How long to shimmy?

[BexterK]

How long did it take you to learn a controlled shimmy?
I've been working at it for 2 months and all I can do is shake my entire body in a haphazard fashion. Anyone have tips?

 

[alosha]

make sure to do it to music. that way you have a beat to follow.

 

[jenc]

Make sure you are doing the correct movements slowly, in time with the music. Practice loads in double time to build up stamina and make sure you are moving rythmically before speeding up again.

Ensuring that your shimmy reaches the right bits is also very much down to posture. If you don't have a teacher - please don't learn to shimmy before lerning other moves properly.

Likewise, if you have just started with a teacher don't try to run on too fast at home before you are shown how to stand and move correctly

 

[lizaj]

make sure you have the correct posture.
make sure you have that pressure distributed correctly so that when it's released you get that shimmy.
relax!!!!! enjoy!!!be liberated
I once saw a performance once that ws entirely of shimmying..magic
but it isn't everyone's favourite move to do..it comes easier to some than others. Leyla Jouvana has a very helpful DVD.

 

[Marya]

How long did it take you to learn a controlled shimmy?
I've been working at it for 2 months and all I can do is shake my entire body in a haphazard fashion. Anyone have tips?

Try standing in a open doorway and put your hands up on the door jamb to help keep them quiet.

Or practice with a friend and hold each others hands to help each other.

this is common with beginners, and practice will help.

Marya

 

[TribalDancer]

How have you been practicing? Sometimes the method of practice makes a difference.

For me, I practiced every chance I got, under varying circumstances. Just standing there and trying to force myself to shimmy was completely unhelpful. Moving around, thinking of other things while trying (watching TV, vaccuming, etc), with shoes, without, etc helped a ton.

 

[Zanbaka]

Hi BexterK,

Being mindful, articulate, and precise about how you're originating the shimmy can be very beneficial and eventually give you more variety in your arsenal of shimmy dance vocabulary.

For lower body shimmies you can focus a majority of the work on the obliques, glutes, legs, shift of weight in the feet, or a held contraction of various muscle groups for different effects.

Can you describe the shimmy that you are working with?

Best, ~Zanbaka

 

[alosha]

How have you been practicing? Sometimes the method of practice makes a difference.

For me, I practiced every chance I got, under varying circumstances. Just standing there and trying to force myself to shimmy was completely unhelpful. Moving around, thinking of other things while trying (watching TV, vaccuming, etc), with shoes, without, etc helped a ton.

i find i practice a lot in the shower. no one there to bug me, and i'm relaxed. learned the hard way not to do moves in releve in the shower though...

 

[Kashmir]

How long did it take you to learn a controlled shimmy?
I've been working at it for 2 months and all I can do is shake my entire body in a haphazard fashion. Anyone have tips?

Can you do the underlying movement correctly slowly? If not, work on that first. Then bring up the speed. A shimmy is in time to the music. With my students we start half time, then full time, then double time. If they lose it go back a level.

Also, to stop the rest of the body shaking you have to relax every thing except the muscles driving the shimmies - often the abs. So, legs soft, butt soft, chest lifted and soft.

 

[TribalDancer]

I assumed we weren't talking about layered shimmies, but a standard up shimmy (timing is irrelevant if the whole body is shaking--timing is the next step after control in my book).

 

[Yshka]

Leyla Jouvana has a very helpful DVD.

Heehee, I was watching this about a year ago with a friend. Somehow we couldn't help noticing that Leyla's feet are moving away from eachother as she shimmies, and she has to keep bringing them together. I wasn't able to concentrate on her shimmy after I noticed :lol:...

Anyhow, the dvd is good though,. I think correct posture, strengthening certain muscle groups (upper legs, glutes, abs...) can help. Correct posture and alignment of the knees (keeping them facing forward) helps a LOT.
Are we talking about knee driven shimmy or the one that uses the hips (like 3/4 shimmy)?

 

[Bellydance Oz]

I was going to ask the same question - if your whole body is shaking, are you using the correct technique?

Often, when I see a dancer vibrating all over in the shimmy, it's because she's trying to shimmy with her hips.

 

[Kashmir]

I assumed we weren't talking about layered shimmies, but a standard up shimmy (timing is irrelevant if the whole body is shaking--timing is the next step after control in my book).

Not in mine. A shimmy by definition is a relaxed, timed move - layering is a another issue altogether.

 

[Mouse]

if you are working on lower body shimmy you can also give yourself a hug to help keep the upper body stationary.

 

[Samira bint Aya]

After my teacher, Maria Aya, told me off about my “shimmying up to my boobs” :shok:
I used to practice by tying my hip scarf on my chest and trying to make it stay silent, while doing the standing shimmy. That helped a lot.

The shimmy is the most challenging move for me (that and the omi).
It takes tons of practice. I thought I would never get it, but I manage a decent shimmy now.

So don’t despair, if I were able to improve, anyone can!

 

[nightdancer]

Samira,

What a great idea! thank you I have the worst time with shimmies. I'm getting there, though.

 

[BexterK]

My current teacher told us to "Just let it all go" which meant I was pretty much vibrating through my whole body uncontrollably. I'm going to start practicing with these techniques and tips though! It's still taking me more time than I was hoping, but I'm gonna try to stick it out. I'm trying to find a teacher that's NOT through a community center. Maybe that will help

 

[Aniseteph]

It's more "just let some of it go".

 

[Nineveh]

Like said before, try to do it to music so you can follow the rythm. Don't try too much at once, keep them short at the beginning because -like i always say-: it is better to have a good short one, than a crappy, really long one. And also very important: try to relax! Many dancers are very tensed when they want to shimmy because in the beginning, you might think that this will keep your body still. In fact, it makes it even worse!
I think my shimmy just got better along the way. That it probably what will happen to you, just don't give up yet ;-)

 

[SophiaSzoli]

Sophia the sloth

I'm having issues with the shimmy, too. I can't seem to go fast enough without losing control of everything, hence the nickname I gave myself "Sophia the Sloth." I just watched Sadie's complete bellydance guide dvd and she explains it wonderfully and has already helped with this issue, but it's no miracle worker so I'm still not there yet. I'm gonna try the suggestion of tying the hip scarf around my chest to try and keep it quite. We'll see. ray:
Good luck to you. It seems you're in good hands when the girls on this forum make suggestions.