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Learn to Tecktonik Dance

Tecktonik is an emergent European dance movement. The BBC reports that it started in the suburbs of Paris in 2001. It involves perpetually rapid movement, often in an apparently wild or jerky manner. The dance evolved when techno music from Northern Europe started to play in French nightclubs: The French had trouble adapting their existing dance forms to this type of music, so they invented a new one. It has its roots in various modes of club dancing, including rave, house, breakdance and vogue.

Instructions

    • 1

      Start slow. The movements of tecktonik can be fairly complex, and if you try to start off at the customary frenetic speed, you may have trouble coordinating the moves. Begin by moving at one-fourth of the speed at which you've seen tecktonik dancers move. Speed up as the movements become more comfortable.

    • 2

      Sweep your forearm over your head, back to front. This is one of the most common moves in tecktonik dance. Immediately afterward, you can shoot your other arm through the opening made by the crook of your elbow.

      Tecktonik dance involves the hands and arms more than it does the legs. Its hand movements derive largely from vogue, a style of modern house dance that evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene. Common features of vogue are fluid movements of the hands across the face and circular pivots of the forearms at the elbows.

    • 3

      Hold your arms in that position for the space of one beat before transitioning to the next move. A little-discussed aspect of tecktonik is its borrowing from disco, in the form of poses. Tecktonik's movements are not absolutely kinetic, as they are punctuated by held poses reminiscent of disco music. This contributes to its "jerky" reputation.

    • 4
      The feet constantly shuffle, swivel and step while the upper body performs more complex movements.

      Swivel your feet back and forth to the beat of the music. Try adding some of the rapid stomping and stepping derived from the Melbourne shuffle, another component dance of tecktonik. Meanwhile, jerk your hips up or to the side in time with the music. The footwork of tecktonik dance is not as complex as the arm movements.

    • 5

      Watch others perform the dance. You don't have to go to a nightclub or to Europe to do this. The web abounds with video tutorials of the dance. Study the moves and imitate them, gradually increasing your speed. Some good sites to start with are learntecktonik.net and tecktoniktutorial.com.

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