Practice Mode

Lore & Background

The concept of Just Dance originated from a minigame in Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party. Developed by a small team of around 20 at Ubisoft Paris, it was designed to be accessible to a mainstream audience, focusing on dance moves rather than button inputs. The game was originally planned to be called We Dance but was renamed to avoid confusion with We Dare.

In Their Own Story

In the Warm Up mode, players can select a song and practice the on-screen dancer's choreographed routine without the pressure of earning points. The mode strips away the scoring judgments—"X", "OK", and "Great"—that appear in standard play, allowing players to focus purely on mimicking the dancer's motions. This gives players the chance to learn the sequence of moves, including the shake moves where the shake meter appears, without worrying about their accuracy ranking.

Reader's Guide

After selecting a song and either a short or full version, players follow an on-screen dancer's choreography while holding a Wii Remote. Players are judged with 'X', 'OK', or 'Great' based on move accuracy. Shake moves allow bonus points by shaking the Wii Remote. Scoring targets are 10,000 points for Standard and 15,000 for Master. Along with standard play, three other modes are included: Warm Up (a practice mode), Strike a Pose (freeze on command), and Last One Standing (seven lives, lose lives on mistakes, regain after five correct moves in a row).

Did You Know?

• Just Dance sold over 4.3 million copies worldwide.
• The game was developed by a team of around 20 people at Ubisoft Paris.
• Just Dance was pitched six months prior to its release.
• The game's soundtrack consists of 33 songs.