Now I am even more confused about hip Lifts drops!

OK i thought i was getting the hang of the hip up and down but after watching this short instructional clip im not do sure:rolleyes: lol. This girl says to lift the hip to draw the hip up,,, I have always drawn my hip UP, UP towards they sky,,, she says to draw it up into your core!! which is it???! When I draw my hip up not skywise but into my core rather,,, I get a distorted hip lift where my whole torso just looks squashed and weird LOL,, when i lift skywise it looks like a normal lift,,, Im not getting this.. HELP,, heres the link that confused meYouTube - How to do the Hip Drop : Egyptian Belly Dancing
 
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teela

New member
My take on this is that most times, the hip lift is taught just moving the hip up using your skeleton. This one uses one set of muscles to do more of the lifting. A lot of moves are different based upon which muscles you use to make the movement or if you just use the skeleton. Hope this helps a bit.
 

janaki

New member
Good subject for discussion.

I was taught hiplifts and drops mainly 2 different ways. One style is like the one in this clip. The other style is Hadia's way. In this style you are using thighs, mostyl inner thigh muscles and bending and stretching(not locking) of the knees to lift and drop the hips. Here is the knees legs are doing most of the work. Bending and stretching the knees using the inner thigh muscles is the key here. I find this style is more body friendly. If you doing lift and drops on the non weighted foot you are using the inner thigh muscles of the weighted leg. If your lifing and dropping on the weighted foot you are using the thigh muscles of the same side.

Egyptian way emphasises more on the drop. If you see egyptian drop there is little hip twist to the back when they drop the hip. I very seldom used hip lift when I was learning from egyptian teachers.

Cheers
Janaki

Cheers
Janaki
 

Reen.Blom

New member
Hey Janaki sweetie pie who is Hadia? I just wanted to thank you again for your detailedand useful explanations! Lots of hugs!!!
 

janaki

New member
Hey Janaki sweetie pie who is Hadia? I just wanted to thank you again for your detailedand useful explanations! Lots of hugs!!!

Het Reen.Blom, Hadia is a very well known instructor from Canada. Her teaching focuses on how to takecare of the body when we execute moves. Until, I have done her workshop, I didn't know how to takecare of my body when I danced. I now insists on all my students that body comes first and how to dance safely so that they don't have any form of injuries. I highly recommend her teaching DVD's.

Thanks for your appreciation!!!;);)

Hugs n kisses
Janaki
 

Didi

New member
This video is pretty much exactly how I learned the hip lift/drop. What would the other way look like, Janaki? I did learn a version of the hip lift, too, where you sort of arc your hip up on a slight curve while leaning pretty far back with the torso, foot propped well ahead. Don't know what it was called; it was part of a choreography and I forgot the name. ;)

Also, is this video the "muscular" way or "skeletal"? I'm guessing with skeletal, you just don't tuck the hip in/up, but only use the knee to move the hip? The skeletal one seems like it might be a larger movement, less controlled-looking, maybe?

Thanks for answering any questions. Interesting topic.
Didi
 

Aisha Azar

New member
Basic Egyptian

OK i thought i was getting the hang of the hip up and down but after watching this short instructional clip im not do sure:rolleyes: lol. This girl says to lift the hip to draw the hip up,,, I have always drawn my hip UP, UP towards they sky,,, she says to draw it up into your core!! which is it???! When I draw my hip up not skywise but into my core rather,,, I get a distorted hip lift where my whole torso just looks squashed and weird LOL,, when i lift skywise it looks like a normal lift,,, Im not getting this.. HELP,, heres the link that confused meYouTube - How to do the Hip Drop : Egyptian Belly Dancing



Dear Ravenhairedbellydancer,
There are many ways to explain the same thing, and that's what gets confusing. She is teaching the same thing that I teach in a different way, by using the skeleton and muscles around the trochanter, or hip joint. I focus on a different area of the body to teach the movement, but my stomach and back muscles, etc, are all doing the same thing that she is talking about. No area of the body moves without support from other areas!! My take on it is that I also want my students to feel a certain sort of heaviness through the pelvis and in the hips, a really earthy and centered feeling, which is why I teach the way I do. Both ways of expressing the movement are correct, but we each focus on different areas of the body. In effect we are both doing the same thing, but with attention in different places.
Regards,
A'isha
 
Ok i think i get the hip drop,, well sort of lol,, but what is really bugging me is that my supporting knee gets tired after 5 drops!, does this mean im out of shape???,, for me one of the most exhausting movements is the drop,, i find the lift very easy but the drop exhausts me and confuses me:-(, i want to learn this movement so badly!! GRRRRRRRRR
 

cathy

New member
I am not a dance teacher but the way I was taught hip drops and hip lifts is very simple compared to what you are describing and compared to what is shown on this clip. Furthermore, it is probably less tiring to all parts of me--and less tiring to the knees--than walking at the same pace. If five drops hurts your knees I think you are doing something incorrectly. My teacher always says this dance should never hurt and if you are in pain you are doing something wrong.

