Snake
Beginner Level
The foundation — what every new dancer needs to know
A full-body undulation that travels through the entire body from head to toe (or toe to head), like a snake slithering vertically.
Beginner focus
You need solid body wave technique before attempting the snake. The snake adds head and lower body: start from the head (push chin forward), let the wave travel through neck, shoulders, chest, ribcage, abs, hips, and let the knees absorb the final energy. Each segment moves in sequence — head first, everything else follows like dominos. Start at quarter speed, focusing on one segment passing to the next without skipping.
Tips
- •Practice against a wall: start with your forehead touching the wall, then peel off one segment at a time. This forces sequential movement
- •Video yourself from the side — the wave should be visible as a traveling ripple, not a simultaneous push
- •Think 'each body part is on a 1-beat delay from the one above it' — that delay IS the wave
Common mistakes
- •Starting from the chest instead of the head — the head initiation is what makes it a snake rather than a body wave
- •Skipping the abdomen — this creates a 'two-part' movement (upper body then hips) instead of a continuous wave
- •Moving everything at once instead of sequentially — the whole point is the traveling, sequential quality
- •Only doing snakes forward — practice backward snakes, lateral snakes, and reverse (upward) snakes
Practice drill
Stand profile to a mirror. Initiate from the head: chin forward (count 1), shoulders follow (count 2), chest (count 3), ribcage (count 4), abs (count 5), hips (count 6), knees absorb (count 7), neutral (count 8). Yes, that's an entire 8-count for one snake. Once smooth at this speed, compress: one snake per 4-count. Then per 2-count. The compression forces faster sequential movement while maintaining the wave quality. Three minutes.