The Melbourne Shuffle (also known as Rocking as its oldskool style) is a rave and club dance that originated in the late 1980s in the underground rave music scene in Melbourne, Australia. The basic movements in the dance are a fast heel-and-toe action with a style suitable for various types of electronic music. Some variants incorporate arm movements. People who dance the shuffle are often referred to as rockers, due in part to the popularity of shuffling to rock music in the early 90's.

Late 1980s–early 1990s

In the late '80s, the Melbourne Shuffle began to emerge as a distinct dance, incorporating more hand movement than its predecessor, Stomping. Breakbeat and techno music was gradually replaced with the more hardcore forms of rave music, such as hard trance. Shuffling originally incorporated tap and traditional ballet -style foot shuffling. Shuffling originated from 'Stomping', which in turn originated from previous historical celtic and Malaysian folk/vernacular dance styles. The clog and sword dance can easily be matched to some earlier experimental rave and club dance moves that evolved into Stomping. When b-boys started attending Shuffling dance events, they brought in their own set of hip hop dance moves, for example, the running man and gliding. Ever since these hip hop influences became predominant, the Melbourne Shuffle has also been practiced outside of raves (a characteristic of hip hop dance culture).

Where the Melbourne Shuffle was originally danced, the places were not considered to be named 'raves', but rather 'dance parties'.

Mid–late 1990s

A number of videos documenting the style during this era exist as the style increased in popularity. There are many variations of this dance but the main heel-to-toe movement remained the key motion, giving it the name "the Melbourne Shuffle". Notably arm-movements are much more prevalent than in later renditions of the dance.

2000–2008

In 2004 a documentary entitled Melbourne Shuffler began filming in Melbourne clubs, raves, festivals and outdoor events, before being released on DVD in 2005. By 2005, the Melbourne Shuffle had helped to change the sound of hardstyle and hard trance music, with DJs and producers aiming at a constant 140-160bpm speed. By 2006, early hardstyle was largely replaced by nustyle and epic trance -influenced hard trance music at popular shuffling clubs and raves. Nustyle and the newer form of hard trance focused on swung euphoric orchestral-like trance melodies that would suddenly drop (such as by a house exciter) into a constant kick drum that was of preferable speed for shuffling to by the rockers. In 2006 with the rising popularity of YouTube, dancers internationally now contribute to the Shuffle online, posting their own variations and learning from others. The German band Scooter featured the shuffle performed by veterans Pae & Sarah in the video for the single J'adore Hardcore. The Melbourne Shuffle has changed as it has evolved over time, as more people have practiced the dance, the dance itself has changed from the majority of hand movements over feet movements, to present day, where it is mostly based on keeping in time with bass beats.

Dancing

The name "Melbourne Shuffle" was coined by Sonic Animation's Rupert Keiller. The Age referred to it as looking like "a cross between the chicken dance and a foot stomping robot" to the untrained eye, but locals simply called it "stomping".

Some dancers sprinkle talcum powder or apply liquid to the floor beneath their feet to help them glide more easily, some including 360 degree spins or jumps into their moves. Others apply smooth plastic tape to the soles of their shoes.

Originally consisting of the "T-Step" combined with arm movements, during recent years the "Running Man" has also been adopted into many common styles, accentuating the new focus of keeping time with the beat. The "Running man" involves a stomp forward followed by a single or double hop backwards with the same foot, the other foot repeats the action leading to a running-on-the-spot motion. The "T-Step" is a fast sideways heel-toe motion on one foot twisting at the ankle. The dance is embellished by spins, arm pumps, slides, and kicks.

Hardstyle is performed to music that features a fast 4/4 beat (also known as a 'four-on-the-floor' beat), and is normally accompanied by a heavy, booming (or hollow) bass. For this reason, many people in the US and Europe incorrectly refer to the "shuffle" as just "hardstyle". This is despite the term "hardstyle" being an umbrella term for many different rave dances globally, as well as a genre of electronic music. Hardstyle is a rave dance, while most other styles were typically performed in clubs and dance parties.