Side Stepping

[KiowaPrincess329]

I was just wondering if anyone could tell me the basics of side stepping. What are the things that judges look for? Thanks!
:)

[ojibwaysweetie]

Guess it depends on what style of jingle you are dancing. Contemporary or traditional. I have judged women's jingle at a lot of pow wows. Contemporary style consists of more footwork and many dance up on their toes to the sidestep and use their fans on the honor beats. I've judged traditional style where no fan is used and their feet are flat on the ground more like a shuffle. Some "trad's" raise their hands on the honor beats when using no fan. So, guess it all depends on your style.

[KiowaPrincess329]

Im a comtemporary dancer.

[hidatsawmn26]

well i would help ya there but i'm more tradish side stepper....from what ive seen with comtemp...is the slide step on their toes...i really wouldnt be able to do that my calves i think would hurt too much...maybe what you should do is go to powwow and observe a contemp jingledancer useing slide step on their toes..maybe if ya ask one they can teach ya first hand....from what i observed it doesnt look that hard to do..becca

[biidabinukwe06]

i wish i could help u, b/c i'm a contemp. dancer but it's kinda hard to explain. i'm on my toes and i slide them in a twisting motion, and i turn and stuff like that. sorry i can't explain it better, but hopefully it will help u a lil'.

[simone_maree]

when u side step the traditional way is like a really fast round dance but with both feet on the ground and conteporary is on the toes like the traditions but only on tha toes, for me i use a 2'4 to help keep my heels off the ground and keep me balance so that kinda makes it easier. but first u might wanna get into shape espicially wit ur legs cuz if ur just learning or if u havent danced in awhile itll hurt like****. when u dance on ur toes u use alot of ur calf muscles and after ur done they might get cramps so its always better to practice and get into shape than to be sorry. hope it helds.


(oh yeah most judges in contests look for how well u hold ur self and/or beadwork,designs and outfits sometimes but u neva kno cuz alotta ppl get into that to much but yeah kinda da truth but not really.)


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