How to Melbourne Shuffle

Co-authored by Dariusz Horvath-Krol

Last Updated: February 8, 2024

The Melbourne Shuffle is a dance style that involves quick movements of the feet to move you across the floor. The dance is typically accompanied by electronic music, and it’s a popular dance in the club scene. The basic or old school version of the Melbourne Shuffle includes the T-step and Running Man dance steps. Once you learn how to do these two basic steps, you can add on arm movements and variations of the foot movements to create your own unique style of the Melbourne Shuffle.^{[1]
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Part 1

Part 1 of 4:

Learning the T-step

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1
Start with your feet in a “T” shape. You should begin with your feet in a “T” shape, or 3rd position in ballet. Put your feet with your heels together and your toes pointed outwards, so that your feet make a “V” shape. Then, slide one foot forward so that the heel is connected to the middle of your back foot. Your feet should now make a “T” shape.
- It doesn’t matter which foot is forward.
- Your front foot should be pointed out at an angle.
Put your weight on the heel of your front foot, and rotate your foot point straight forward. At the same time as you turn your front foot, you pick up your back foot off of the ground. Your front toe should rotate toward your back foot to end up with your foot pointing straight. For example, if your left foot is forward, your foot should rotate towards the right.

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3
Place your back foot back down while rotating the heel of your front foot back into the starting position. Put your weight on the toe of your front foot and rotate your foot back into the starting position by moving your heel. At the same time, place your back foot back down to have the middle of the foot meet the heel of your front foot in the “T” position.
- Your feet should end up in the same “T” shape about 6 inches from where you started from.
4
Repeat the basic move of rotating your toe and then heel. Continue to rotate your front foot to the side by first moving the toe and then moving the heel. At the same time lift your back foot and put it back down to meet your front foot.
- You should slowly move across the floor to the side when you continue to do this basic move repetitively.
Practice with one foot forward until you are comfortable completing the dance move across the floor. Then, practice with the opposite foot forward to move the other direction across the floor.

Part 2

Part 2 of 4:

Changing Directions with the T-step

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Start by doing the T-step across the floor in one direction. Stop when you have enough room to do one more dance step before you want to change directions. To change directions, you’ll need to switch which foot is forward.
On the last dance step before you want to change directions, put your back foot down in front of your other foot so that you end up in the “T” position with your back foot in front. At the same time as putting your back foot down in front, rotate your other foot into the “T” position by moving the heel to position the foot at the starting angle.
3
Begin to do the dance steps in the new direction. Lift your back foot and rotate the new front foot in the new direction you’re traveling. Do the dance steps all the way across the room in this direction, and then change your feet to travel in the opposite direction again.
- Practice doing the T-step slowly from side to side to get comfortable with changing directions.

Part 3

Part 3 of 4:

Learning the Running Man

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Start by standing with your legs together, and then pick one leg up so that your foot is off the floor and your thigh is parallel to the ground. It doesn’t matter which leg you start with.
2
Push your standing leg back as you put your other leg down. Hop the leg you’re standing on to slide it back into a small lunge. At the same time, place your other leg back down on the floor with your knee slightly bent. You should end up in a lunge with one leg forward and one back.
- Don’t do a big hop. You should only hop high enough to slide your foot back into a lunge position.
3
Slide your front foot back to center and pick up your back leg. Gently hop your front foot to slide it a few inches back to end up with your leg centered under your body. At the same time, bring your back leg forward and lift it so that your foot is off the floor and your thigh is parallel to the ground.
- This position should be the same as the first position you made, but with the opposite leg raised off the ground.
- You should be ready to do the moves again with the opposite leg as the standing leg.
4
Repeat the steps of sliding your front foot to center and then back into a lunge. Repeat steps 2 and 3 continually to dance the running man. You should end up doing two small hops on one foot as you slide it to center and then back into a lunge while you raise the other foot up to do the same thing on that side. Continue doing the dance steps on one side and then the next to dance the Running Man.
- The hops are really small. The dance move is actually sliding your foot backwards so make sure you only lift it enough to slide. The dance move should be smooth and not look like you’re jumping.

Part 4

Part 4 of 4:

Combining the T-step with the Running Man

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Start by dancing the T-step until you are near the middle of the floor. Make sure you only go one direction to get to the center of the floor. It doesn’t matter which direction you travel in, so choose the direction that’s easiest for you to dance the T-step in.
To make the change from dancing the T-step to dancing the Running Man, you need to start the T-step and end up in a lunge. To start the T-step, lift your back foot while rotating the front foot’s toes to end up with the front foot pointed straight forward. Keep your front foot forward and place your back foot down behind to end up in a lunge position.
From the lunge position, hop your front foot back to slide it to center while you lift your back leg up. Then, hop your front foot again to slide it back while placing your other foot down to end up in another lunge. Continue doing the Running Man until you’re ready to change back to the T-step again.
To switch back from the Running Man to the T-step, you need to do half of the Running Man and end up with your feet back in the “T” shape to start the T-step. Hop your front foot to slide it back to center while lifting your back foot up to do the first half of the Running Man. Then, leave your front foot where it is and put your back foot down behind your front foot in the “T” position. You are now ready to start the T-step again.
Practice transitioning between the two dance steps to be able to smoothly switch from dancing the T-step to dancing the Running Man. When you can easily transition, you can have fun switching back and forth as you dance the Melbourne Shuffle.

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How do I do the running man?

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You do the running man by pretending to run in slow motion, but staying in one place.

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Does your back leg create compulsion to bring the front leg back in running man?

Akshi

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Yes, you need to force the back lack a bit while taking the other leg ahead in the front.

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Tips

Start learning the steps without music so you don’t worry about dancing to a beat. Get the basic foot movements down before trying to dance to music.

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Once you are comfortable with the foot movements, play with different ways to move your arms while dancing. Many people like to have their arms follow their leg movements. So, for example, during the T-step you could move your arm out in the direction you’re traveling. Try different arm movements and find something that feels natural to you.

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After you have the basics down, try adding variations like kicking your back leg out instead of placing it down in the T-step. The Melbourne Shuffle is a dance that you can add your own flair to, so have fun adding your own unique style onto the basic steps.

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