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Original Title: Elevate Your Jazz: Essential Moves for Intermediate Dancers
Original Content:
Welcome to the vibrant world of jazz dance! Whether you're looking to refine
your existing skills or aiming to add some flair to your routine, mastering
intermediate jazz moves is a fantastic way to elevate your performance. In this
blog post, we'll explore some essential moves that will help you stand out on
the dance floor.
- The Jazz Square
The jazz square is a fundamental step that combines elements of ballet and
jazz. It involves four steps taken in a square pattern: step to the side, close
your feet, step to the front, close your feet, step to the other side, close
your feet, and step back, closing your feet. This move is great for building
precision and control.
- Pirouettes
Pirouettes are a staple in jazz dance, showcasing your balance and
rotational skills. To execute a pirouette, start in fifth position, pivot on one
foot while the other leg is extended, and use your arms for balance. Practice
this move to improve your rotational control and grace.
- Leaps
Leaps are exhilarating and dynamic, adding a sense of freedom and joy to
your dance. Common leaps in jazz include the grand jeté and the split leap.
Focus on your core strength and leg power to achieve height and extension in
your leaps. Remember to maintain control and precision as you soar through the
air.
- Isolations
Isolations are movements where you move one part of your body independently
of the others. This can include head rolls, ribcage isolations, and hip
movements. Practicing isolations enhances your body awareness and adds a unique
flair to your dance style.
- The Shimmy
The shimmy is a rapid, shaking movement that can be applied to various body
parts, such as the shoulders, hips, or chest. This move adds a fun, energetic
vibe to your routine. Practice the shimmy to develop your coordination and
rhythm.
- Jazz Run
The jazz run is a dynamic, fluid movement that combines running with
jazz-specific footwork. It involves quick, light steps with a slight bounce,
creating a sense of forward momentum. This move is excellent for transitioning
between other steps and adding flow to your choreography.
- The Curl
The curl is a smooth, flowing movement that involves rolling from one foot
to the other, creating a wave-like motion through your body. This move requires
flexibility and control, making it a great exercise for developing your overall
dance technique.
By incorporating these essential moves into your practice routine, you'll
not only enhance your technical skills but also bring more expression and
dynamism to your performances. Remember, practice makes perfect, so keep dancing
and enjoy the journey to becoming a more confident and captivating jazz dancer!
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TITLE: The 7 Moves That Finally Made My Jazz Dance Click
I remember the moment clearly. Three years into jazz, I could land every step in my choreography—except one. My teacher would call out "and shimmy!" and I'd just... wiggle my shoulders like a confused puppy while everyone else snapped into it like they'd been born doing it.
That was the night I realized: knowing the steps isn't the same as dancing them.
Here's the thing nobody tells you about intermediate jazz—it's not about learning more moves. It's about making the moves you've already seen feel natural, even inevitable. These are the seven that personally changed everything for me.
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That Weird Square Thing (Yes, It Actually Works)
The jazz square looks like something your grandmother would do at line dancing, but don't let that fool you. It's the single most annoying pattern I've ever learned—and the most useful.
Here's what happened the first time my teacher made us do it for fifteen minutes straight: I hated every second. It felt like walking in squares is inherently wrong. But by minute twelve, something shifted. My weight started landing exactly where it should, my feet knew where to go before I thought about it, and suddenly I understood what "muscle memory" actually meant.
The secret people don't share: the jazz square isn't about the square. It's about learning to control your weight transfer with zero drama. You'll find it showing up in choreography—when you need to ground yourself before a turn, when you need to change direction fast, when you need to look like you know exactly what you're doing even when you don't.
Master the square. Then complain about it. Then thank me later.
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The Pirouette That Took Down My Ego
My first real pirouette didn't look like a pirouette. It looked like a very confused washing machine trying to breakdance.
I was standing in fifth position, arms perfectly placed, ready to turn. I pushed off my back foot, did exactly one rotation, and somehow ended facing the complete wrong direction while grabbing the barre for balance. My teacher watched this disaster unfold and said, very kindly, "That's a great start."
Three months of frustration later, something finally clicked. The issue wasn't my spot—I was trying so hard to spot that my neck hurt. The issue wasn't my core, though that helped. The issue was I was PUSHING off when I should have been WINDING up. My back foot should have been my launchpad, not my escape pod.
Now when I teach newcomers, I tell them forget the spin for a minute. Just stand in one spot and practice pushing all your weight onto one foot, then pulling yourself around. No turning. Just feel that pull.
The first time I nailed a clean double turn without holding onto anything? I almost cried in the middle of jazz class. In front of everyone. Worth it.
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Leaps, Fear, and the Day I Finally Jumped
Grand jeté—the glorious split-in-the-air leap that makes jazz look effortless.
I was terrified of this move for two years. Not dramatically terrified, just quietly avoiding any combination that called for it. I'd do an "athletic" substitute instead, something that looked like a hop with ambition issues.
