which still hold the top names and events of the dance scene would have to be Amsterdam (Yes, I am aware that this is not a country, but it pretty much should be in regards to it's dance culture, I mean wow..), The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, Italy, Spain.

If you have been, or know of anyone who has been to any overseas raves (or simply any crazy experiences at raves that are worth telling) then please comment this. I'm sure we all want to hear about the culture over there, although Australia's own Melbourne created the shuffle; pretty sure the massive dance parties over there wouldn't even compare to here.

So moving on to the next popular genre, HAPPY HARDCORE ! Now, this form of music seems to either be passionately loved or severely hated by people. I generally don't like it that much, although I love DJ Hixxy who is definitely a HH artist, and I see it as a lighter form of "hard" dance which is just generally 'happier' and easier to listen to.

Happy Hardcore is based around a VERY fast tempo (usually ranging between 170 - 190) BPM. It is often supported by solo vocals, and sentimental lyrics. If you check out the link I've put up on DJ Hixxy's name to his myspace, go have a listen and you'll see what I'm talking about. Much of his music is defined by a beautiful soprano solo female singer, mainly singing about love of the hardcore scene and other deep philosophies about life and raving (however, this can be seen across the genres, such as hardstyle artists like technoboy, showtek, nik fish and "trippier" artists such as infected mushroom and pendulum). Its 4/4 Time Signature (alike the majority of rock and classical music, surprisingly enough) seems to separate happy hardcore from many other others which are generally more "darker". Happy Hardcore can still be seen standing out among the rave scene today by it's beginning use of piano riffs, synth stabs and 'spacey' effects (which again, can be seen in DJ Hixxy's music).

Now, I could go on all day about all of the defining points of each genre; however I have something more important to talk about. So, for more info on happy hardcore check out Wikipedia!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_hardcore

Anywho, in my opinion the most outstanding attribute of all of these dance genres would have to be the generic song structure of this music.

Now, in many other music genres (rock in particular) song structure goes like this:

Intro - Verse 1 - Chorus - Verse 2 - Chorus - Outro

(although there may be bridges between Intro's & Verses, or between Verses & Choruses, or between Choruses/Verses/Outros - generally speaking it goes something along those lines)

I think the structure of the harder dance style genres suit the rave scene and all-night parties so well, primarily because of it's structure... It goes something like this:

Intro (sometimes with a dark voice, or someone speaking to introduce a philosophical side to the song, or passion about the music & rave scene) - Taste of the chorus (generally this is just has the same tones, beat or rhythm but it is not the chorus yet, it is more of an introduction) - Breakdown (this may just consist of afew "bell" sounding beats, that are light, soft and quiet. This serves as time for the dancers to stop and rest as they prepare for the chorus. Slowly and slowly this builds up to the chorus, getting faster and heavier) - Qlimax (An explosion of fast bass, the chorus is complete, lights and smoke accompany the explosion of sensory overload and everyone goes nuts) - Broken Down Chorus (The rhythm and the tones stay the same, however it may be slower - you may still be able to hear voices/singers, however it is starting to wind down) Here There Is Either Another Chorus, Then A Fade Out, Or An Outro (If they use an outro is usually just consists of the same repetitive beat, and it melts into the next song which will then become an intro)

Sorry if that explanation was a little vague, its the best way I could seem to explain it without being too simple/complicated.

I love this form of structure - most people can seem to predict music even when they're listening to a song for the first time, knowing when the chorus is about to come in, when the song is about the end. Although you still can with this music, it just totally stands out from all of the other genres. With this structure, DJ's are enabled complete control over the atmosphere of the crowd, they know when to turn it up, turn it down, make it complex or make it simple. They know which order to play their songs, in order to build up to the perfect Qlimax in the middle of their best song. They know how to calm down the crowd at the end of the night in order to prevent people getting too wild.

It is not only the structure of this music that makes it what it is, and why it does what it does so well, to those who partake in it - all of the things that I have spoken about in this blog, the special moments, the closeness that you have with fellow ravers that you can't find in today's world, being engulfed by such beautiful sounds - all mix up into one large and relatively safe subculture that is generally overlooked and stereotyped by those outside it.. why is it that 'techno' DJ's aren't considered 'musicians', when they employ all of the musical elements that intrumentalists and artists do, yet with a more technical side to it? Why is it that when someone has never been to a rave before, when they think of one they automatically assume dancing on drugs? Why is it that the media has portrayed these events as a gateway to hard drug use, addiction, and excessive violence? Why is it that this music and this subculture, surrounded by passion and love by those inside it - is ridiculed and stereotyped by those outside it?

