Beginner roller skating
The Roller Dance Steps, Named
Every roller dance step you have watched has a name, and they all count in four. Bounce. Dribble, where one leg passes the other. Shuffle, crossing on the toes. Catwalk. Downtown, which is cross in front, cross behind, then double it. And Moonwalk: right skate on its toe, left skate on the stop, press hard into the stop and drag the rolling skate backwards. Quad technique, from Najete Kada, a French champion in artistic roller skating.
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Every roller dance step you have watched has a name, and they all count in four. That second half is the useful part — once you know the count, you can practise a step you have only seen once.
The Bounce is what it sounds like. The Dribble passes one leg past the other. The Shuffle crosses on the toes. The Catwalk puts one skate in front of the other along a line. The Downtown is a sequence rather than a single move: cross in front, cross behind, then double it.
The Moonwalk is the one people ask about, and it is a division of labour between your two skates. Right skate up on its toe, left skate down on its stop. Press hard into the stop and drag the rolling skate backwards. The stop is the anchor; the other skate is the only thing moving.
None of these need a floor you do not already have, and none of them need speed. They need the count, which is why it is worth learning the names: a named step with a known count is something you can take away and work on. Quad technique, from Najete Kada's Tuto roller series. She teaches quad skating and skates it herself; nothing on this page is a claim about inline skates.
Choosing gear for this? Your First Quad Skates for the Rink, Jam and Dance — What rink, jam, rhythm and dance skaters say to look for in a first pair of quads: boot, plate, toe stop or jam plugs, hard wheels, with named sources and dated prices.
Keep going: this is one section of the full Roller Skating for Beginners guide — sizing, gear, stopping, and where to skate, in one page. Free, no sign-up.