Thread: Head slides - what?? HOW!?!

Of all of the moves in BD that just appear so simple and graceful, the head-slide has completely escaped me. I've tried and tried and I just can't freakin' get it! I've had my instructor try to explain it to me, even tried -feeling- the muscles on her neck because I am just totally missing it. I just tried practicing this move again, and failed. Argh!

Any advice on how to make those head-slides work? I'm so frustrated, and this is a move that I know I can do some really pretty things with!

It may be that your neck muscles are currently too tight for you to do headslides. You may need to do some gentle stretches to make those muscles more flexible.

One good stretch to loosen up your neck muscles: shoulder circles. Press both shoulders forward and slightly up. Now bring them up in a shrug. Now press them toward the back. Now lower them to down position. Circle them this way a bunch of times.

Now reverse the direction.

Now circle in opposition, meaning that when one is up the other is down, when one is forward the other is back.

Now reverse the direction.

Another good exercise is GENTLE neck stretches. Relax both shoulders. Now gently lower/drop your head to one side, as if trying to bring your ear down to your shoulder. MAKE SURE YOUR SHOULDERS STAY RELAXED. For extra stretch, gently place your hand on your head and let the weight of your arm pull your head downward. DO NOT engage your arm muscles to pull your head down, let your arm muscles stay relaxed and just let the weight of your hand/arm exert the GENTLE pull. Hold this position for a few breaths. Then gently bring your head back up to center.

Repeat on the other side.

i'm not going to be much help, but i feel your pain. i have the same issue with the shoulder shimmy. it just doesn't work lol. and the head slide just looks wonky on me ^^ so i sympathize!

Originally Posted by Kathiya

i'm not going to be much help, but i feel your pain. i have the same issue with the shoulder shimmy. it just doesn't work lol. and the head slide just looks wonky on me ^^ so i sympathize!

The same shoulder circles that I described above can help loosen up the shoulder and upper back muscles to make it easier to learn shoulder shimmies.

I don't have a lot of advice for this one, but I'll share what I can:

1) Stretch out first. Lay your head to one side, then the other, holding for a nice long time and releasing the weight of your head to gravity. Tightness will make the movement more difficult.

2) Place your palms together overhead. Now think of sliding your right ear toward your bicep. As if there's a tiny but interesting sound coming from the arm and you're straining to hear it.

3) Then slide your left ear toward your left bicep.

4) Accept that the movement will probably be really small at first, and be sure to stay within your comfortable range of motion.

5) Don't get frustrated with your body, give it time to learn. Your brain is trying to figure out which muscles to fire in order to give you the movement you want, and it will start with everything it already knows how to do first -- 'Does she want to tilt her head to the side? No? How about turning it to the side?' Just laugh when your body fires off random movements that aren't what you want, it's all part of the learning process.

6) If you're still having trouble, place your whole hand, palm and fingers, along the side of your head, heel of the hand on your jaw, palm covering your ear, fingers running up the side of the head. Now press your head against your hand. Keep pressing the head against the hand for 10-20 seconds. Relax. Now move your hand just a few milimeters away and see if you can activate the same muscles you were just using to bring the side of your head to touch your hand.

Experiment for a while, then try the other side.

7) Try all of the above both in front of a mirror and away from a mirror.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

The same shoulder circles that I described above can help loosen up the shoulder and upper back muscles to make it easier to learn shoulder shimmies.

yup, i always have those included in my warm-up :)
but i think for me in any case, it's more a question of practice. the shoulder shimmies aren't as bad as they were a year ago, but they do still kinda slow down after a short while. maybe i start thinking about it too much, and then have coordination problems lol ^^

Thanks so much. I'm going to try out some of those stretches, and some of those tips and see if it doesn't help.

And yeah, I know - frustration, though, is usually my first response. (I'm such a perfectionist!) I have to learn my way out of that one too.

Originally Posted by Psyche

And yeah, I know - frustration, though, is usually my first response. (I'm such a perfectionist!) I have to learn my way out of that one too.

Trust me, I'm the same way! One of my teachers was able to persuade me to get over it -- she pointed out that this isn't working in my favor unless I want my dance vocabulary to be limited to movements I can learn in 2 minutes or less. ,f::

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Trust me, I'm the same way! One of my teachers was able to persuade me to get over it -- she pointed out that this isn't working in my favor unless I want my dance vocabulary to be limited to movements I can learn in 2 minutes or less. ,f::

If I needed to hear ONE thing today, I think that was it!

