How To Pop-Lock: Arm Wave and Dance Instruction

An arm wave is a pop-locking dance move that looks like a wave of electricity is traveling through your body, much like a wave through a taut string. It is considered one of the fundamental moves to pop-locking, and mastery is needed before more advanced moves are considered. Once you've learned this basic move, you may want to check out Louis: Let's Dance - these videos will teach you how to dance everything from the salsa to jive! Let's look at some pop-lock techniques such as the arm wave. These tips will help you learn dance moves to show off to your friends.

The following are directions for a left-to-right arm wave. Follow this dance instruction. Here's how to pop-lock.

1. Start with your arms out at your sides, your hands at the same height as your shoulders, with your elbows slightly bent.
2. Without moving any other part of your arm, tilt your left hand upwards as high as you can, so the back of your hand is directly facing you.
3. Simultaneously bend your wrist forward as far as you can, and slightly bend your elbow to raise the height of your wrist. Be careful only bend your elbow, but not to change its spatial position.
4. Lower your wrist to slightly below the starting position, and sharply push your elbow upwards, so that it is slightly above starting position.
5. Drop your elbow, and raise your left shoulder as high as possible.
6. Drop your left shoulder, and raise your right shoulder as high as possible.
7. Drop your right shoulder, and raise your right elbow slightly above starting position.
8. Drop your right below, and raise your right wrist, pointing your fingers downward.
9. Lower your wrist by unbending your elbow, and point your fingers upward.

With this dance instruction, you now know how to pop-lock. Focus isolating parts of your body very precisely, only allowing one joint to be raised at a time. Once you can slowly, but accurately, do an arm wave, focus on linking the individual steps together at a very rapid pace, until the isolation of the joints vanishes into one smooth move. Practicing in front of a mirror is highly recommended. Once you learn dance moves like these, you can move on to other pop-lock techniques.