How to Shimmy

So now, we have a definition of a shimmy, the next question is how to do it. And, no, the answer is more than “move very fast”. There are a number of ways that you can move. Let’s take the two most common shimmies the “shoulder shimmy” and the “hip shimmy” – that isn’t two shimmies. It is at least seven!

Shoulder Shimmies

There are (at least) two moves known as a “shoulder shimmy”. One moves the shoulders horizontally and one twists the torso.

The horizontal shoulder shimmy is very isolated and used only in Orientale – it isn’t used in folk (unless you want to layer it with a shoulder roll). In its pure form you pull the shoulder back and push it forward without twisting the torso – or lifting or rotating the shoulder.

The more common form may include some horizontal shoulder movement but is mainly driven by twisting the torso. But it is more complex than that. You can generate the twist in different parts of your torso to give a different flavour.

Hip Shimmies

My own default hip shimmy is driven by the concentric contraction of lateral flexors - particularly the quadratus lumborum with the internal and external obliques (I had to analyse it for a ‘varsity paper but needed the help of a sports physio!). In layman's language, I use my waist muscles to drive the hips up and down - but the knees bend to accommodate the movement. (They have to.)

Most people learn to shimmy by initially bending and straightening alternate legs. This means the hips go up and down but the lateral flexors just go along for the ride. (This is sometimes referred to as a "knee shimmy")

Another common (older style?) shimmy involves twisting the hips back and forward. Again you can drive this with the obliques or the legs. (This is sometimes called a "Folk Shimmy")

The Modern Egyptian shimmy is really a refined version of this driven by the legs (the knees are not "straight" as in locked - but straighter to look good under a slim line skirt). You slightly flex one leg then straighten it using your quads. This drives the hip back rather than up.

A recent invention is the Salimpour glute driven shimmy. This looks to me as if it is almost getting away from a relaxed shimmy and moving more into a vibration. However, many people do use it.

As with the shoulder shimmy, people often don't do a "pure" version of a shimmy but mix and match - sometimes always but sometimes for a particular effect or layer. And few people know or care what muscles are doing what. What is important is how it looks; whether it fits the music.

Then there is a whole family of “three-quarter shimmies” where your hips move only three quarters of the time. How the hips move and which leg carries the weight make this a whole article in itself (maybe later).

Practice

No matter which shimmy you use, it needs practice to be smooth and controlled. It is important that the underlying technique is correct. So, start slow and build up the speed. If you lose it back off the speed – then bring it back up. Remember it should be in time with the music. Ideally it should be relaxed – even when small and fast.

Once you have the speed – go for endurance. Can you shimmy for a whole track? What about something longer?

Then you “just” add weight shifts and layers. Try shimmying on one leg. Which shimmies work best? How does shifting your weight change the feel of the shimmy? What about walking with a shimmy? Figure eights? Oriental circles? As you approach some layers you may have to go back to first principles and work out exactly why you lose your shimmy at the back of your circle or whatever.

It takes time. 10 000 repetitions to bed in a new movement pattern - but it has to be 10 000 correct repetitions. Go for it!

Shimmies Defined

Questions about what are shimmies, how they are generated and what are they called frequently comes up in various belly dance fora. So, here is a quick summary of the first question (I’ll leave the others for another blog).
Although the shimmy is a defining movement in belly dance, not everyone agrees what it is. For me, a shimmy is a repeated, smooth, relaxed, driven movement in time with the music – usually double time.

There are some related moves – which are fast shaking movements – but are not shimmies. For instance:

• A vibration - which is tense – not relaxed
• A freeze - which generated by muscle fatigue/tension rather than driven
• A reverb(eration) – a driven movement followed by a loose, gravity generated shake (in my classes the Denise Walk is a classic example)
• A mess – just jiggling around – not timed often tight and lumpy with no connection to the music at all

Although terminology does vary between teachers but I find this breakdown useful – and many experience belly dance teachers would agree with most of this.

One bone of contention is the three-quarter shimmy. In this, the shake only happens three quarters of the time – and there is a short rest. So instead of a chukka chukka – it becomes chukka chuck. For me, if the movement part is smooth, relaxed and driven I would class it as a special type of shimmy. However, there are teachers who have banished it into Not-Shimmy-Land.

So what can be shimmied? Actually anything – although most common in belly dance are the hips/pelvis, shoulders or torso. The whole body can get involved with the movement travelling from the hips the te belly and up to the bust. But I have also seen hands (especially in Khaleegi), eyebrows (Persian) and nostrils! (Greek).

But whatever you move it should match the music in speed and texture. Don’t shimmy just because you can; shimmy because the music asks it of you.

Bouncing Breasts as a Turn Off

All mammals have them. In many adult human females they are quite noticeable. So why are they ignored when it comes to physical exercise? Yes, yes, I know about sports bras – but honestly they are of limited use. In the short time I played soccer only binding with crepe bandages was really effective.

Two incidents have had me thinking about breasts again. One was a presentation I attended on introducing exercise to the community. One (male) presenter was extolling the virtues of jogging (as opposed to running or fast walking which causes a lot of leverage on the joints). Jogging was great. The feet stayed under the bulk of the body weight. The heart rate was raised because the body is lifted and moved slightly forward very rapidly.

Mmm, I thought, bouncing up and down for 30 minutes – do they really think this is going to take off with the under-exercised and over-weight in the community. Especially women? Even with a good bra, as an E-cup, I avoid anything that is going to lift and drop my torso for even a few minutes – let alone thirty.

I waited for someone to object. The only query was on the effect of jogging on the joints which let to a complex discussion on how fast walking can be more detrimental. Oddly enough most of the audience was female – but of the light lean variety. I am still unsure if the silence was due to a complete obliviousness to the issue or whether no-one wanted to mention “breasts”. However, as two of the other presentations by women were also the jump round turn around variety I suspect many in the industry have never lived with the reality of female breasts and vigorous exercise.

So maybe belly dance is the answer. If you avoid some folk styles such as sa`iidi and debke there isn’t a lot joggling up and down. Yet breast blindness appeared again recently on an internet forum.

The subject was shoulder shimmies. There are many ways to create a shoulder shimmy but the two main mechanisms is to articulate the shoulders back and forward very quickly or to twist the torso as a unit. (You can do a mix and you can also change how high the torso twists.) Personally I refer to the former as “shoulder shimmies” and the latter as “torso or bust shimmies”. The latter is more common in folk styles. The former is most often seen in Orientale.

The issue was many larger busted women found the bust shimmy uncomfortable, ugly, and made them feel self conscious. However a number of the other dancers and even teachers could not understand this. There was discussion on using well constructed bras and improving isolation – both valid comments – but few would be willing to change the technique to an (articulated) shoulder shimmy.

My point? When leading exercise for a group that includes women who are not (for what ever reason) washboard ribbed, consider the effect of the movement on the women’s body. Making your clients uncomfortable and unhappy is not going to encourage them to come back.