Thread: Spinoff~Which Shimmy is better.

.shimmy using the shoulders or the ribcage? Do you use both when you dance? I'm curious to see which one people prefer..

I suppose I use both but I tend to use the ribcage version a little more as it's softer. However, I really don't think of it as being about the ribcage - it's coming from the centre of my upper back and the only difference between it and the shoulder shimmy is that I don't isolate as intensely.

I like the way Aziza Sa'id breaks down the shoulder shimmy. She has a snippet on her website:
Aziza Sa'id's Lessons On-Line - Shoulder Shimmy - Principles of Movement (click Next to read all)

Originally Posted by nasila

I like the way Aziza Sa'id breaks down the shoulder shimmy. She has a snippet on her website:
Aziza Sa'id's Lessons On-Line - Shoulder Shimmy - Principles of Movement (click Next to read all)

Thanks for this post, I haven't been to Aziza's website in a while and I really miss her contributions to this board.

All good wishes to Aziza, wherever she is!



Khalida

Originally Posted by nasila

I like the way Aziza Sa'id breaks down the shoulder shimmy. She has a snippet on her website:
Aziza Sa'id's Lessons On-Line - Shoulder Shimmy - Principles of Movement (click Next to read all)

Thanks! that was a great tutorial...g.:

I think it sometimes depends on how you're "equipped" up to as to which works better, looks better, etc

I do it & teach it like Aziza, too. And I also miss her on this board and think about her from time to time.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

And I also miss her on this board and think about her from time to time.

I last saw her about a year ago at Zahra's dance camp and she was happy, teaching some low-key classes somewhere between LA and Palm Springs. I adore that woman. :)

Originally Posted by mrsnj20

.shimmy using the shoulders or the ribcage? Do you use both when you dance? I'm curious to see which one people prefer..

My standard shoulder shimmy articulates the shoulders - little or no torso twist is involved. I introduce this to students on day one.

For folkloric or comedy pieces I'll switch to a torso twisting shimmy.

I use and teach Aziza Said's version as well. Her tutorial was what finally made the "shoulder" shimmy click for me years ago.

Why do you mention that you use this version for comedy pieces, Kashmir? Exaggerated it would no doubt look ridiculous, but done subtly I think it's quite elegant.

Originally Posted by Ainsley

I use and teach Aziza Said's version as well. Her tutorial was what finally made the "shoulder" shimmy click for me years ago.

Why do you mention that you use this version for comedy pieces, Kashmir? Exaggerated it would no doubt look ridiculous, but done subtly I think it's quite elegant.

It's actually the other way around, with a shoulder articulated shimmy, it won't look funny at all. So, if I'm doing comedy I have to use the torso shimmy. And yes, I can do a refined torso twist shimmy, but I don't use it by default.

Incidentally, can any of you layer the torso twist shimmy onto a shoulder roll? I can't see how it can be done at all. I think this is a situation that the shoulder articulated shimmy is the one of choice.

I never thought about shoulder shimmies like that. I just tried the rib one and I have to say that the girls just move to much for me.

I agree with Kashmir that it has to be shoulders only if you want to add a shoulder roll.

For me the torso shimmy is really just a shoulder shimmy that lets the sternum go along for the ride - instead of one shoulder/one back, with the whole chest continuing to stay straight forward, I think about it as being, as one shoulder comes forward the other goes back as a result of that movement. I think of the shoulders being attached across the sternum, and the image I often use in my mind is of the old-fashioned go-kart steering, where you had your feet on a piece of wood and as you pulled on the rope on one side, the other side shifted forward. It's just using momentum rather than individually moving the shoulders. And of course it is all also coming from your back, though this shimmy is possible to do (uglily) without consciously using the back muscles.

As a result the whole shimmy comes down into your ribcage too. It doesn't need to be at all large and it looks very nice and soft. You really want to keep the chest lifted and open at the same time.

As Kashmir says it is really good for Egyptian folklore or anything based upon it. But the little tiny shoulder shimmy is best if you are, for instance, doing khaleegy. Or if you want to express some qanoon with your upper body. You really need, I suppose, to be able to look at the various styles you want to emulate and decide which is getting used as individual dancers will also have preferences.

I tend to use my shoulders, but then my bobs don't move much at all. I wonder if it would be better if they did shake?

Originally Posted by mrsnj20

I tend to use my shoulders, but then my bobs don't move much at all. I wonder if it would be better if they did shake?

I don't know girl.. I'm large chested and would rather they not shake so much. Especially after seeing this youtube that's been posted on several threads here:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqpX_S1jWDM]YouTube - Bellydance - Maria Shashkova Laffy Taffy vs. Shik Shak Shok[/ame]

BTW, I've seen several other youtubes of Maria and they weren't quite so vulgar.

Vron, that looks like a case of insufficient bra support and I think she is also not taking effort to make it subtle. I have similar proportion and can shimmy my chest subtly by locking the pecs a bit.