Keeping feet flat during hip downs, mayas...

[Ravenhairedbellydancer]

Hi,, I find it IMPOSSIBLE to keep my heels on the floor when doing mayas,, is it a solid rule that heels must stay on the floor during a hip down,, its soo hard!! feels like its not possible for me, i always get tip toed...

 

[Moon]

I had the same problem at first and I noticed it made a huge difference for me to bend my knees more. This way you create more "space" for the hip to go up without having to lift your heels off the ground.
Good luck

 

[Maria_Aya]

Hi,, I find it IMPOSSIBLE to keep my heels on the floor when doing mayas,, is it a solid rule that heels must stay on the floor during a hip down,, its soo hard!! feels like its not possible for me, i always get tip toed...

Nope its not solid rule, special in arabic style, where mayas also are not so much used.

Maria Aya

 

[belly_dancer]

I had the same problem at first and I noticed it made a huge difference for me to bend my knees more. This way you create more "space" for the hip to go up without having to lift your heels off the ground.
Good luck

I am a BIG believer in flat footed movements... (in my head... if you can do it the "hard way" then you can do it both ways.... if only the easy (lifting heels) way, then you will not be able to do both ways....)
for instance... if you lift your heels.... try to go all the way down to a squat (doing mayas)
much easier if your feet are NOT involved with the movement!

bending the knees will help ALOT to take your feet out of it....
after you can do it with your knees "driving" the movement...

then get your hips/obliques to "drive" the movement.... remember the emphasis is on the DOWNward push of the hips... not on the UP which you would tend to get with the lifted heels....

 

[Ravenhairedbellydancer]

I am a BIG believer in flat footed movements... (in my head... if you can do it the "hard way" then you can do it both ways.... if only the easy (lifting heels) way, then you will not be able to do both ways....)
for instance... if you lift your heels.... try to go all the way down to a squat (doing mayas)
much easier if your feet are NOT involved with the movement!

bending the knees will help ALOT to take your feet out of it....
after you can do it with your knees "driving" the movement...

then get your hips/obliques to "drive" the movement.... remember the emphasis is on the DOWNward push of the hips... not on the UP which you would tend to get with the lifted heels....

thanx , youre right,, the hard way is the best way to learn,, it would probably make it more pronounced too,,im gona work on this

 

[Ravenhairedbellydancer]

Well i tried doing it feet as flat as i could and wow,, i really feel it in the side glute area?? should it be felt there ?( like the saddlebag area? lol)

 

[Yasmine Bint Al Nubia]

Well i tried doing it feet as flat as i could and wow,, i really feel it in the side glute area?? should it be felt there ?( like the saddlebag area? lol)

Yes, yes and yes!!!! As Maria indicates mayas are not used much True Egyptian style dance, but it is a staple in American oriental. IMO, it is neither right or wrong when using the feet to perfrom a maya it just depends on what you want to projectin the dance. By keeping your feet flat, you need to keep a deeper plie in the knees as Moon suggest. Not only will your hips have more room to move but you will engage the obliques and glutes to create the snaky motion of your hips.
Once you get used to these muscles powering the maya, you can effectively perfom level changes down and up without using your feet. Try practicing the maya in place for 4 counts, then up on releve for 4 counts and then downward for 4 counts. Great exercise for your muscular development.
Yasmine

 

[sedoniaraqs]

Hi,, I find it IMPOSSIBLE to keep my heels on the floor when doing mayas,, is it a solid rule that heels must stay on the floor during a hip down,, its soo hard!! feels like its not possible for me, i always get tip toed...

It is not necessary, HOWEVER I think that if you can't do them with your heals down, you aren't using the correct muscles.

If you lift your feet to make your hip go up, you are not using your waist/torso muscles, and also you are moving your unweighted hip. That's really cheating. It doesn't look controlled, fluid and muscular. I do this move as a weighted hip move. In other words, I move my right hip up, out, and down while I have most of my weight on my right leg.

Try drawing small vertical circles one hip at a time before you put them together for the figure 8.

Sedonia

 

[Tarik Sultan]

Lots of good info on this move. A lot of people have a hard time mastering it. As with all the slow moves, it should look smooth, relaxed and effortless. Lifting the feet makes it look like work. It doesn't have to be done totally flatfooted though. It can be done on the balls of your feet, especially if you want to descend with it.

Egyptians use it, but like many things, some movements come in and out of fashion. Right now, I see variations of it being done. They isloate it on one side and then descend with it. Fifi Abdu did this a lot.

Simple way to approach it, we'll start on the right hip for the sake of this explanation: Feet flat, knees bent, like the others told you. Now, 1:gently raise the right hip. 2:gently drag that hip across to the right, but not to its extreme. 3: the majority of your weight should be on your right foot. With the weight there, now raise the left hip and drag it across to the left side.
Keep repeating steps 1 - 3 and you have it.

If you still have trouble, it means you havent gained control over the muscles in your hips yet. Stand in place and with your hips centered, slowly alternate raising your left and right hip. The line of you hips should be raising up and down like a see saw. Once you are comfortable with that, then practice sliding your hips from right to left, keeping the line of you hips level.

 

[SaraKat]

Another way to practice flat-footed hip work is to curl your toes off the floor. This way it's impossible to use your heels. This is a trick you can use to access the muscles you will need to use. Once you have found them you should go back to standing normally.
I couldn't agree more about keeping the knees bent, especially if you want to get anything other than a tiny tiny maya (which are nice too of course).

 

[Tarik Sultan]

Another way to practice flat-footed hip work is to curl your toes off the floor. This way it's impossible to use your heels. This is a trick you can use to access the muscles you will need to use. Once you have found them you should go back to standing normally.
I couldn't agree more about keeping the knees bent, especially if you want to get anything other than a tiny tiny maya (which are nice too of course).

