Do the Gangnam Style Dance

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Gangnam Style, the smash hit from Korean recording artist Psy, owes its success to two things: the catchiness of the song, and the iconic “horsey” dance that goes with it. Follow the steps on this page to teach yourself how to dance “Gangnam Style” just like Psy.

Steps

The Footwork

  1. Get a proper stance. Open your legs, and bend your knees slightly. Your feet should be planted roughly the same distance apart as your shoulders, and your back should be straight.
    • Keep your posture loose. You won't be standing still for very long.
  2. Learn the steps. Start with your right foot. Lift it straight up a little ways off the ground and return it, finishing with a small skip-step backward.
    • To perform the skip-step, let your foot hit the ground and bounce back up slightly, kicking it a few inches back rather than popping it up again. To keep your balance, you will have to hop a little bit, which is also a part of the dance.
    • Practice going back and forth from your right foot to your left and back again, until you feel like you can keep up a rhythm easily.
  3. Learn the pattern. Now that you're comfortable with the movement, you'll need to learn a simple pattern. The dance is performed in sets of four steps that alternate back and forth.
    • The pattern is as follows: right foot, left foot, right foot, right foot, followed by the opposite.
      • This means you step and skip once with your leading foot, once with the other foot, and then twice more with the leading foot. After that, switch your leading foot and repeat.
    • On the last two steps in each set, you'll find it's difficult to skip-step, since it naturally puts your weight onto your other foot. Do what Psy does and just keep your foot light, instead of taking a full skip-step on these steps. Don't kick back on them.
    • Practice this RLRR, LRLL pattern until you can keep a rhythm doing it.

Using Your Upper Body

  1. Learn to “hold the reins.” Start this arm movement by holding your arms out in front of you, mostly straight and at chest level.
    • Cross your right wrist over your left and hold them together. Your wrists should cross at the center line of your body rather than on one side or the other.
    • Lift your arms up and down in a loose bouncing movement, in time with the beat of the song. This movement is repeated eight times.
  2. Learn to make a “lasso.” Start this arm movement by holding your left arm so that the back of your wrist is near your chin, with your left elbow pointing straight left and your forearm flat.
    • Lift your right arm up until your upper arm is about at shoulder level and your right elbow is pointing diagonally to the right.
    • Raise your right forearm so that it points straight up, and whip it in small circles to the beat of the song, as if you were a cowboy holding a rope lasso. This movement is repeated eight times as well.
  3. Learn the pattern. Fortunately, the pattern for the dance's arm movements is very simple. Start by "holding the reins." To a steady beat, bob your arms eight times, then switch to the "lasso" movement and wave your right arm eight times.

Put It All Together

  1. Combine your arm and leg movements. Start with your arms holding the reins, and lead off with your right foot.
    • Know the combined pattern. Each set of eight arm movements corresponds to two sets of leg movements. Therefore, when you start out as described above, you'll “bob the reins” eight times, and step right, left, right, right, then left, right, left, left, all at the same time. Your arm movements and steps should match up.
    • Keep your head high. If you really were riding a horse, you'd want to be looking ahead to see what was down the road. Look straight ahead as you dance, too.
    • Feel the dance. Don't think you have to dance stiffly or in a controlled manner. As long as you're getting the arm and leg movements synched up properly, the rest of your body will naturally want to bounce and bob along with your limbs. Cut loose and get into it.
  2. Practice. Start out slowly and practice the dance over and over again, gradually speeding up until it seems like second nature to you. Gangnam Style has a fast tempo, so work your way up to it to avoid being frustrated.
  3. Bust a move. When you're ready, crank up the music and start dancing. Go out and show it off to people, or teach it to your friends. Have a good time!

Tips

  • Remember, this is meant to be a silly dance. As Psy says, the key to "Gangnam Style" is "dress classy and dance cheesy." There's no room for self-consciousness.

Related Articles

  • Do the Jack Hammer Dance Move
  • Learn the Words to Gangnam Style
  • Do the Gangnam Shake

Sources and Citations

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