I did it!!! Yes and yay for me.

Elfie

New member
I finally did it.

I layered a shimmy with a hip figure 8. And was able to repeat multiple times.

Thank you.

*bows*
 

Chani

New member
Congratulations. Nothing better than mastering something that was tough to learn. They often become my fav moves.
 

Elfie

New member
Thanks everyone! I honestly never thought I'd be able to layer with any kind of shimmy. I'm hoping to make this a transitional step to other layers with a shimmy, but for now I'm basking in the fact that I can friggin' do it, y'all! It was hard. Really hard. It's been on my "to learn" list for so long. Now it's on the "learning" list then it'll be on to mastering. :) I'm excited, I must admit.
 

gisela

Super Moderator
You have all the reason to be proud of yourself. It is quite a big step to get the mind into the layering-feeling.
 

Mosaic

Super Moderator
Congrats to you:dance::clap: It is so exciting when you master something that seems like it is impossible:D
~Mosaic
 

Yame

New member
Gratz! Vertical or horizontal? ;)

This probably means you will achieve many more of your layering goals in the near future.
 

Elfie

New member
Gratz! Vertical or horizontal? ;)


This probably means you will achieve many more of your layering goals in the near future.

Thanks everyone.

Bolding mine... and horizontal. :) I'm making vertical my next step. I learned verticals first, when learning figure 8's, but I worked on horizontal with shimmy first. I dunno why LOL!

I have to give credit to whichever lady on here told me to work my shimmy first. I can't remember who, exactly, but she told me that most dancers try to rush it and for me to get myself to where I could hold a shimmy for at least four-to-five minutes before I tried layering. And it worked. Great advice from her and a big thank you, whatever your name is. :D
 

Elfie

New member
@walladah: My next step is dedicating this last set of moves into muscle memory while I learn to execute the next set which are: choochoo shimmy (which I have yet to do for more than 2 seconds LOL), corkscrew double and triple, Bangha bounce, Fifi and the Tunsinian Twist. I'll be drilling those in the set already learned for the next three weeks, everyday, while I work on slowly executing the new moves by points. I drill learned/mastered moves for a short bit and then dance with ones I have mastered while incorporating the new executable moves where I can manage. It's become quite the effective learning routine. I don't actually count a move as learned/mastered until I can do all variations and travel with it while dancing. And I count each variation as a separate move, initially. If I can't incorporate the movement into the dance smoothly, it isn't learned or mastered.

For layering, I'm working on torso movement with shimmy and vertical hips with shimmy.

Thanks again, you guys. :) It's good to know others are cheering me on.
 

LadyLoba

New member
I just read the original post...that is exactly what I'm working on right now...layering an egyptian shimmy with a horizontal figure 8...I can layer the egytian shimmy over a hip circle....sometimes....it needs a LOT of work and sometimes falls apart toward the back. But the figure 8/egyptian shimmy is not even close....

I dont know how long you've been studying exactly. I started over this year...did a tiny bit last year....but I do know that for a beginner level...that is HARD....:clap::clap::clap::clap: (for you)


:mad::mad: (for me)
 

Yame

New member
Thanks everyone.

Bolding mine... and horizontal. :) I'm making vertical my next step. I learned verticals first, when learning figure 8's, but I worked on horizontal with shimmy first. I dunno why LOL!

I have to give credit to whichever lady on here told me to work my shimmy first. I can't remember who, exactly, but she told me that most dancers try to rush it and for me to get myself to where I could hold a shimmy for at least four-to-five minutes before I tried layering. And it worked. Great advice from her and a big thank you, whatever your name is. :D

Layering the shimmy with horizontal moves is a little easier, IMO. That's probably why you worked on horizontal first even though vertical 8s came easier by themselves. I think it actually happened to me the same way... vertical 8s were the moves I had the easiest time learning when I started belly dancing, but they were definitely not the first I was able to layer.

Still, I don't mean to take away from the fact that that is a milestone.

Whoever gave you that advice is right. I never thought about it that way, but it makes perfect sense. The key to layering (with shimmy) is being able to do the move by itself and being able to control and sustain a shimmy by itself. After that, it still might take a lot of practice trying to do them together, but I think that trying to layer moves with a shimmy before that shimmy is ready seems futile.
 

Elfie

New member
Torso with shimmy is the hardest, I think. I can't even manage a simple rib slide with a shimmy. But I will get it! I will.

Funny story about the big hip circle. I was doing what I learned to call a Lebanese hip circle. Well, after doing it a few times, I started dropping my torso when the hips circled forward... so that I was basically circling with a backbend. I have a great backbend (thank you cheerleading!). Anyway, when my hips circle to the back, my torso is forward, like I'm bent over, and when my hips come forward, I'm backbending kind of. Anyhow, I was circling, having fun and suddenly, as my hips came forward, WHACK! I slammed my darned head onto the frigging floor! I nearly knocked myself out.
 
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