What is Longboard Dancing | 5 Best Dancing Styles

Longboard enthusiasts have never been short of performing innovative riding styles like freestyle, downhill, freeride, and carving. Dancing on a longboard has to be the most inventive way of enjoying the ride on a longboard. In general, dancing is a sub-category of freestyle, which involves synchronized body movement performed with highly technical skills.

Newbies get confused and scared when they see skaters performing classy dancing skills on a moving longboard. They might think it is impossible to learn, but it is not. If you are a beginner and serious about getting your hands into dancing, understand the basics and perform the explained methods with patience.


How to dance on a longboard

Dancing on a longboard

There are different dancing manners on a longboard, and we have discussed ones that are easy to understand and implement. Let’s dive into the techniques used to perform dancing steps on an agile longboard.

Cross-Step | Longboard Dancing Trick

Every professional skateboard dancer will recommend the Cross-Step skill to a beginner, simple and most understandable dancing move. The ultimate objective of this method is to derive consecutive S-shaped turns. Meanwhile, you’ll keep stepping on the deck rails, both upside and downwards.

Carving from right to left helps riders keep the longboard moving at a certain speed. Once you get the required pace, all you need to do is walk on that moving longboard. Here are the basic steps you need to follow for the cross-step technique.

Steps for Cross Step Longboarding:

  • Push your longboard with a foot on the ground or install some pace by pumping the board.
  • Once the longboard moves at some speed, put both your feet at the back-end of your longboard. Make an L-shape with the help of your feet, i.e., keep the front foot perpendicular to the back one.
  • Now it is time to bring your upper body parts inline. Both the shoulders should face in the forward direction, i.e., where the longboard is moving.
  • The next step is pretty interesting and the most important one. Lift your back foot from the board, and place it in front of your foot that was initially facing forwards.
  • Make sure that the foot you replaced must be on the deck rail. Now, your back foot should face forwards too.
  • You’ll now have a chance of shifting the weight to the other deck side, making it possible for the longboard to carve heelside.
  • Cross step again with the foot that was at front initially. Place it on the opposite rail, shift your weight on that side, and carve your toeside. Similarly, you keep performing these steps consecutively for an unusual cross-step skill.

Peter Pan | Longboard Dancing for Beginners

It is a fact that most dancing techniques originate from the Cross-Step method. Peter pan is also one of them. In cross-step, you keep walking on the deck by placing one foot in front of another. Instead of stepping over and placing the picked foot perpendicular to the stuck foot, in Peter pan, you will cross-step the back foot and place it parallel to the front one. Here is how you can do all the Peter-Pan steps comfortably. 

Dancing Steps:

  • Bring in some pace with whatever method you like. 
  • Once you gain momentum, bring the front foot near to the back one, but keep it at 90 degrees from the back foot. Both feet should now be at the centre of the deck. Make sure that the front one is touching the toeside rail.
  • Now you need to cross-leg the back one over the front one. When both the legs cross each other, place the back foot right in front of the front foot, touching the heelside now.
  • Shift your weight to the foot that is now at the front(initially, it was your back foot). You will initiate a heelside turn as you shift weight on that foot.
  • Now the board should carve on the heelside. Repeat the same step as before, but with your back foot crossing the front. This movement will help you carve on the toeside.
  • Keep repeating these steps, and keep enjoying the moves.

Ghost Ride Longboard Dancing Method

There is another dancing technique named Ghostride kickflip, which is doable if you learn the simple one first. Here are the simplest steps to perform a ghost ride.

Steps to Implement:

  • Install some momentum in your longboard by moving it slightly and keeping your general stance in position.
  • Bring the foot at the tail of your deck. You need to pull the front foot backwards and stop the foot’s movement when the front heel touches the front of the back foot. Remember, both toes should be parallel to the direction of the moving longboard.
  • Make sure the feet are closer to the tail while the font feet will almost be touching the central deck. Now, pick the back foot up.
  • Move past the picked foot and place it right in front of the front foot. Don’t forget the rule that the front foot heel should kiss the back foot toe. 
  • Before placing the foot on board, please bring it to the ground, push the longboard, and start lifting the foot that is already on board as soon as the pushing process ends.
  • The current position of the front leg is almost in the air while the back leg is still on the ground after pushing. Now jump back on to the board.
  • When you jump and are back on the board, your back foot should be at its original position.

Longboard Dancing | Ghostride Kickflip

If you know the simple Ghost ride, you will easily learn this kickflip dancing. You have to repeat the same steps and add a kickflip to it. Including me, many people struggle in flipping their board because it requires a lot of practice. We will mention all the steps below, and you will have to follow and practice them.

Steps for Ghostride Kickflip:

  • The first step is feet alignment to prepare them for flipping the board. Ride with your natural stance and at a normal speed, make a little jump off the deck, and bring your back foot in the middle of the deck. When jumping, make sure to do it heelside on your front. It will help the back foot to land at the exact position.
  • When done, place the back foot on the ground and give your board a little push underneath, and it will flip your board at 360 degrees angle. No doubt, it looks technical, but it is achievable if you practice regularly. The visuals given below will help you understand the kick flipping technique more briefly.
  • After the compilation of kickflip, place the feet back on the deck and keep going. Gain the required speed again and repeat the steps. 
  • The tip here is a practice flipping the board when not riding. Put the toes underneath your longboard at try to rotate it with 360 angles. This will give you an idea of how strong push is required for rotating the board completely.

Undoubtedly, it is a skill that will need a lot of dedication and practice. Flipping the deck and landing back on it with perfection is what will be teasing you the most.