Never thought of that one. I'll try it with my new students and see how it works.

 

[Yasmine Bint Al Nubia]

I love this forum!!!! So many great ideas and suggestions, I'm sure that most of us are assuming you are in basic dance position before performing the maya. Make sure your lower back is protected with a small tuck(this also engages your lower abs). Trying to do a maya with a 'duck butt' puts too much strain on your lower back.
Yasmine

 

[belly_dancer]

yes yes yes to all of the above (I too advocate working the weighted hip, & curly toes... if the student just can't keep those heels on the floor)...
but I ALWAYS make em learn it flat footed 1st... like I said earlier... that way they can do the "hard" way AND the "easy" way...
it makes sure they are using the correct muscles/etc.
HOWEVER for my more advanced students .... we maya flat footed/on releve/descending/ascending/on the knees/doing back flips/etc..... with the movement being "driven" from the hips/obliques rather than the lifted heel, it is easy to do in any position

 

[sedoniaraqs]

Once you can do the maya flat-footed, *then* you can use those same muscles and do variations that involve lifting the heel off the floor, for example with a level change starting in releve, or traveling with it, or doing it one sided like Randa Kamal does.

Sedonia

 

[belly_dancer]

I love this forum!!!! So many great ideas and suggestions, I'm sure that most of us are assuming you are in basic dance position before performing the maya. Make sure your lower back is protected with a small tuck(this also engages your lower abs). Trying to do a maya with a 'duck butt' puts too much strain on your lower back.
Yasmine

me too.. (love!!) OMG TOOO FUNNY.... I too use the phrase "duck butt"... also tell my students to LISTEN to their bodies... as even now YEARS later.. when maya-ing in performance... I feel my lower back "saying"... tuck your butt!!!!!

AND the maya has toned my obiques like NOTHING else!!!!
try it both tucked & untucked.... when tucked you can feel (& eventually see!!) it in your low abs/obliques!!!

 

[Shanazel]

Isn't "duck butt" a technical term?

I start my students flat-footed on mayas for many of the same reasons listed above. I have also been known to have students belly up to the barre and stand flatfooted on one leg to practice movements that require movement from the hips and core rather than the heels and knees.

 

[Ravenhairedbellydancer]

LOL! very good tips,, unfortnately i am naturally very duck butted lol, i have a pretty strong sway back so i have to tuck more than some other ppl and im not sure how far to go sometimes, its really annoying..

 

[Amanda (was Aziyade)]

Years of ballet couldn't rid me of my duck butt, but just a couple of years of bellydance did it.

Raven, 99% of the stuff you're struggling with WILL COME with practice. And it will bigger (or smaller, depending) and more controlled the more you do it.

I used to complain about my lack of torso flexibility until I talked to Rachel Brice who said she drills every day 50 torso slides right, 50 left, 50 chest lifts, 50 chest drops, etc. You have to work to BUILD UP a greater range of motion. It will happen if you practice and drill. I did, and it did.

My students now sometimes say, "I'll NEVER have the torso movements you have!!" and I tell them the same story. But you can't expect it to happen overnight. You don't decide on Monday to start weight lifting, and then on Tuesday have big Popeye arms, you know?

Make a list of the stuff you want to do better, or the areas where you would like more flexibility. Then make yourself a daily drill list. Or post your goals here, and we'll help you put together a daily drills list. Then, do the drills daily. After 30 days you'll be amazed. I'm SERIOUS!

 

[Tarik Sultan]

Years of ballet couldn't rid me of my duck butt, but just a couple of years of bellydance did it.

Raven, 99% of the stuff you're struggling with WILL COME with practice. And it will bigger (or smaller, depending) and more controlled the more you do it.

I used to complain about my lack of torso flexibility until I talked to Rachel Brice who said she drills every day 50 torso slides right, 50 left, 50 chest lifts, 50 chest drops, etc. You have to work to BUILD UP a greater range of motion. It will happen if you practice and drill. I did, and it did.

My students now sometimes say, "I'll NEVER have the torso movements you have!!" and I tell them the same story. But you can't expect it to happen overnight. You don't decide on Monday to start weight lifting, and then on Tuesday have big Popeye arms, you know?

Make a list of the stuff you want to do better, or the areas where you would like more flexibility. Then make yourself a daily drill list. Or post your goals here, and we'll help you put together a daily drills list. Then, do the drills daily. After 30 days you'll be amazed. I'm SERIOUS!

This is such an important point. Most people get bummed out if they try something and don't get it the first try. You have to build up to things. Its not an event, but a process.

 

[charity]

i also do the toe lifting thing but i feel its been a very hard habit to break and it puts more weight in the heels than i would like. i feel the more weight in the heels the more the movement will come from the glutes. for me, i want to isolate the moves in the obliques instead so that the glutes are free for layering.

and i have found that- like someone suggested- doing the maya on relleve helps a lot. because then you realize it is essential to keep knees bent or you will not be able to accomplish the move. also to emphasize proper technique i stretch arms up over head, it lengthens/tightens the abdominals and obliques so that you can really feel the pull in the right spot when you have isolated the move.

and once you do this return to center but on the flats of your feet,stand with one foot slightly in front of the other and raise up from flat foot to relleve and then back down from relleve to flat foot. kind of like lifting up to the sky and sinking down into the ground. then switch the feet where the other is slightly in front. hope i explained it right...perhaps someone else can explain better.

just keep with it and you will get it. i also think the one sided maya might help to get your grounding situated first. then you can put the two pieces together. and perhaps illuminate the problem because i think it may be in the crossing over that the heels tend to lift up in which case you need to try using the obliques more.