Come on over CUT SOME SHAPES

emyleeinfo
May 14
2 min read

Dom Dolla will forever be the GOAT for being the only person (that I know of) to ever mention cutting shapes in a song. And if you don't know what song I'm talking about, get out from under the rock you've been living in and listen to this.

Now that we are all on the same page let's chat about Cutting Shapes. What is it? Isn't it just shuffling? Well yes, and no.

Cutting Shapes is distinctly characterized by it's bouncy and fast footwork.

Where shuffling is much more grounded, smooth and give the illusion that one is “floating” across the dance floor.

Purists will tell you that cutting shapes is not shuffling, however over time shuffling has become the umbrella term for the two dance styles. And while they are distinctly different, most shufflers (myself included) incorporate both into their dancing.

You needn't worry about calling yourself a shaper or a shuffler, this isn't high school and we aren't dividing into cliques. However I think it's important to note the differences and the history of the dances.

The History:

Both Melbourne Shuffling and Cutting Shapes started around the same time (late 80s/early 90s)
Melbourne Shuffling started in Australia (obvi) and Cutting Shapes started in the UK.
However the name Cutting Shapes wasn't coined until the 2000s.
As dance music grew, so did the dances and now we see many shufflers incorporating these styles seamlessly (as well as many many other dance styles).

I like to think of shuffling (in the broader sense) as ever evolving, it's constantly taking on and incorporating new dance styles to make each shuffler unique. This is so different to something like ballet which has rigid rules and structures. I could go into a novel on this topic alone, but perhaps we should get back to shapes.

Some key moves that characterize Cutting Shapes are:

The Charleston
Diamond/Criss-Cross
V-step/Happy Feet
Polly Pocket/X-Step

There are so many more but these are some good foundational moves to get started with, all of which you can find in my latest tutorial on YouTube.

And when you're ready to learn even more cutting shapes moves, head on over to The Shuffle Vault to learn ever shaping move I know.