How to Grind Dance – A Beginners Guide to Dirty Dancing / Grinding

Guide to Dirty Dancing / Grinding

So you want to learn how to grind dance on a dance floor not just how to dance at social events, whether it would be for a school dance, house party, frat party or in a club.  It can be discouraging or even embarrassing when you don’t even know what to do once you’re rubbing against your dance partner. Here is a practical beginner’s step to step guide on how to grind aka freak dance as some of you youngsters may call it.

1.  The Hips – It’s all in the hips

Essentially everything we do is all in the hips- from walking to running our hips sway side to side naturally. Plus people hear coaches say use your hips all the time when playing sports because the hips play a vital role.

Here is an exercise you can do right now.

Stand up with your feet shoulder width apart and sway your hips side to side — left to right in smooth moderate speed.

What happened?

You should notice that your whole body moved as well.

The hips are the key to dancing and grinding.

Most common grind dancing involves your hips to move in back and forth motion usually side to side –left to right.

2. The Knees – Bend them

Next is your knees – they have to bend, but at what point?

Imagine a U and your hips are swinging side to side on the U. The knees will bend in the middle and come back up towards the ends. That’s what is going to happen when you grind. You can make the U as big as you want or as subtle, usually it’s just enough to have it sway.

3. Move to the music/beat

Moving to the beat is important because the music and body has to match up and that’s how good dancers look good dancing, no matter how fast or slow or complicated the dance moves are – it’s always in time with the music – the beat.

When swinging the hips back and forth at the endpoints of the U is where you want the beats to land – the UMPH in the rhythm– Most club and dance songs are in a  4/4 time. Meaning 4 beats per measure. Just count 1,2,3,4…1,2,3,4 and match it up to the beat.  Now match up the hips to the beat.

4. Hands – Hand placement

Now you don’t want your arms dangling besides you as you dance — you can– but you want to look good dancing.

Hold out your arms in front of your body like you would for a light jog. Now as you start swaying your hips back and forth and follow the previous steps your arms should follow the same motion as you would for a light jog. You can vary the motion as big or as small as you want depending on how much swagger you want to have on the dance floor.

Now you can put both hands on the hips of the girls – which is a standard.

You can keep one hand on the hips and hold her hand as you dance behind her. As you hold her hand you can extend it in front of her or to the side or just naturally let it lay along the side or on her hips.

5. Head

The head will naturally move if you have the first 4 steps in place. If you want to get jiggy with it, then bob your head side to side or in whatever direction you want it to– just don’t go overboard with it.

6. Feet

When grind dancing you don’t necessarily have to move your feet. It will naturally move a few inches. But if you want to be a good dancer here is a beginners guide.

Do steps 1-4.  As you sway your hips lift up your heels. If the hips is swayed to the left then you would lift up the right heel. If the hips is swayed to the right then you would lift up the left heel.

Optional: Now you can do the exact same thing as you sway your hips but try lifting up your feet instead of the heels.

7. Grind Dancing

Once you put steps 1-6 together the next step is to find a partner to dance with. Usually in most cases its crotch to butt dancing and each person “grinds” on eachother – which explains the term grind dancing.

Either crotch to Butt – Grind up on your dance partner and use steps 1-6

or

Crotch to Crotch – Be off center from each other and put one knee in between your dance partner so you’ll both be able to dance.

Final notes

Once you understand and practice steps 1-7 you’ll soon be the best dancer on the dance floor.

The first time grinding with your dance partner remember to have fun and you’ll only get better and soon enough you’ll be on your way to club dance mastery.

That’s  the basics for both females and males. Stay tune for more articles on how to dance at a club and now go find a partner to dance with.