A therapy dance that can be done anywhere, with or without music
Although music with strong beats and tempo of 95-115 bpm work well.
Note: “Sitting is the new smoking”, so say reports. It is now accepted that movement is beneficial and helps avoid the negative effects of sitting and inactivity. If you move your feet and body to a rhythm, then you are grooving, and grooving is dancing, and your body and mind will feel better for it. Move & Groove 1 (M&G1) is a very simple dance that is based on walking steps and 4-count swing. The simple set of steps for this dance were inspired by my need to move for health reasons without attracting too much attention...not that attention is a bad thing, because if asked what I am doing, I share the steps and potentially help someone get moving. The even rhythm stepping of this dance can be done with or without music. Walking tempo is a good speed to start with, but the tempo can be faster, slower or varied as desired, or done to the beat of your favorite music. Steps can be varied as well, from very small, to full paces, plus styling can be added as the spirit moves you and the situation allows. This dance (or some variation of it) can be done anywhere including behind your chair at a meeting, in the galley of an airplane, while waiting in line, during a conference call, at the beach...you get the idea, I am sure.
Starting Position: Stand upright with feet slightly apart, knees slightly bent, weight slightly forward on balls of feet. When to start the steps: Start anytime, even as moving forward (e.g. walking from one location to another). With music, start when the strong beats begin. Count the steps (tip: change weight on each step) as 1, 2, 3, 4 and then start counting over again. Don’t worry about messing up, just restart or make up some filler steps. Mentally keeping count helps occupy the mind (it is like singing to the music without knowing the words), reduces stress, and makes time pass more pleasantly.
Abbreviations: R = right; L = left; LF = left foot; RF = right foot; FWD = forward
STEP AND SHIFT WEIGHT L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R
1,2
Step and shift weight to LF, step and shift weight to RF
3,4
Step and shift weight to LF, step and shift weight to RF
ROCK BACK, FORWARD, FORWARD, BACK, BACK, FORWARD, FORWARD, BACK
1,2
Small rock step back on LF, recover by transferring weight FWD to RF
3,4
Small rock step FWD on LF, recover by transferring weight back to RF
STEP SIDE, BEHIND, CROSS, SIDE, BEHIND, CROSS, SIDE, TOGETHER
1,2
Small step L on LF, step RF behind LF with instep of RF close to heel of LF
3,4
Small LF step across RF, small step R on RF
1,2
Step LF behind RF with instep of LF close to heel of RF, small RF step across LF
3,4
Small step L on LF, step RF close to RF with weight
For a longer version of this dance with turns, see Move & Groove 2 (M&G2).
Contact: wildwoodlabs@gmail.com
Last Update - 12 May 2022