Choreographed vs Freestyle Shuffling

To choreo or not to choreo? THAT is the question.

If you know me, you'll know I'm a freestyle girlie. I love to just go out, put my shuffle playlist on and just VIBE. But is that the fastest way to improve? Is choreography going to help you out more than just "vibing"?

Well let's start by addressing the pros and cons of both:

Freestyling:

Pros:

• Fun and free practice sessions: don't have to worry about sticking to a rigid plan

• Improves musicality: Forces you to listen closely and respond to the beat in real time.

• Builds confidence: Helps you get comfortable dancing in front of others, especially in social or festival settings.

• Enhances creativity: Encourages spontaneous movement and personal style development.

• More natural transitions: You develop smoother flow and intuitive movement between steps.

Cons:

• Can feel repetitive or unstructured: Without guidance, it’s easy to repeat the same few moves or feel “stuck.”

• Harder to assess progress: It’s more difficult to measure improvement

• Challenging for beginners: New dancers might not know what to do without structured combos or steps.

Choreography:

Pros:

• Teaches precision and technique: helps with refining footwork, clean transitions, and posture.

• Boosts memory and coordination: Learning routines sharpens your brain-body connection and retention.

• Showcases range: You’re more likely to use a wider variety of moves than you might during a freestyle.

• Creates performance-ready content: Ideal for reels, classes, or stage settings where polish is needed.

• Confidence through structure: Knowing exactly what you’re going to do can reduce anxiety in performances.

Cons:

• May stifle creativity if overused: Too much focus on routines can lead to robotic or overly “scripted” dancing.

• Takes time to learn and polish: Requires repetition and patience to master.

• Doesn't always help with musicality: You can end up dancing “on counts” more than to the feeling of the music.

• Not applicable for festival settings: Most likely you're not gonna whip out a choreo at your favorite DJ's set.

Okay so what's the right answer?

Well, the best approach when learning how to shuffle is perhaps a balance of both. Maybe some practice sessions can just be for freestyle flow, but maybe you dedicate a few to learning choreos and combos from your favorite shufflers (insert shameless plug to The Shuffle Vault here).

If I were you, I would shoot for either a 70:30 or a 50:50 split of freestyle sessions to choreo/drill sessions. Meaning if you practice:

• 3 times a week, 2 of those sessions will be freestyle plus 1 choreo/drilling session

• 2 times a week, 1 freestyle and 1 choreo session

• 4 times a week, either 3 and 1 or 2 and 2.

• You get the gist.

It's totally up to you though. What aspect of your dancing do you want to improve?

Are you looking to become a performer and be able to shuffle on stage? Or perhaps you want to create eye-catching videos for social media. Then maybe you'll lean a little heavier on choreo.

Or maybe you're just looking to gain some cool new shuffle skills for your next festival. You could even just enjoy shuffling as a fun way to be active. Then perhaps you'll lean on freestyling a little more.

Either way, you will likely have one method you prefer. For instance, I prefer to freestyle and am better at it than picking up new choreography. So maybe you lean a little in the direction your heart calls to you, but don't neglect the other medium.

And if you're looking for a choreo to try out, I just created a fun beginner shuffle choreo for you. The first half is on YouTube, and the full choreo is on The Shuffle Vault.

Stay groovy!

xx Em