Ever since we regularly admired Oumi Janta from Berlin on her roller skates on Insta, we've had a growing desire to stand and dance on four wheels ourselves. But what looks so wonderfully easy for Oumi requires a lot of practice. Munich roller skater Nicole Adamczyk, who shows off her skills as rollin_me_softly on Insta, knows this too . In this interview, Nicole not only gives us tips for your first moves, but also reveals where you can do some particularly good roller dancing or jam skating in Munich.

Nicole, what got you into roller skating and when did you start?

I started it about six years ago as a summer sport and an alternative to ice skating, as I was in a figure skating hobby group for many years. And as the summer was too long to get back on the ice, I tried roller skating. In the beginning, I only skated sporadically because, on the one hand, it wasn't fun at first and, on the other, because there were simply no other roller skaters at the time and I had to practise on my own.

But I was determined and things got better and better. Three years ago, I discovered roller dance and jam skating for myself. Since then, the fire has been lit and I'm on roller skates almost every day. I also like to go to the skate park from time to time, which is also a lot of fun. But my heart beats for roller dance.

© Nicole Adamczyk

Are there any role models that inspire you?

I don't have any specific role models. I've developed my own style and use various videos on Instagram to find out which tricks or steps I could still practise. How I ultimately implement or combine them is something I simply try out.

But at events like the SkateNight in Mainz or the Skate Love Festival in Barcelona, you can meet many skaters from all over the world - in non-corona times - to learn from them and dance together on roller skates.

What tips would you give beginners who would like to start roller dancing?

I usually give beginners the tip not to set their goals too high or not to start with difficult moves. It just takes time. It always looks so easy, but it's not. When you stand on roller skates for the first time or the first few times, you quickly realize: "Oh, oops, I had imagined it differently".

You first have to get a feel for the "roll" and find your balance so that you don't just tip backwards. You need a lot of patience and even more practice. If you have the incentive to learn steps and tricks, I would recommend skating every day, even if it's only 15 minutes a day.

What equipment do you need?

Basically, roller skates are enough. If you want to be on the safe side or are afraid at first, you can buy knee pads, wrist guards and a helmet. Of course, it also depends on what you want to do. After all, you can also go to the skate park with roller skates and pads and a helmet are of course essential.

© Nicole Adamczyk

Are there any places in Munich that are particularly suitable for beginners?

In Munich you can currently only skate outdoors, because unfortunately there is no longer an indoor rink like the Rollpalast. That's a real shame.

The Theresienwiese is a great place to skate, where skaters can meet up all year round. At least that was the case last year, when the Oktoberfest was canceled. Otherwise it was always the case that we couldn't go to the Theresienwiese from July onwards because of the Wiesn set-up. Then we were locked out. And it's really hard to find a similarly cool, urban location. We usually ended up wandering around.

If we found a good spot, like in front of the Patenamt, BMW Welt or under the Donnersberger Brücke, security always came straight away and chased us away. Or the police were called straight away. Crazy, we were just dancing!

Otherwise, there are defrosted ice stadiums in Munich. One is the East Stadium in Staudinger Straße next to the Michaelibad and another is the West Stadium in Agnes-Bernauer-Straße next to the Westbad. The ground is super smooth, you can hold on to the boards and you're very unobserved - which is great for the more timid skaters. I can also recommend the square in front of the opera or the runway in Neubiberg.

A very smooth floor is generally important. This is because the surface must be somewhat smoother for roller skates than for inline skates. Of course, this also makes it more difficult to find suitable places.

A simple move to start with?

It's best to start by standing on roller skates and simply skating forwards. If that works, you should practise braking. Because that's not so easy on roller skates. If you want to take your first dance steps, you can try the 2-step or the cross-step.

With the 2-step you skate left-tip, right-tip and so on and with the cross-step, for example, you have to put your right foot over your left foot - tip - and then left over right - tip. And don't forget to bounce. (laughs)

© Nicole Adamczyk

Is there a community in Munich that you can join?

Yes, us! I created the group account munichrollerdancesquad on Instagram in the fall. Most of the people who are now in our group have reached me via my main account rollin_me_softly or via relevant groups on Facebook. The purpose of the group account is to make it easier to find and contact us.

Thank you, Nicole, for the interview.

This content has been machine translated.