How big is an egyptian shimmy?

jenc

New member
How much should my hips move? I vary between trying to shake my hips and not. Also are there 2 types one moving hips and shivers/freeze which is a tiny movement. Or is this all western invention again?
One for A'isha???
 

Aisha Azar

New member
Shimmy

How much should my hips move? I vary between trying to shake my hips and not. Also are there 2 types one moving hips and shivers/freeze which is a tiny movement. Or is this all western invention again?
One for A'isha???

Dear Jenc,
How big an Egyptian shimmy is relates directly to what the music is doing. There are big blurbly shimmies and tight little freezes and shimmies, big and little and loose and tight and traveling and stationary and up and down, etc. I teach a series of classes called "Exploring" and one set of classes in the series is called "Exploring shimmy". It talks about the different kinds of shimmies we can do, variations, layers, relating them to the music and the emotional statement, etc. Shimmy is one of the most versatile of movements and can be as big or as little as the music allows. It is so difficult for me to talk about movement without showing you on our bodies.... please forgive me and I hope this did not just make things more frustrating.
Regards,
A'isha
 

jenc

New member
You're a Star

Thanks A'sha. I WISH I could take lessons from you, but we are unlikely ever to even meet. It is more and more clear that in addition to local classes I need to do some work on my own under the guidance (hopefully) of a private teacher, perhaps monthly. However, I will have my work cut out finding one who knows how I want to dance.

Anyone out there know of a teacher in Essex, Suffolk or thereabouts who teaches egyptian dance without relying entirely on teaching of routines.
 

karena

New member
Is Maria d'Silva (sp?) in that area? Don't know about her teaching style but she seems pretty respected. I had trouble finding any web page about her last time I looked...
 

karena

New member
Do you know I might have meant Candi Colgrave-Bell. Same comment as below. But she's South Yorks/Derbyshire, but I think I have seen her doing workshops down south. That might be what I was thinking of. Rakscandi
 

jenc

New member
Maria d'Silva is in Leicester. That's 2 1/2 hours away. Although I do have family there so I could get to something at weekends. That's a thought. Thanks
In general I think we are too near London, and I hate travelling there.
Jen
 

jenc

New member
Do you know I might have meant Candi Colgrave-Bell. Same comment as below. But she's South Yorks/Derbyshire, but I think I have seen her doing workshops down south. That might be what I was thinking of. Rakscandi

Thanks for recommending the website. Lots of stuff there v informative
 

karena

New member
I hate travelling to London too but alas it's where my family are so I have to go there, until they see the light that is ;)

If you go to some of the weekend things (eg Jewel of Yorkshire), they don't tend to be choreo. Sometimes they are, but more often not. I suppose it depends on the workshop, and often you can't tell. At one event I learnt with Randa and Raqia Hassan :shok: and the former wasn't choreo, the latter was but i don't think I could have figured that out from the description, and both Egyptian so no clues there either. In fact you could go to a weekend thing and end up in all choreos so maybe that's not the solution either. I know, move up North, then I can tell you people who don't teach with choreo ;)

Hope you find someone.
 

jenc

New member
Don't mind choreos at workshop so much. I'm as good as the next person at remembering something for 2 hours!! You can always get something from dancing with someone new. What I mind is doing the same thing every week without any space for personal development and no background knowledge, no feedback (worse case scenario I know) and add to that the fact that I want egyptian not tribal so that good local teachers aren't going my way.
 

Kashmir

New member
Dear Jenc,
How big an Egyptian shimmy is relates directly to what the music is doing. There are big blurbly shimmies and tight little freezes and shimmies, big and little and loose and tight and traveling and stationary and up and down, etc. I teach a series of classes called "Exploring" and one set of classes in the series is called "Exploring shimmy". It talks about the different kinds of shimmies we can do, variations, layers, relating them to the music and the emotional statement, etc. Shimmy is one of the most versatile of movements and can be as big or as little as the music allows. It is so difficult for me to talk about movement without showing you on our bodies.... please forgive me and I hope this did not just make things more frustrating.
Regards,
A'isha
Exactly! Listen to the music.
 

gisela

Super Moderator
That is very good to read! This is also what I learnt but I began to wonder whether that was how to do it or if it was a modern, westernized take on the shimmy. Nice to be reassured that you learnt something right and also nice because it makes sense to do it after the music. Now... all I need is to be able to do it in all kinds of different ways.
 
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