I'm not talking about different stylez (hardstyle, softstyle, w/e-style), but two main groups of people that shuffle.
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The
first group of people are those who "rave Shuffle". These people are
those who shuffle for fun and the word PLUR actually MEANS something to
them. When they are at a rave and see another shuffler, they accept the
other shuffler, dance with them, and just embrace the rave scene. They
don't stand by the terms "hardstyle" or "softstyle", it's just shuffle.
The term "Express not impress" is over used, and has no meaning, but
defines these people perfectly. They shuffle with people, not against.
To them, the rave, the scene, the music, and the feel are more
important than the shuffle. There are no preset "styles" (hardstyle,
softstyle), but simply just the way they move to the music.
The
second type of people are those who "Show Shuffle". You can find these
people on your neighborhood video site, showing the world how "pro"
they are. To these people, Shuffling isn't a rave thing, its an
attraction thing. Tbs and anyone who identifies with a certain style
(like hardstyle) are show shufflers.
When they see another
shuffler on the floor, they go up and say "duude! you rock, i so wanna
battle you!". To them its a competition. They are not just people who
shuffle in public, or copy someone else to try to look so good, they
are those who think of the shuffle as more than a fun thing you do at
raves. To them, the shuffle is a competition, not just a way to dance,
but a way to prove something.
A show shuffler doesn't have to be
"bad" at shuffling nor are they the "pros", they are people who get
together and shuffle on the streets, shuffle in the malls, or shuffle
under a bridge. For them, the shuffle has become (or has always been)
about the shuffle more than anything else. More than the music, or the
feel of a rave.
That is why shuffling has "hit the streets",
because show shufflers have a different view on what the melbourne
shuffle is. They break it up into styles, and crews, and being better
and better. At a rave, no body will care if it's your first time
shuffling, or 1000th time shuffling, they accept you. In the eyes of a
show shuffler, shuffling means a specific thing, a specific criteria of
moves, speed, hardness, style. That's why "hardstyle" and "softstyle"
was created. To show or represent a preset criteria of what the shuffle
has to be.
The shuffle, like anything isn't just w/e you feel
or want. There are certain moves that pertain to the shuffle (ie: 2
step RM, the basic shuffle, slides, etc...). But when you start to have
to do those moves in a certain way, this after that, faster, harder,
softer, thats when the shuffle idea changes.
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I got
this thought at the last rave I was at. I was shuffling and came by a
guy I know who also shuffles. He is your typical TB. Uses the right
shoes, shuffles in his crew and battles. But that night he wasn't
shuffling. I asked him "hey dude, why aren't you shuffling?" and he
replied "Why? this music isn't really good for hardstyle, and your the
only other one who shuffles". I was shuffling because thats what i do
at a rave, one of the ways I dance there. He wasn't shuffling because
to him, the way he shuffled was more important than just letting lose,
and flowing with the music.
