Shimmy advice please!

[Aniseteph]

OK, hip shimmies are my weak point. I'm never sure if I'm doing it right. I get the difference between the hip rocking type and "Egyptian" straight legs wobble knees and belly button goes side to side ones. I can walk and make my behind wobble though I'm not quite sure how, or what's going on back there. And I can do an Egyptian walk aka 3/4 shimmy no problem because we broke it riiiight down.

I'm bothered about the plain hip rocking ones ones at speed. My teacher taught us by getting us to focus on making behinds and back of thighs wobble, rather than by keeping to an external beat starting slow and building up. What works for me (and feels right) is really fast. I think it IS actually on the beat, but not in a way you could count out easily. It's all very follow the bouncing butt and organic, but being a geek is that good enough for me? oh dear no. I wondered if learning a slower approach might make life easier, or at least give me options.

Two questions:

1. Is there a good DVD for this? I just started one and it's annoying the **** out of my inner geek because as far as I can see when the instructor goes at full speed she isn't doing what she says she's doing. She counts eight along with the beat, but watching the hips I count six. I am going to get deeply frustrated trying to do 8 if she is only managing 6 herself. Also, if it looks OK with just the six is there any point worrying about "on the beat" if things are wobbling impressively?

2. Is there any point bothering? Do you do full speed shimmies on the beat, or is it more a matter of getting things wobbling where you want it to? Because I think there's physics involved here and we have a natural frequency depending on our anatomy - I wonder if it'd make more sense to work on developing and exploring that than trying to beat it into submission.

Thoughts?

 

[Yame]

Personally, I don't think it matters for shimmies to be on the beat. Here's what does matter:

If the music becomes more intense, can you intensify your shimmy? If it becomes less intense, can you tone it down?

If the music becomes faster, can you speed it up? If it becomes slower, can you slow it down?

Do you start your shimmy when the music is calling for the shimmy, and stop when it stops?

Basically, as long as you can show in your body what is happening in the music, and you're not starting your shimmy ahead of the music, then it really doesn't matter whether or not each "hit" of your shimmy is exactly on each beat. In fact, at quicker speeds and for vibration shimmies, I don't even think it's possible to really count it that way.

 

[Kashmir]

Like you I think I'm doing it double time - I certainly teach that way - half time (alternate hips on the beat), full time, double time. But I don't know. What I do know is that it is being driven (that is it isn't a vibration or shiver); I can keep it big and loose; I can speed it up as the music speeds up; and I can stop it on a beat. Frankly, I'm happy with that.

 

[RahimaMJR]

Aniseteph, I've found the DVD "Learn 21 Shimmies and 1001 Variations" to be quite helpful with the different types of shimmies. She breaks each one down and does them at different speeds. I recommend that DVD as a kind of reference guide, if that helps!

 

[Sophia Maria]

Personally, I don't think it matters for shimmies to be on the beat. Here's what does matter:

If the music becomes more intense, can you intensify your shimmy? If it becomes less intense, can you tone it down?

Excellent point--this intensifying/slowing down shimmy is something I love about experienced dancers, but is sadly something I do not have control over yet.

Although yesterday I was improvising and dancing to my iPod on shuffle, and I think I did my most powerful shimmy yet!!! I'm really trying to become comfortable in my shimmy.

 

[Aniseteph]

Thanks for the input, I'm feeling a bit more confident I'm on the right track. Or a right track, anyway.

The way I figure it, if I was an 8 year old girl in Cairo copying her big sisters, it's exactly how I'd learn - try like crazy to do what they do by just going for it until I got some sort of result, and then refining and controlling it as I got the hang of it. Which fits with how it's panning out for me.

Rahima, I have that DVD, just started with it. So far I think it's going to be more useful as a concept - slow moves done fast can be shimmies! - but I'm going back to my speeding up drum tracks to get faster. Slooow/ slow/ OK/ and no-that-is-so-not-happening isn't going to get me anywhere!

 

[glitter]

I have a real problem with knee shimmies. I can do 3/4 shimmies/Egyptian walks, and have started drilling other shimmies which are driven by the glutes/obliques rather than the knees.
My problem is I cannot sustain the knee shimmy for more than a few seconds without my knees locking up totally, to the point where I cannot produce any shimmy which is driven by the knees for a while after (usually the rest of the class). My main teacher just gets us to shimmy as fast as we can without giving any instruction besides bend the knees.. My other teacher has helped by getting me to slow it down, which helped a bit.
I try and drill the knee shimmy everyday, but have found the shimmy is getting worse in that, I lock up quicker and now I'm getting pain in my left knee!
I've decided I'm going to focus on the glute/obl driven shimmies instead, but would like any advise as to how to help with this!

 

[jenc]

We have covered this in other threads. The secret is that the knee shimmy isn't really knee driven. think about using the muscles at the back of the leg UNDERNEATH the glutes - or alternatively the inside thigh muscles. The knee bends then come along for the ride and stay loose.

 

[Aniseteph]

ITA - concentrating on "I am driving this with my knees, my knees have to keep doing whatever" is usually enough to seize them up for me. (Not in a pain way though - if you aren't doing something wrong but it's hurting or physically locking I'd see a doctor). I have more success focusing on the bigger picture i.e. get it wobbling.

Someone here or on Bhuz had a fun link about getting the feel of the movement for oblique driven ones by being a puppy on all fours wagging your tail... then you stand up and do the same thing. I can't remember who/ where it was though.