What changed: I stopped thinking about the height and started thinking about the reach. My teacher said something simple—"Stop trying to go UP. Try to go ACROSS." And suddenly the leap made sense. You're not opposing gravity, you're convincing your body that the floor doesn't exist.
The split leap came a month after that. Less graceful than the grand jeté, but I landed it. Twice in one combination. I remember the weight of my legs reaching in opposite directions while my torso went somewhere else entirely, and for two seconds, I felt like an actual dancer.
If you're avoiding leaps—any leaps—ask yourself: is it a strength issue, or a nerve issue? Both are fixable. But you have to actually try the leap to find out which one it is.
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The Isolation That Changed Everything
I'll be honest: I didn't understand isolations until last year.
I could move my head. I could move my hips. But moving them SEPARATELY? That felt like playing a video game with controls I'd never seen before. My body just didn't work that way—or so I thought.
The game-changer was ribcage isolations specifically. Head Rolls were accessible, hips were accessible, but ribcage felt impossible. There's a specific exercise we do: stand in second position, keep your hips completely still, and move your ribcage in a figure-eight while your teacher shouts at you to "separate your top from your bottom."
The moment my ribcage moved left while my hips stayed still, I understood what people meant when they said jazz has a "different" relationship with the body. It's not just moving—it's moving WITHIN moving. It's being two different places at once.
Now when I watch advanced dancers isolate their ribs from their hips from their head, it's not magic anymore. It's practice. Hard, boring practice that somehow becomes satisfying after enough repetition.
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The Shimmy—Yes, That One
Okay, let's talk about the shimmy.
My first attempt was basically shivering. Very enthusiastic shivering, but shivering nonetheless. There's something deeply humbling about trying to vibrate your shoulders rapidly while everyone else makes it look smooth and effortless.
The breakthrough wasn't in trying harder. It was in noticing how the movement actually works: it's not about muscle, it's about momentum and quickly changing direction. Your shoulders go left, then IMMEDIATELY go right, then left again—so fast that the eye can't track the change. The shake happens in the transition, not in the destination.
I practiced shimmying in my bedroom mirror for way too long. My roommate thought I'd lost my mind. But then we learned a combo in class that ended with a shoulder shimmy on "two," and for the first time, I didn't dread that moment. I hit it clean. I even added a little extra because I could.
That's the secret with shimmies—they're contagious. Once you get one, you start adding them everywhere. Shoulder shimmy? Check. Chest shimmy? Get ready to feel ridiculous, then feel amazing. Hip shimmy, even on a stationary step, makes everything feel more interesting.
Embrace the vibration. Your confidence will thank you.
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The Jazz Run—More Than Just Running
I used to think jazz runs were just "fancier running." I was wrong, and I owe an apology to every jazz choreographer who's ever asked for this.
The jazz run is about forward momentum that doesn't look like running. It's quick feet, slightly off the ground, with a quality that's hard to describe—which is why it's so difficult to teach. There's a bounce, but not all the way. There's a reach, but not forward. It's like flying at a very modest altitude.
Here's the difference between jazz running and just running: real jazz runners look like they're moving toward something exciting. Joggers look like they're moving away from something concerning. That subtle shift in weight and energy transforms the simplest movement into something with intention.
We use it to transition between steps that would otherwise feel abrupt. A jazz run gets you from one side of the stage to the other without just walking. It fills space without filling it awkwardly. Learn to run with purpose, and suddenly your transitions become choreography.
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The Curl—Flow Without the Drama
The curl is the most elegant move on this list, and also the one I understood last.
It's a rolling transfer of weight from one foot to the other, creating a wave through your body that starts at your standing foot and travels all the way up through your fingertips. When done right, it's like watching a domino effect made of human connection.
My first attempt: I rolled my ankle. Not the movement, just my actual ankle. I was trying to go too fast, too aggressively, before my body understood the weight transfer. The curl requires you to actually use your standing foot to push off—not stomp, not hop. A slow, deliberate push that lets your body travel.
I spent weeks doing slow curls across the floor, feeling like I was moving through pudding. Then one day, my teacher turned on some classic jazz music and told us to curl on "the and count"—and suddenly it wasn't about the technique anymore. It was about the feeling. I was moving through the music.
That wave quality—it's what separates jazz from just-stepping. It's flow as a discipline, and the curl teaches you that discipline in the most graceful way possible.
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What Nobody Says About Getting Better
Here's the truth about intermediate jazz: you won't nail these moves immediately. Some of them, you'll fight with for months before they click. You'll do the wrong square in the right combinations, spot the wrong way in your turns, shimmy like you're cold rather than cool.
And then one day, somewhere in the middle of class, it all works.
Not perfectly—you're not on a Broadway stage. But clean. Intentional. You hit a shimmy on the beat, you launch into a split leap that doesn't require an apology, you do an isolation without thinking about it.
That's what keeps you coming back.
The moves on this list aren't magic. But together? They add up to something that starts to look like you know what you're doing. Even better—they start to look like you actually enjoy doing it.
Now get to class. You've got moves to learn.
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