I want your opinion.

Music Is My First Love - DJ Hixxy

Im taking no religion
No religions taking me
Now theres only one thing
And this one thing that sets me free
Listening to my music
The escape to keep me sane
With an overloaded bass-line
Which goes straight to my brain
I push up on the volume
Till its crystal clear and loud
My body starts to tingle
Just by listening to the sound
Nothing else can do the same
It hits the spot so fast
Music is my first love
People will always be my last
Cant explain the freedom
And the feeling from the bass
Something just comes over me
Which nothing can replace
You tune in you close your eyes
Im living in a dream
Hypnotised by something
You heard but never seen
The rhythem is a mystery
The magic I can tell
The boost the bass
The melody just gets me in the spell
Some loves in life will come and go
But one will never pass
Cuz music is my first love
People will always be my last

No One Can Stop Us . .

Throughout history, many raves have been shut down, people arrested, fined and etc. There are many laws surrounding this sub-culture which can hinder us. But, as the Donkey Rollers put so well, "No One Can Stop Us".

Sections of the Criminal Justice Act 1994 can affect raves.

Sections 61 & 62: Trespassers on land

Two or more persons trespassing on land (not including public highway land, eg verges & lay-bys) with the intention of living there may be directed to leave the land by the police if: (a) there are 6 or more vehicles there; or (b) if any damage has been caused to the land, eg crop damage); or (c) 'threatening or abusive words or behaviour' have been used against the occupier or their agents. Not leaving as soon as reasonably practicable is an offence; as is returning to the land within 3 months; the maximum sentence is 3 months in prison and/or a £2,500 fine. The police are also given powers to seize vehicles.

Sections 63, 64 & 65: Raves

A 'rave' is defined as a gathering of 100+ people, at which amplified music ('wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats'[!) is played which is likely to cause serious distress to the local community, in the open air and at night. These sections give the police the power to order people to leave the land if they're believed to be preparing to hold a rave (2 or more people); waiting for a rave to start (10+); actually attending a rave (10+). Ignoring this direction, or returning to the land within the next week, are both offences, liable to 3 months' imprisonment and/or a £2,500 fine. Section 65 lets any uniformed constable who believes a person is on their way to a rave within a 5-mile radius to stop them and direct them away from the area - failure to comply can lead to a maximum fine of £1000.

Sections 66 & 67: Seizure

The arrangements authorising police officers to enter land where a rave is in progress or anticipated. and which allow for the seizure, retention and charges for the confiscation of vehicles and sound equipment.

Section 68 & 69: Disruptive Trespassers

These refer to the new offence of 'aggravated trespass'. Section 68 is committed by anyone trespassing on land in the open air (not including highways and roads) with the intent of intimidating other people engaged in 'lawful activity' on that land or adjoining land, so as to deter them, or obstructing/ disrupting them. Section 69 gives the police sort of preventative powers to direct people to leave land. This direction can be made by a senior officer as long as at least one person is committing or intends to commit aggravated trespass, or there are two or more people present with the 'common purpose' of aggravated trespass. Failure to comply with this direction carries a maximum penalty of 3 months in prison and/or a 2,500 fine.

Sections 70 & 71: Trespassory Assemblies

As an amendment to the Public Order Act of 1986, this part allows the police to apply to the local authority (or, in London, the Home Secretary) to prohibit 'trespassory assemblies' of 20+ people for up to 4 days with a 5-mile exclusion zone, as long as there is a risk of 'serious disruption to the local community', or of 'significant damage' to the land or buildings/ monuments on it which may have historical/ archaeological/ scientific importance. Anyone organising or inciting another to attend one of these may be arrested and imprisoned for up to three months. Attendance, and refusal to be directed away, is punished by arrest and a maximum fine of 1000.

Section 80: Caravan Sites Act

The Caravan Sites Act of 1968 included a duty of local authorities to provide gypsy sites in their areas. Most local authorities never got anywhere near full, decent levels of provision, but section 80 repeals that duty, so leaving travellers with nowhere legal to stop.