Dancing on a longboard | Casanova Technique

In our list of longboard dancing methods, the last one is Casanova which professional skaters invent. It would not be wrong to say that you need to keep your momentum, speed, and feet positioning perfect when performing it. It gets done within 10-15 seconds, but 2-3 different steps at once make it challenging. Let’s have a look at what steps are required for the Casanova dancing method.

Steps to Implement:

  • Like other dancing techniques, bring some speed to your ride first. In the beginning, try it with slow speed. It is also doable with high speed, but you have to be a master of the technique.
  • When moving on with your board, make some changes in feet placement. Bring your back to front and front to back, repeat the process again, and leave the deck on the third or fourth time.
  • Leaving the deck means you are on the ground. If you have learned the kickflip before, perform the same step here. Try to lift your board with the toes underneath it.
  • Once the longboard has completed 360 degrees rotation, jump back to the board and keep going. That’s it. It is an advanced-level trick, but if you are good at flipping, you will have to concentrate on your feet positioning with perfect timing. The video below will be useful to you. Moreover, a suitable dancing longboard is key here.

Buying Guide for Dancing Longboards

There is a strong reason behind a longboard with a different setup for each riding style. Some require a short deck, while others need a long one. The same principle applies to other gadgets like wheels, bearings, trucks, and wheelbase. Whatever you need to know about the dancing longboards is discussed already at, Buying Guide for Dancing longboards. The most suitable and tested suggestion is given at the end. Here are some factors that can’t be compromised while purchasing a dancing board.

Dancing Longboard – Deck Length

All of the dancing styles mentioned above require more room than usual. Due to the different feet placements, you need to have more space to avoid any mishap. Therefore, we recommend you to have a 40 inches longboard with suitable width to have a remarkable dancing experience. We don’t mean that longboard dancing is not achievable with a shorter deck, but it requires many skills and longboarding experience.

Deck Width for Dancing Longboard

The wideness of your deck is as important as other longboard accessories. Some of the dancing techniques are indebted to the deck width. Most of the time, you will find the decks between 6-10 inches in width. This clearly shows that all longboarding styles and not achievable on the same board. As a dancing lover, you must have an 8-10 inches width in the deck to execute the steps perfectly.

dancing on a longboard

Deck Design and Flexibility

Many people don’t care about the flexibility and shape of the deck, which is not a good practice. Some of the longboard dancing styles are achievable with flexibility, such as Ghostride kickflip and cross step. A longboard for a heavy rider can have less flex only if there are no jumping moves in your techniques. That is to say, it is good to have flex in your deck.

For the shape of the deck, you have three different choices. You can go for top-mount, drop-through, and double-drop deck designs by analyzing your dancing style first. If your moves require too much stability in your rides, go for the double drop design. The drop-through longboards are also useful in terms of safety and stability. Bring a top-mount board for yourself if you have excellent skills over longboard speeding and controlling.


Wheels for Longboard Dancing

There are various longboard wheels in the market from 65-85mm in diameter. In the durometer, you will also find various hardness in rollers that suit different riding styles. As dancing on a longboard is being discussed here, wheels with 80a hardness are preferred for this riding technique. You can stay between 70-75mm for the size with square lips shape. Many professional longboard dancers recommend and use this combo. The best suggestion for wheels is given below.

Orangatang Dancing Wheels


Dancing Longboard Trucks

As dancing is not a simple and straight-going riding style, we have to be careful when buying trucks. Reverse kingpin trucks are more suitable than traditional ones and allow accurate and safe turns. An efficient tip about the trucks is to buy any longboard with reverse kingpin trucks and do changes with the skate tool if required. Set the higher angles on trucks and start dancing on a longboard with perfect turns and responsiveness.


People Also Ask

Is it possible to dance on a longboard?

The short answer is yes. You can dance on a longboard. There are some requirements for dancing on a longboard, such as your longboarding experience, basics of longboarding, speed skills, and stability. With such skills, you will learn to it earlier than a newbie. Moreover, there are several methods and styles of dancing that you can try.

Can you dance on a cruising longboard?

You can ride with any style on any longboard, but in the end, you will not enjoy it as you should. That is our opinion for all the riding styles. We always recommend choosing a longboard according to your riding style. Cruising longboards are preferred for cruising which means you won’t enjoy dancing and struggle to implement the techniques.

How to practice longboard dancing?

There are multiple styles for longboard dancing. The best practice is to choose a style first and read all of its steps first. Implement it the way you have been taught. Different styles mean choosing one that you believe is easier to learn and apply.


Final Words

Dancing on a longboard is one of the most liked riding styles among the skaters. It improves your stability, momentum, speed control, and freestyling skills. Undoubtedly, this riding style is technical and time-consuming, but once you have mastered it, it becomes an addiction. There is a possibility that the beginners will struggle in longboard dancing due to not having enough experience. Several dancing styles have been discovered, and each has its own steps. So, you are free to choose the style you like the most and start learning about it.

On the other hand, longboard dancing asks for a suitable deck, pair of wheels, and trucks. Without them, you will not be able to apply the techniques properly. Therefore, we have provided you with the best dancing longboard available right now with all the essential features. Get it done, and we believe you are ready to dance on your longboard.

Best Dancing Longboard

Loaded Bhangra Longboard

Written by: Andrew Norris

Hello, I am Andrew, and I am an experienced longboard rider since my early boyhood days. I have had multiple longboards throughout my life and has gained an invaluable experience about the build quality, structure, and performance.

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