What is Freestyle Dancing

Freestyle dancing is defined as a free form style of dance with no rules, limitations, or choreography to follow. To make it simple, it is dancing where every move and step is made up as you progress. Freestyle dancing can be applied to almost any type of dance for a particular situation. For example, if you are dancing with your date in a club to the hip hop beats of the Black Eyed Peas, you are probably making up the steps and moves as you go along to the song. Very few individuals practice a set of moves to show off to their partners on the dance floor. This is the reason why freestyle dancing has no rules and limitations because you only make it as you go along.

Although freestyle dancing refers to free form dancing, this is still dependent on the situation and the style of the dance. Furthermore, most dancers will still use a combination of practiced moves with an array of spontaneous steps to create a new and free form dance. For example, a dancer moving to the grooves of the Britney Spears song “Oops, I did it again”, will probably use some of the moves that Britney did on the video plus a few other moves that he made up on the spot.

Hip hop and pop dances are usually referred to as freestyle dances but in truth, most of the dance steps to these types of music are choreographed and practiced. The only thing that really makes the dance seem freestyle is because the order and sequence of the steps are varied and made on the spot. This, of course, is only a possibility in a less formal performance setting like a dance club or disco. For professional dancers and performers that dance for the entertainment of the crowd, hip hop and pop dance styles will most likely be choreographed down to each step. The same goes for singers dancing in concerts and shows.
Freestyle dancing is difficult to do in other styles of dance. For example, if you are engaging in fun line dancing to the country song “Sweet Home Alabama”, it is quite hard to do a free form dance because the song and dance style to the song is pretty much rigid in form and since you will be dancing with other people on the floor following specific moves, then doing a freestyle dance will probably make you look like a complete moron.

On the other hand, in ballroom dancing, the ability to create a free form dance will depend on a two things. The first thing is the style of the music. For example, if a waltz is playing, then it is very inappropriate to dance to a tango. The second thing is if your partner is up to the challenge. It will be difficult to make up moves for a tango if your partner is not a seasoned dancer.

The 70’s brought about the evolution of dance with freestyle moves during casual partner dancing. In today’s era of form and performance, many dance styles appear to be freestyle in nature but in truth, it is only a fraction of what freestyle dancing should be.