Increased Stop & Search Powers

Similar to the old 'sus' laws, these give the police increased powers to declare areas as 'stop & search zones' because they anticipate that 'serious incidents of violence' may take place. A direction can be made to cover an area for up to 24 hours, with possible 6 hour extension. The police are then able to stop and question people at random, as well as searching vehicles, pedestrians and any bags for weapons and dangerous articles, without even suspecting that those people have committed an offence or intend to. This is bound to affect young people from ethnic minorities who are much more likely to be stopped and searched than a white person.

These are the laws that I came across that stood out the most that could affect raves, although I am sure there would be many more. Although most of these are necessary, being searched randomly by a cop does ruin the "vibe" abit. Even being passed on the street by a copper you automatically feel something similar to guilt; regardless of whether you have done anything wrong.

"These sections give the police the power to
order people to leave the land if they're believed to be preparing to hold a
rave (2 or more people); waiting for a rave to start (10+); actually attending a
rave (10+)".

Soooo... If two people are playing with some glowsticks in a large house and listening to some techno, the police can suspect them of holding a rave, and therefore have the right to fine them $2500 and/or three months imprisonment if they don't vacate the premises?

Even though this most likely wouldn't happen, the fact that the police still have the power to do so is a little odd in my opinion. I mean, I have glowsticks and kandi hanging all over my walls, and I also have various music posters, and some quite large speakers and sub woofer etc in my room, and generally I have music going. Am I a criminal that should be thrown in jail for disturbing the neighbours? Well, I personally don't think so, convince me otherwise if you please.

Well now, since we're on the topic of cops, I've just gotta throw it out there. If there are any police reading this that have had to be under cover coppers at raves, OH MY LORD, you make me laugh. I'm sorry, but if you're fifty, and wearing a "tutu" because it's "what all the young raver kids wear with their weird attire" then you're KINDOF going to stick out. Also; if you run around to all the 'off tap' people being all like "Oh my god bro I'm so high, what are you on tonight? Can you get me on?" then you're not reeeaaallllyyy gonna get your job done efficiently..

To all the Canberra ravers out there; I'm sure most of you have seen that SAME guy who has been at all of the Canberra raves for the past year or so - he's tall, got alotta facial hair, and he always wears all black, those nice shiny pointy dress shoes that almost all businessmen wear, black coat, etc. Oh wait sorry, what am I talking about? No one would have noticed him because he blends in PERFECTLY! *raises eyebrow*.

When I was at Hard To The Core III about a month or so ago I swear almost every time he saw someone smoking a cigeratte outside he'd go up to them and be like "duuude is that pot? smells nice bro give me a puff" or some such lingo that he thought would 'get him in the cool crowd'. On several occasions when I was sitting in my friends car he would knock on the window until we opened the door and then just be like "oh sorry I thought I smelt weed I'll just go look somewhere else".

Wtf!?

I hate the stereotypical assumptions that surround this subculture !

Maybe, just MAYBE, if the police didn't automatically assume that raves are plentiful in drug dealers and chemicals, and waste their time trying to blend in and just looking like idiots by asking everyone and "ruining the vibe" then they could actually do their job, like be breathtesting people to avoid drink driving and being IN uniform to let people know of their presence without invading people's personal space.

Let me know what you all think about this, bitchy comments and controversy might be abit of fun.

Recommended Videos

Hey there everyone. Just uploaded two new video bars on the left hand side of the page. The first one is the Girls Can Shuffle Parts 1 - 4, which a few of you may have already seen on Youtube already. In my opinion, they're all amazing but the one at the bottom (Pt 4) is the best. It has some really good shots of some raves and lightshows; if those of you who haven't been before would like to get a better idea of the scenario. Even though the music in this is happy hardcore - ish (which isn't my preference) it is still rather good.

You should definitely watch the video of "Moonboy" underneath these . . . Oh god, the first time I saw this video I think I just watched it on repeat for far too long. This kid is actually TWELVE years old ; and he's doing the malaysian shuffle ! !

[even though the shuffle originated from melbourne, it also spread to Malaysia and Brunei in particular - where they further evolved this style of dance and put their own twist on it]

P.S ;
here's an article I found on the melbourne dance scene the was on the front page of The Age in 2002 that some of you might be interested in.
http://www.theage.com.au/frontpage/2002/12/07/frontpage.pdf

The Bigger Picture

Peace, Love, Unity, Respect & Responsibility is quite straight forward, really. The fact that a dance & party culture has these unspoken rules in order to keep every body safe and for every one to have a good time is quite remarkable; considering that these principles are generally perceived as "random acts of kindness" amongst the majority of society, if they were to happen in every day life.

