These days, Nguyen Dinh Chieu pedestrian street, near Truong Tien Bridge, seems to provide much more vitality when Hue youngsters confidently express themselves with Shuffle dance ( the dance mainly using heels and well-known with consecutively and hilarious tunes).
Every 5:30 pm, the “T-shirts, flared pants, and sneakers get a chance to “gather” together
Passion
Almost every day, at 5:30 pm, Hue youngsters loving Shuffle dance gather together by the poetic Huong river. With the small computer, the loudspeaker with sufficient sound and passion, the young people of Hue Crew team leave themselves into the dance steps and music.
While aerobic requires crop-tops, leggings, or shorts, and Zumba is colorful with tank tops going together with cargo pants, crotch pants, Shuffle dance is well-known with the typical simplicity.
Nguyen Viet An, the leader of the Hue Crew team, said: “Shuffle dance involves a lot of footwork and highlights the comfort and freedom. Therefore, elastic sport pants or flared pants, T-shirts and sneakers are the typical costumes, which are suitable for this dance”.
The precursor of Shuffle dance is Melbourne Shuffle, a kind of dance that appeared in the late 80s in Melbourne (Australia). Going through many stages of variations, together with the development of YouTube and social networks, this dance started to “enter” our country in the period of 2009 – 2010.
“In Hue, Shuffle dance had a scattered appearance very early, however from 2016 onwards, there appeared some groups starting to practice this type of dance,” said Duong Dang Quoc Huy, the boy who has been pursuing Shuffle dance for four years.
In 2017, Quoc Huy formed a Shuffle dance crew, gathering nearly 10 members. Most of them were students. Later, due to each members' studying work and their busy time, his 9X boy's dance crew had to temporarily stop.
Not being dispirited, his desire urged him to practice at home and other deserted places. The boy in love with Shuffle dance shared: "Shuffle dance can be practiced individually or collectively. However, when there is a companion, everyone has the motivation to try more and more. My crew stopped practicing since mid-2018; it was not until early 2020 that I knew about Hue Crew and then joined it. The feeling of finding people who have the same passion was great! ”.
Shuffle dance catches the eyes by skillful and youthful movements
Overcoming the distance
Hue Crew was established in early 2019, gathering members who love and are passionate about Shuffle dance. Nguyen Viet An said: “At first, we only had three members, but now there are 20 members in our team. We practice basic movements such as T - step, Running man, V - step ... and learn to gain something new every day".
Living in Phu Da Town (Phu Vang Commune), Nguyen Thi Minh, a high school student, goes to Hue City every week to practice with the dance crew. Minh shared: "In 2015, I knew about Shuffle dance and I fell in love with that. I practiced at home by myself; then after knowing Hue Crew, I joined it and have been practicing Shuffle dance with it since then. ”
Not only Minh, many members who love Shuffle dance also have to go a long way to pursue their passion. Because in Hue, Shuffle dance is not well-trained, so those who are passionate about it have to practice by themselves or find a suitable group to develop themselves.
Each member comes from different places. But when they dropped their backpacks, every expensive or cheap shirt, shoes and hats were all dancing in the same tune.
The catchy and energetic sound of EDM music (electronic dance music) with a strong rhythm combines with the body swing, the slide, and the movement of foot and hands... not only connects Shuffle dance lovers together but also attracts tourists and the young to participate in learning practicing and experiencing this dance, creating an attractive destination, a "vortex" at the walking street along the Huong River.
In the upcoming time, the Hue Shuffle dance crew cherishes to implement many plans. "We will try to practice, then we will shoot Shuffle dance videos at the monuments and landscapes in Hue to introduce the beauty of our homeland in a new style," Hue Crew leader shared.
In order to accomplish this intention, the team members not only try to learn new things and practice by themselves but also actively interact with the Shuffle dance community across Vietnam through the Shufflers' Facebook pages (Shuffle dancers).
With the continuous learning and renewing themselves, our Hue boys and girls are quickly integrating into the exciting and meaningful pleasures of the young. It is known that Shuffle dance helps to have strong legs, prevents osteoporosis, and also dispels anxiety and stress.
Accordingly, this is a simple and attractive field, but it brings about many unexpected benefits, connecting people with the dancing tune, connecting people with people, bringing the young, and "who was once young" comes closer.
Story and photos: Mai Hue