How to Dance Like Beyonce
One of the most impressive dancers from the past few decades is none other than Beyonce Knowles. She used to be a member of Destiny’s Child but found incredible success as a solo artist. Beyonce has performed numerous unique dances that pair well with her music. These routines are immensely popular and might be something you want to learn for yourself, too. Use the free video tutorials from Howcast to learn how to dance just like Beyonce!
Beyonce’s Iconic Dancing
Beyonce first became popular during her time with Destiny’s Child during the late 90s. As successful as she was with the group, her true fame came as a solo artist in the early 2000s. During this time, she released her first solo album, Dangerously in Love. This featured hits like Crazy in Love, which began to shine a spotlight on her dancing talents.
From here, Beyonce continued to produce hits as a solo artist, often backing them up with music videos featuring her unique dance style. Beyonce’s dancing is mostly a combination of hip hop dance styles like locking and popping meshed with some J-setting, which can be seen best in her hit song, Single Ladies.
How to Do the “Single Ladies” Dance
Beyonce’s Single Ladies dance is one of her more iconic routines. This dance has a heavy emphasis on J-setting, which is a lead-and-follow style of dancing. You’ll need to have loose hips to perform these moves because most of the dance centers around intense hip movements. Here’s how to do the Single Ladies dance:
Tips For Single Ladies
- Keep Your Hips Moving: There are many different steps and moves to the dance, but it wouldn’t look right unless you keep your hips moving. Almost every move requires you to shake your hips or move from your hips, which means you need to be comfortable with hip motion. Make a conscious effort to use your hips in any step or move you make.
- Bend Your Knees: A few moves also require you to bend your knees. This is important when you prance in a circle, bounce your hips, and drop to the floor. It’s very difficult to move your hips without bending your knees, so doing this will make it easier and make your movement look more natural.
- Move Your Upper Body: Much of the routine also involves upper body movement. You’ll need to make a point of moving your head, arms, and torso when Beyonce does. Many dances are focused on footwork and lower body movement, but the upper body is just as important in the Single Ladies dance to help emphasize moves.
- Practice Each Move Individually: Looking at the whole dance, it can feel quite intimidating to try and learn. It’s much easier to break the dance down into individual moves, like leaning from side-to-side, hip bouncing, prancing in a circle, dropping to the floor, and all the other motions performed in the dance. As you master each movement, you can gradually combine them to perform the full routine.
How to Do the “Love on Top” Dance
Another great song and dance by Beyonce is her Love on Top song. This song has influences from older artists like Whitney Houston while showcasing Beyonce’s full singing potential. The dance itself is also great and is fairly simple to learn, focused primarily on footwork. Here’s how to do the Love on Top dance:
Tips for Love on Top
- Master the Two-Step: The two-step is one of the most basic and iconic hip hop dance moves, and its presence is quite obvious in Love on Top. Some of the routine directly involves the two-step, while others are a variation of it. If you master the two-step, then learning this dance becomes much easier.
- Study the Footwork: You should also pay close attention to the footwork. While Single Ladies is about both lower and upper body movement, Love on Top has a much heavier focus on lower body movement. Try to slow her video down and pay close attention to where and when she’s stepping.
Bring Your Knees High: Another thing that’s present through the routine is bringing your knees up high. Anytime a knee is raised, make sure to bring it all the way up to your waist to do the dance right.
Bounce Your Hips: One final tip is to remember to bounce your hips. If you watch the music video, there’s a lot of hip motion and even periods of pure hip bouncing. This is important for making your movements look natural and practicing this will go a long way toward picking up the full routine.
More Tips for Dancing Like Beyonce
Anyone who creates their own style of dance like Beyonce is in a league of their own and is typically hard to imitate. But that doesn’t mean you can’t copy her style and try it out for yourself! Here are some more tips to help you master Beyonce’s iconic dance style!
Practice Hip Hop Dances
The first thing you should do is practice different types of hip hop moves and dances. This is because Beyonce’s dancing is a mixture of many hip hop dances, specifically locking and popping. Understanding how to do those dances will make it easier for you to perform a dance style that is a mashup of them. Howcast has a full guide with free video lessons to teach you the most popular hip hop dance moves!
Dancing in Heels
Another technique to try out is dancing in heels. This isn’t a direct requirement, but if you watch Beyonce’s music videos and performances, she is almost always in heels. Dancing like Beyonce in plain shoes is hard enough, but it’s much tougher in heels. Try starting with regular shoes and then switching to heels once you feel comfortable with the movements.
Fluid Movement
You should also make a point of keeping your movements smooth and fluid. All your moves should gracefully transition into each other without seeming rough or forced. You can do this by changing the speeds at which you perform your moves. Rather than taking pauses, you should slow down and speed back up when you’re making another move.
Be Fierce
One final tip to keep in mind is to be fierce and confident. If you watch any of Beyonce’s dance videos, then you’ll notice just how confident and free she looks. As a result, her dancing looks impressive and natural. If you feel unsure of yourself or uncomfortable, then it’s going to show up in your dancing. Make a point to love yourself and believe in your beauty and skills to make your dancing look more like Beyonce’s.
Start Dancing Like Beyonce Today!
Hopefully, this guide gives you a better idea of how to dance like Queen B! If you want to see more great video tutorials and guides, head over to our main How to Dance page.