For example; you are walking through a busy, congested city during peak hour when everyone has just finished work. A blur of rushing business suits, ties, brief cases, and heels crowd the vicinity; pushing and shoving, just attempting to find their way home amongst the muck and the madness.
Through this crowd; you see a group of skaters, grinding up poles, down steps, flips, just off in their own little world, disregarding all of their surroundings.
One slips and falls. A sound pierces the air as he hits the ground; yet it is drowned out by the hustle and bustle of the city. The other skaters continue as they were, simply assuming his wellbeing, as they always do. Does any passerby choose to even look to check if he was ok? No. Does anyone go and offer him a hand? No. If a passerby did choose to do such a thing; those who saw it would either think that it was A) a random act of kindness B) an overly nice person or C) this person is only out for self - gratification and approval from others.

It is interesting, as in all social, cultural and even psychological aspects; there are certain rules of which people abide by in certain environments and circumstances, where in other environments these rules may not be necessary or even acceptable. The responsibility to care for others and yourself; to unite as one, and to respect yourself and others is just what comes with this culture whether individuals themselves choose to partake in it.

In my experience of raves, from about 9 am til 1 am people are still warming up, and since all of the good dj's and the headliners come on at about 3am, everyone's pretty razzed up by this time; and then from about 4ish onwards til about 6am everyone is pretty rowdy / over tired. (Not to say that this is how it always is - just in my experience). I remember when I was at Godspeed in March, and it was about 5am or so, everyone was extremely rowdy and there had already been one fight out the front of the venue so the vibe was abit tense (well at least it was for me and the people that I was with!). I remember there was a fight on the dance floor, I remember just looking over and seeing two massive shirtless guys in a brawl (although I couldn't see much as I'm not that tall and the crowd was quite congested at this point) and the next thing I knew, one of the guys was staggering away from it and came right in front of me, with blood all down his jaw, his nose looked out of place, and he had a white elwood - or some similar brand - shirt on which had been splattered with blood. I don't know what came over me - all of a sudden I just walked straight up to him and I touched his shoulder and asked "are you alright?" a part of me at the same time was thinking "this probably isn't a good idea..." but I remember my mindset was so determined on making sure he was relatively ok. He looked at me as if I were crazy for a moment, and then he just came to me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders and hugged me. The three friends I was with immediately grabbed my arms/waist all at once because they thought something was wrong but then let go straight away when they realised everything was ok. We just stood there hugging, amidst lasers, smoke, and the most beautiful music. He pulled away and yelled in my ear (so I could hear him on top of the music) "thankyou, I'm fine" and smiled at me, tapped me on the shoulder in gratitude and then just walked away, wiping the blood off his face and continued to dance.

To some this may not seem like a very big thing; but to me, this moment almost made my night, because I don't know what came over me, approaching a random person who was just in a fight. In hindsight, it was probably a very bad idea. Yet, I shared something with these people. For the three friends I was with were only people that I had met that very night, for only a few hours of talking and dancing, and they were prepared to protect me no matter the consequences. The person I approached was grateful for my care and I was genuinely happy that he was ok.

If there was a random brawl on the street, and a teenage girl approached a mid 20s male just to ask if he was ok, what would the reaction be? It's hard to say - all I know is that I feel that that was a very beautiful example of how people within this culture care for one another no matter the circumstances, and how remarkable it is that just the vibe and atmosphere of such a place, all based on love for a genre of music, can provoke such friendliness in people, who in everyday passing in the street, you would ignore or maybe exchange an awkward glance.

This culture is about the music, but it is more than that. It is the beautiful things that surround this scene that make it so unbelievable.

Why You Should Be Interested !

"It is a party, a gathering, a sensory event; the rave scene is one of the newest and increasingly popular music cultures for young adults around the world. A "rave," in the vernacular, "refers to a party, usually all night long, open to the general public, where various types of techno genres are played. Another part of the "concept of raves is built upon sensory overload - a barrage of audio and very often visual stimuli" is used to heighten people into altered states of mind and body. It has no particular origin - rave culture can be traced back as far as you want to trace it. It pulls energy from many different directions" (Hilker, 1994)