Shimmy advice

[Kashmir]

don't forget that you also need to practise with shoulders tilted at various angles and whilst walking and stepping. 2 different patterns steps and shoulders; arms and regular shimmies are a must once you get reasonably competent.

Yes, you don't want that rigid look. One I like is where your hands start pinkies together and open out in a sorta giving gesture - all with a delicate shoulder shimmy.

And don't forget the Saudi shoulder shimmy layered on the shoulder roll! (mmm smilies aren't working)

 

[sedoniaraqs]

So the right hamstring pulls knee back on the 1 & and; the left hamstring pulls knee back on e & a. (there are two complete pulls back right and left for each downbeat in the music).

I questioned the technical validity of a similar description by someone else on bhuz a while back, and never really got an answer to my question.

It is my understanding that in terms of generating movement, the hamstring curls the leg and the quads extend it. Also, that the hamstring works as an antagonist to stop, slow, or control the action of the quad.

So when you are shimmying, your hamstrings are working hard not in "pulling the knee" or "straightening the leg", but in decelerating, stopping, and reversing those motions.

Yes? No?

Sedonia

 

[Aniseteph]

Just shimmied on the A1 at 80 mph. Very scary but the music got me going. didn't keep it up for long though as it is scary. i thnk a supermarket trolly is less scary but equally as good. Don't think I could do a motorbike as any wobbles would be more likely to make you come off.

:shok: OMG that IS scary.

Shimmies are my pet peeve - not bad at home or with some shimmy-tastic music, but in class I tense up and try too hard so they go wrong.

And lately my shoulder shimmies tend to turn into a bingo wing wobble if I'm not paying attention. Yuk.

 

[adiemus]

I questioned the technical validity of a similar description by someone else on bhuz a while back, and never really got an answer to my question.

It is my understanding that in terms of generating movement, the hamstring curls the leg and the quads extend it. Also, that the hamstring works as an antagonist to stop, slow, or control the action of the quad.

So when you are shimmying, your hamstrings are working hard not in "pulling the knee" or "straightening the leg", but in decelerating, stopping, and reversing those motions.

Yes? No?

Sedonia

Hi there - I think the BEST description/analysis of the muscles involved comes from Kashmir's site - Hip Rock - as taught by Kashmir
Normal hip shimmies are faster versions of this (or should be).
The Hamstrings and gluteals should be relaxed - or you are using them to stop an uncontrolled movement...

oh yeah - Kashmir's right, Pat and Renee got the idea for shoulder shimmy practice in the car from her!!

I have decided never to shimmy in the supermarket again, it's way too embarrassing, but the shower is good!

Hamstrings flex the knee, and extend the hip.
Quads flex the hip and extend the knee.

If you're really keen (and it's YOUR body, you should be interested!), head on over to Muscular System - Tutorials & Quizzes On Skeletal Muscle Anatomy and take a look at the origins and insertions of each of the muscles, and the weeny animations that show the muscle and the movements. Fantastic stuff!

 

[Zumarrad]

get a video of Fifi and copy hers! Always just the knees

Now, I have not worked with Fifi but I internet-know people who have, and they commented after recent workshops with her that she was most particular about her shimmy NOT being driven by the knees. She apparently said "not leg". And indeed I recently watched some closeup footage of her shimmying and it was most definitely more of an up-down hip rocky type of shimmy than the slightly side to side quality you get with a vigorous Reda-style straight leg shimmy. Although I have no doubt she probably uses more than one.

 

[Yasmine Bint Al Nubia]

There are so many shimmies and so many ways to do them. Basically a shimmy is any move that can be done on a smaller(and therefore) faster scale. The goal of any shimmy is to be relaxed and work on control first. Speed will follow.
Yasmine

 

[jenc]

Now, I have not worked with Fifi but I internet-know people who have, and they commented after recent workshops with her that she was most particular about her shimmy NOT being driven by the knees. She apparently said "not leg". And indeed I recently watched some closeup footage of her shimmying and it was most definitely more of an up-down hip rocky type of shimmy than the slightly side to side quality you get with a vigorous Reda-style straight leg shimmy. Although I have no doubt she probably uses more than one.

This is good news for those of us who are kneefically challenged. The bellydance police round my way have been insisting that it has to be knees shimmy even when trying to walk with it.

 

[Aniseteph]

The bellydance police round my way have been insisting that it has to be knees shimmy even when trying to walk with it.

I have no idea how that'd work, though I am shimmifically-challenged! I discovered I can actually walk with a shimmy, and it's not knees, it's the hip rocking type on the leg my weight is on. Weird, it just happened in a workshop and I was thinking where did THAT come from?! :shok:

I can walk with a 3/4 shimmy but only because we learnt it starting so slow and broken down that my brain thinks it isn't a shimmy at all. :lol:

 

[Zumarrad]

I use a walking 3/4 all the time - I find it really hard to walk with any other shimmy. So I don't! LOL.

 

[adiemus]

I am shimmifically-challenged!

oh yes, that's me! especially 3/4 shimmy...sigh...
back to going slow and ensuring the tongue IS poking out while shimmying down the hallway....

 

[Aniseteph]

...and ensuring the tongue IS poking out while shimmying down the hallway....

...it does add that extra touch of Eastern mystery :lol:

 

[Ginger Snap]

Ace, thanks to everyone for all their great advice! Xx

 

[trang1808]

While it is relatively accurate to say that an Egyptian shimmy comes from the knees, what is really happening is the hamstrings are pulling the knees back and forth under the body. Bring the weight of the body forward towards the ball of the foot -- raise yourself onto releve and then come down so that the whole foot is on the ground and relaxed but your weight doesn't shift back into the heels. Reach your ribcage forward and push from under the glutes, where the top of the leg meets the torso in back in order to keep the weight forward; and then drop the tailbone down to soften the knees (this gives you somewhere to move from). From here, pull the knees back-and-back-and-back-and-back in time to the music using the hamstrings to exchange the knees front to back in space. Too often I see a shimmy that is just a vibration, but it should be in time with the rhythm. It also doesn't need to be going a million miles per hour.....only as fast as the music. For example:

Downbeats are:
1-2-3-4

Knees are happening like this:
1-e-and-a 2-e-and-a 3-e-and-a 4-e-and-a

So the right hamstring pulls knee back on the 1 & and; the left hamstring pulls knee back on e & a. (there are two complete pulls back right and left for each downbeat in the music). The best song I have ever found for this is actually English Beat's "Mirror in the Bathroom". Follow the chucka-chucka guitar/bass line with one exchange of the knees for each chucka sound.

Pull energy up through the arches of the feet and up the adductors at the inside of the legs all the way through the pelvic floor, but relax EVERYTHING else. This is the hard part -- the harder you try the less it will work. You have to shake out the tension instead of feeling like you are trying to do something. I have many students tell me that their best shimmies happen in the shower because they are relaxed and their brains haven't turned on yet.

Happy shimmies!:lol:

thanks for your guide:dance:, however, I can't discriminate hip shimmy from the vertical shimmy. Could you explain more?????