The way I was taught hip drops is start with soft knees, starting from neutral (hips level) drop one side then return to neutral. No angling, swiveling or turning. It's more of a release down. It's kind of like dribbling a basketball. Think about it bouncing to its lowest point on the beat. If you like to count think 1-2-3-4 when it "touches" the lowest point. Then the other side. The way my teacher describes it, you don't lift to drop--that means you don't lift above neutral, you don't draw "into" the spine or anything else. Just neutral, down, neutral, down.

As for lifts, it's very similar. Start with soft knees, from neutral (hips level) swing one side up and return to neutral. Again, no angling or swiveling or turning, just lift, neutral, lift, neutral. Now you can think of the basketball (your hip) "touching" on the up swing. If you like to count to the beat, think of the hip "touching" its highest point on the beat.

Just remember, don't lift to drop or drop to lift. Go from neutral to either drop or lift. They are different movements--don't combine the two or you look off rhythm. That will get you the clearest, simplest, and easiest-to perform-maintain movement and should never hurt.

Good luck.

Cathy
 

Didi

New member
Ok i think i get the hip drop,, well sort of lol,, but what is really bugging me is that my supporting knee gets tired after 5 drops!, does this mean im out of shape???,, for me one of the most exhausting movements is the drop,, i find the lift very easy but the drop exhausts me and confuses me:-(, i want to learn this movement so badly!! GRRRRRRRRR

Well, is your knee hurting or the thigh muscles above the knee? I have a bad left knee, so I had to slowly build up muscle strength on that side to support the knee bending (still hurts a bit, of course, because there's cartilege missing from an old injury, and the bones rub together). If it's the muscles, you need to build up strength, which will come with practice. If it's the knee, you could have your knee turned at a weird angle (be careful with this, try to align with the direction of your foot), but I don't know that you can do much for knee pain other than lose weight and build up supporting muscles. And maybe take glucosamine chondroitin to help cartilege production.

Anyway, you will learn it! :dance: If you want to learn it badly, trust me, it will happen. (A wise person on this forum once told me the exact same thing.) You already have the necessary desire to bring it about. Just have a gentle and compassionate attitude toward your body. ;) It is learning at the best speed it can, and it can do amazing things with time and patience.

Didi
 

Reen.Blom

New member
I am not a dance teacher but the way I was taught hip drops and hip lifts is very simple compared to what you are describing and compared to what is shown on this clip. Furthermore, it is probably less tiring to all parts of me--and less tiring to the knees--than walking at the same pace. If five drops hurts your knees I think you are doing something incorrectly. My teacher always says this dance should never hurt and if you are in pain you are doing something wrong.

The way I was taught hip drops is start with soft knees, starting from neutral (hips level) drop one side then return to neutral. No angling, swiveling or turning. It's more of a release down. It's kind of like dribbling a basketball. Think about it bouncing to its lowest point on the beat. If you like to count think 1-2-3-4 when it "touches" the lowest point. Then the other side. The way my teacher describes it, you don't lift to drop--that means you don't lift above neutral, you don't draw "into" the spine or anything else. Just neutral, down, neutral, down.

As for lifts, it's very similar. Start with soft knees, from neutral (hips level) swing one side up and return to neutral. Again, no angling or swiveling or turning, just lift, neutral, lift, neutral. Now you can think of the basketball (your hip) "touching" on the up swing. If you like to count to the beat, think of the hip "touching" its highest point on the beat.

Just remember, don't lift to drop or drop to lift. Go from neutral to either drop or lift. They are different movements--don't combine the two or you look off rhythm. That will get you the clearest, simplest, and easiest-to perform-maintain movement and should never hurt.

Good luck.

Cathy

Thanks Cathy! I suppose this is just another variant of it! Neon on her DVDs even teaches the hip lift/drops with a twist to emphasize the move!
 

charity

New member
like already mentioned, same move can be accomplished through different mechanics. this helps in future purposes of layering and movement.

practice doing the hip lift as a gentle, slow knee pump, as an abdominal contraction, as a thigh push, and a tush push.

when i practice i do my hip lift/drop using push-pull. the move has a very controlled, muscular look to it. for example abdominals/obliques pull the hip up and in WHILE the tush adds push for reinforcement.

the mechanics or manner of execution all depends on where you put your body weight. experiment with all different ways, they are all right and can all be useful later on.

plus with the push-pull method it works as isometric contractions do. its a workout, you are fine tuning your muscular control for other uses and with other moves.

for example if execute very muscular push-pull rib circles (up-back-down-center) the progression into camels will be much easier. if you continuously practice the camel or body wave with constant isometric contractions and muscular control it is the natural progression to a belly roll.

same is true for hip lifts/drops and hip downs. execute them with extreme muscular control and simultaneously you are training your body in muscle memory, control, and strength for shimmies. especially when you do them on flat foot.

i think that if you maintain proper posture and experiment with body weight you will find several ways to accomplish the same task and it will all be right.
 

charity

New member
when you do the push-pull for the drop reverse it. tush pulls down, abdominals thrust down. for knee pump you "pop" opposite knee straight without locking and squeeze opposite glute, etc etc...and with the thigh, yes that works too, just imagine lengthening the thigh...

the other drop is simply a release, you let your hip roll back down into place, there is no work to it except to let your foot twist slightly out.
 
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