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Get your glide on with this beginner-friendly guide
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Gliding is a form of street or hip-hop dance that is related to popping. It is also closely associated with the "moonwalk," made famous by Michael Jackson. In glide dancing, the feet alternate between toe and heel, while pushing or pulling the feet across the floor, to create the illusion that your body is gliding in a smooth motion. It is often performed in a sideways or circular motion. In this article, we'll explain how to nail this dance move and elevate it once you get the hang of steps. Read on!
Steps
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Find a smooth, flat surface. A hardwood floor works best when you're gliding for the first time. You can also use the tiled or linoleum floor in your kitchen. Once you get more comfortable with it, you can use carpet if you have to, but for best results, start with the smoothest surface, which will allow you to glide with the greatest ease. If you have no luck indoors, you can start outside, on a concrete surface such as a basketball court. If you're indoors, though, you should try to practice in front of a mirror, if you can, so you can watch your own footwork. -
Wear comfortable shoes with smooth soles. If you have old shoes with worn soles, don't throw them out -- they'll be perfect for gliding. You don't want a shoe with ridges on the soles or a strong grip, because you want to be able to slide along the floor as easily as you can; shoes with a strong grip will keep you from making fluid movements. If you have shoes with smooth soles and a smooth floor, you're halfway there already. Once you've got those things, stand with your feet hip-width apart.Advertisement -
Pivot your right foot so that your toe is facing out and raise your right heel. Put your body weight on your right toes. You should be able to lift your left foot and move it easily because there is no weight on it. Shifting your weight up and over your right toes is an important part of this step. You can keep your arms at your sides and shift them up and forward, too, to help you keep your balance. If you're a lefty, you can start with your left foot, if that makes things easier, but it doesn't really matter because you'll be using both feet the same way eventually.- The most important thing to note when you begin to learn to glide is that one of your feet should always be flat while the other foot should always be on its toes or the balls of the feet. You should always be prepared to transition from one to the other.
- You should aim for the balls of your feet. If you become a true expert, you can even go for your toes, but for now, this should be just enough. The less of your foot you use, the more impressive your gliding will look. However, this will also make it more difficult to maintain your balance.
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Slide your left foot out to the side and turn it out, just as you did with your right foot. Think of it as pushing your right foot up, and then pulling your left foot to the left. -
Bring your left heel up as you move your right heel down. Always remember the rule about keeping one heel up and one heel down at all times. Make sure your body weight switches to the new toe each time you change feet, as it will allow you to slide your feet in and out more easily. At first, this transition may feel a little clunky, but you'll get the hang of it and will be able to make it look like one fluid motion, like a wave traveling through you. -
Bring your right heel down and turn the toe inwards. Slide it toward your left foot. Just do exactly what you did with your left foot with your right foot. -
Switch your toe and heel, bringing your right toes up and out and your left heel down and in. Your feet should be very close to each other, with your right heel hovering over your left toes. -
Slide your left foot out to get into the starting position. Return to the place where you started -- standing with your feet hip distance apart. -
Repeat these steps again until you get comfortable with them and can move fluidly. Reverse the feet so you travel back in the opposite direction. You can just start by moving all the way to the left and then all the way to the right, and then practice moving back and forth, up and down, or diagonally as you become more comfortable with gliding. -
Keep practicing. If you want your glide movements to look really fluid and natural, then you've gotta keep practicing. Spend at least fifteen minutes a day gliding to your favorite hip hop beat and you'll be amazed at how quickly you improve. Once you get the footwork down, you'll be able to use your arms more, instead of just keeping them at your sides. You can put your whole body into it, and find a way to move around that is completely unique.
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1Do The Usher. If you want to take the basic side glide a step further, do The Usher to add an extra kick to your new dance moves. Usher does the side glide by over-rotating the hip of the foot that is pointed. So, if you're starting by pointing your right foot, just swing your right foot out to the right by pivoting your hip before you point your foot. Continue to over-rotate the pointed foot as you glide from side to side.
- For another addition to this move, do the Booker Forte. This less well-known move requires you to not only over-rotate the leg and hip of the pointed foot, but to also swing the sliding foot's hip and leg around a bit more as you slide out.
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2Glide while only pointing one of your feet. If you're sick of switching between pointing and sliding your left and right foot, you can just stick to having one foot be your pointed foot and one foot be your sliding foot. You can still move to one side, forward and back, or even diagonally, while using this technique. You can use one foot for pointing for a while and then switch things up, only using the other foot.
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Create boxes while you glide. If you want to take it to the next level, you can work on switching directions by turning your body 90 degrees when you switch your body weight from your left toe to your right toe, and vice versa. After you point one foot, slide the other foot in the new direction. Do this with every step to create boxes. The only difference between this move and the side glide is that you'll be gliding along the four corners of an imaginary box. You can even help yourself by eyeballing or marking the four corners of the box with your foot. -
Do the circle glide. Once you've got the box glide down, you can take it a step further by smoothing out those corners and gliding in a circle. Dance in circles by pulling your right foot in past your left foot and then pushing your left foot in a diagonal motion rather than straight. Instead of creating four nice walls of a box, you'll be moving your feet in a pattern that mimics a circle. Repeat the motion with both feet and you will dance in a fluid, circular motion.- Once you're moving in a circle in one direction for a little while, you can mix it up and move in the opposite direction. This will also keep you from getting dizzy.
- You don't have to stick to the same exact circle pattern every time. You can make the circle bigger or smaller, or even move to the left or right as you create another circle. This will take some coordination, but it'll look great.
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Tips
- Move your arms up and down in small motions as you glide, while keeping your shoulders steady. This will make your gliding look more natural.Thanks
- In order to get better at gliding, practice raising your body up on your tip toes. Repeat 25 to 50 repetitions daily. Also, alternate toes, raising your body up on 1 toe and then the other.Thanks
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Expert Interview
Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about dancing, check out our in-depth interview with Emilia Richeson-Valiente .
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