chugga chugga chugga chugga...~pantpantpant~ CHOOO CHOOOOOO!

[Aurora Briar Rose]

l'm really struggleing with choochoo shimmies. I can't seem to get them to appear as refined as profestional dancers seem to have them. They look like they are walking through clouds I look like I'm charging for the touch down....~facepalm~

I know I'm missing a key concept. I've practiced for years and this is one thing I can't seem to master.

 

[Kashmir]

Get your teacher (or an experienced dancer) watch and give feedback. I suspect you don't have fine control ie you are using too many muscle fibres.

 

[Shanazel]

Yup, what Kashmir said.

We call choo-choo shimmies "The Tinkerbell Trot" in my class. If nothing else, teaching the same breaks the tension between new, nervous students. If someone doesn't get the giggles during a first attempt, we call an ambulance because that person is obviously comatose.

It's not an easy move. Good on you for continuing to work on it. All good things come to she who practices.

 

[Aurora Briar Rose]

Alas, I lack any teacher or professional in my area. Which is why I came here for advice. I did improve it a bit recently by turning my knees in.

my kingdom for a local bd workshop.....

 

[Shanazel]

Poor Aurora: one physical evaluation is worth a thousand words and it's truly rough when you don't have the resources you need in your community. I've lived in communities that were isolated from needed artistic resources and sympathize with your frustration.

Alas, there's no way to evaluate a dance problem that is presented simply as "I can't do this" without so much as a video. You are about two hours from Houston, Spring, and Kingwood where there are several belly dance teachers. Could you swing even a single a private lesson to address specific problems? Longview is about 90 minutes away and has a tribal group, if tribal is your thing.

Another choice is taking lessons via Skype. Farasha and Darshiva have been working well together for some time now though Dar, the teacher, is in Australia and Farasha is in Oklahoma. You can reach either or both of them here at OD, though if either of them see this thread , they are liable to contact you first.

 

[Darshiva]

I can walk your through a choo choo if you want to hit skype. Unfortunately my laptop was stolen a few weeks ago so I can't do video until I replace it, but I can check your technique for you if you have a webcam yourself. PM me if you'd like to discuss it further.

 

[Shanazel]

Ask and ye shall receive dance evaluation.

 

[Aurora Briar Rose]

Darshiva- I don't have a cam :/ otherwise I'd totally take you up on that offer. Thank you so much.

Shanazel- I'm aware of habda(houston area bellydance association) I guess my next real step is getting lessons because there are some concepts you can't learn from dvds.

 

[Shanazel]

Wow. Imagine living somewhere with enough dancers to form a belly dance association. My mind boggles.

 

[Darshiva]

Darshiva- I don't have a cam :/ otherwise I'd totally take you up on that offer. Thank you so much.

Shanazel- I'm aware of habda(houston area bellydance association) I guess my next real step is getting lessons because there are some concepts you can't learn from dvds.

Actually, I'm the queen of dvd analysis. I did learn it from a dvd - actually from watching several ME dancers performing the move on several different dvds. I just recently taught Farasha the trick of how to learn a move from a dvd in a recent class. It's a good skill to have, particularly if you live in a rural area and can't get to a live teacher very regularly.