Question about the hip drop kick

Status
Not open for further replies.
When doing the hip drop kick which i think is done sideways?,, is the drop a true drop or is it more of a sideways motion? is it simply performing a hip drop from an angle, or is it a sideways swing of the hip? im puzzled, im studying from a DVD at this point, I plan on taking classes in september but i want to get the most backround i can b4 i go:)
 

Salome

Administrator
Hi there,

hip drop with a 'kick'... I do a plain and simple hip drop. Either right under my ribcage or back and down. Either way, as the hip drop completes the foot comes off the floor, I turn that foot out verrrrry slightly and point my toe. The leg on your working hip is bent at the knee, so as the hip drop completes the foot comes off the floor until the knee straightens. I'd say my foot is only about six inches from the floor.
 

miss_shimmy

New member
hi

i think it is done sideways,its my fave step!!and you can also take it round of course!
I usually do it sideways yes,and i like to varey the speed too.


hugs and smiles


miss shimmy
xxxxxxxxxxxx
 

samsied

New member
I am not sure what you mean by sideways. Do you mean that dancers usually stand so the audience have a view of the side of their body? The seems to be true and that is what I usually do.

Or do you mean the "drop" itself is a sideways hip motion? I learned it as a strait drop with a slight release of the foot. I found it hard at first--mainly because of the balance. Now it feels quite natural and is one of my fall-back improv. moves. I sometimes do the drop-kick rounded to the back with the no kick drop to the front to make a arch or upside down U. But that is just a variation or even a different move. Another dancer taught me a hip-drop-kick with a slight hip twist. That is a nice, fun move, maybe that is what your looking at?

If you are new to dancing, I think you would find it easier to do it with a strait up and down hipdrop--at least to start. Happy dancing!
 

samsied

New member
Hi Raven Haired Bellydancer,

I just re-read your post... It might even be a good idea just to work on hip drops since you haven't started class yet. These are a very important move that you can do a lot with--including the cute drop-kicks. Which dvd's are you using?
 
I'm using Veena and Neena's dvd, right now, the Beyond Basic dance one, I have the first volume on order, I'm just gonna practice my hip drops first, thats what was confusing me,, i didnt realize it was just an ordinary hip drop with a kick, as you face sideways:)
 

Zumarrad

Active member
As everyone has said, it's just a drop, plain and simple, and it's NOT a kick - it's a simple release of the foot. Your foot will rise primarily due to the force generated by the dropping motion. So it's more drop, drop-and-take-your-foot-off-the-ground.

If you're smart you can start doing them to the front and back as well!
 

gwinity

New member
My teacher refers to these as "press-releases", which focuses less on the "kicking" aspect of the move. Like the others have said, it's a standard hip-drop, releasing the foot on the drop.
 

samsied

New member
As everyone has said, it's just a drop, plain and simple, and it's NOT a kick - it's a simple release of the foot. Your foot will rise primarily due to the force generated by the dropping motion. So it's more drop, drop-and-take-your-foot-off-the-ground.

If you're smart you can start doing them to the front and back as well!

Yes! Well said. When I first started learning this move I was too focussed on what looked like a little kick-- and I think that is why I found it a little hard to balance or feel grounded. After a while, I realized it is really a natural extension of a hip drop. So now, I actually find that a regular hip drop with no foot release takes slightly more effort than a hip drop with a release. I like the use of the word "release" rather than "kick", I think I would have figured this move out a little faster if that was how it was described. (Note this is no discredit to my first teachers--they did not teach this move at the level I was at and I rarely saw them perform it. I learned in a workshop as part of a combination where it wasn't really broken down so I was just copying what I saw.)
 

sedoniaraqs

New member
Hi there,

Either way, as the hip drop completes the foot comes off the floor, I turn that foot out verrrrry slightly and point my toe.

Yes! This little detail is what many of the Egyptian dancers do also. Really it is a slight lateral rotation of the hip that causes the foot to turn out slightly, and also the hip to drop down and tuck in further. Possibly this the only example of any kind of lateral hip rotation in oriental dance.

Sedonia
 

Shanazel

Moderator
I learned this movement as an "Egyptian kick" though it is not a kick at all, as noted above, but a lift of the foot. I saw a variation where instead of lifting the foot forward, when the hip is dropped, the knee bends so that the kick is to the back. Hmm, did that make any sense at all? It made me think of flappers doing the Charleston.
 

Shanazel

Moderator
In a skirt that showed less leg, it might not be so distracting. A flash of leg now and then is pretty, but I don't like watching a belly dancers hardworking legs throughout a dance- it spoils the ambiance.
 

Moon

New member
Shanazel said:
In a skirt that showed less leg, it might not be so distracting. A flash of leg now and then is pretty, but I don't like watching a belly dancers hardworking legs throughout a dance- it spoils the ambiance.

That is so true!
 

da Sage

New member
After a while, I realized it is really a natural extension of a hip drop.
I like the use of the word "release" rather than "kick", I think I would have figured this move out a little faster if that was how it was described.

This is not my experience at all. I learned this move very early on, with the "release" terminology, but I have always had a huge amount of trouble with it.

When I simply release, my foot drops firmly into the floor, and there is no kick at all! When I try to push my foot to the front, it feels very forced, and my moving foot is usually too far off the floor. If I'm pointing my foot as I kick, it tends to catch on the floor. If I don't point my foot as I kick, it looks like I'm country line dancing!

If I push my leg forward and to the side (maybe 45 degrees), I have a good chance of being able to clear the floor, and I can usually point my toe as well. But it takes a huge amount of concentration.

Why is it so hard? My best guess is that either my posture or my body type is not conducive to this supposedly reflexive "release". What do you ladies think?
 
Hi Da Sage, it's kind of hard to tell without seeing you in person, assuming you are in the correct posture, your difficulty may be tht your standing leg is too straight so there is not an opposing muscle action for the "kick" leg, or maybe it's the opposite where the standing leg is too bent and therefore there isn't enough stability when your foot clears the floor. Just a thought.
Yasmine
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top