What is freestyle?

New to this, but my understanding is that freestyle is improvised 'in the moment' whereas a routine is choreographed in advance. However, the more experienced someone gets, the more likely they are to have favourite combinations of moves in their head already that they might use in a freestyle. The overall dance would be unplanned, though. Freestyle seems good for expressing your current emotions whereas a planned routine seems to be a good way to 'tell a story' or have a theme.

great question! I loooove to freestyle. I might have moves/combos in mind, but not an order or place to put them. I really try to let the music move me and to be 'in' the music. It's raw and a wonderful way to feel out how to get from A to B to C, etc. Here is one I did recently, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK6XLKfZaNE

Freestyling is an awesome way to see how your body reacts spontaneously to a song but it doesn't have to be totally willy nilly. You can go into a song and have an intention whether it be conceptual or technical. It allows for all sorts of experimentation, like hmm, let's try freestyling without inverting or let's incorporate a move i learned but have never danced into or let's convey unrequited love :)