It's important to understand that the head slide is not "moving your head". It is a neck move and your head just sits on top and goes along for the ride. Not only that but the move emanates from the base of the neck with the lower part of the neck doing the most work. As a beginner I remember not understanding all that because it was called a "head slide" so I was trying to . . . you know . . . slide my head!
Rosette

I believe some people are physically incapable of it, actually. I can only do them well if my arms are at or above shoulder height. I've never been x-rayed for it, but my mother has two vertebrae fused at the base of her neck and mine certainly looks the same as hers.

I can certainly do a lot better than in the start, but they're no specialty of mine! (Forward and back is no problem and I can go to the left pretty well with arms down. I have noticeably bulkier muscle on my right shoulder, but I can do most shoulder work pretty well. So I think it is actually my neck.)

In addition to the stretches above there are also a couple that target the top two joints. Please warm up and do the head and shoulder stretches above (and I need not mention never do head circles - do I?).

• Poke your head forward; hold the far side of your head and gently pull ear to shoulder (no twisting just a gentle lateral movement)
  
• Pull your head back; hold the far side of your head and gently pull ear to shoulder (no twisting just a gentle lateral movement) Warning gives you at least one double chin!

May help when trying to visualize - Mental Floss:
mental floss2.jpg

If all else fails, you can dismiss it as a non-ME move (those extreme headslides come from India. The ME ones are small, casual and soft)

Originally Posted by Psyche

Of all of the moves in BD that just appear so simple and graceful, the head-slide has completely escaped me. I've tried and tried and I just can't freakin' get it! I've had my instructor try to explain it to me, even tried -feeling- the muscles on her neck because I am just totally missing it. I just tried practicing this move again, and failed. Argh!

Any advice on how to make those head-slides work? I'm so frustrated, and this is a move that I know I can do some really pretty things with!

Move to Jersey for awhile~ it'll just happen. ..l;,..l;,..l;,
(Hey, worked for me! I lived in NJ before I started bd and I can say it was my easiest, quickest move.)

here is how I teach it at parties: make two fists and then stick your thumbs up. keep your thumbs pointing up to the ceiling and rest your fists on your collarbones (if your thumbs were down, your hands will look like you're punching yourself in the neck). now, without tipping your head over from side to side, touch your jaw to your thumb on one side and then the other. you can move your thumbs real close to your face so you just move a little tiny bit.

I've never seen this one not work...

Originally Posted by maranajla

Move to Jersey for awhile~ it'll just happen. ..l;,..l;,..l;,
(Hey, worked for me! I lived in NJ before I started bd and I can say it was my easiest, quickest move.)

Ha! I teach my students that the "Don't go there, girl" accompanying hand movement is optional. ..l;,

Originally Posted by Rosette

As a beginner I remember not understanding all that because it was called a "head slide" so I was trying to . . . you know . . . slide my head!
Rosette

..l;, How funny. I never thought of it this way but I see where the problem starts.

I think the best piece of advice I received was to think of someone pulling your head along a string, like a puppeteer. He/she is cleaning out your ears. You have to stretch your neck muscles first. Like any part of your body you stretch, it takes practice and time for it to go as far as you want.

I have a creepy neck slide, BTW. It's the one move I find a little freakish.

hey!
i had the same troubles with the headslides (and the shoulder shimmy, as someone mentioned!) when i was still just a novice. its ok, dont be frustrated. your body will take some time to let your muscles loosen up and get used to different moves & isolations. i think that various things other people suggested like the Mental-floss or shira's warmup are worth a try, but in the end it all comes down to practice.

xxx
Athena

Originally Posted by elisagamal

here is how I teach it at parties: make two fists and then stick your thumbs up. keep your thumbs pointing up to the ceiling and rest your fists on your collarbones (if your thumbs were down, your hands will look like you're punching yourself in the neck). now, without tipping your head over from side to side, touch your jaw to your thumb on one side and then the other. you can move your thumbs real close to your face so you just move a little tiny bit.

I've never seen this one not work...

That one is helping a lot. I've been trying a number of these tips and suggestions on here, and this one seems to be really pushing me toward getting it. I can definitely feel my neck muscles this way, and that helps.

Thank you to all the lovely people on here. What a fabulous community. :)

Originally Posted by maranajla

Move to Jersey for awhile~ it'll just happen. ..l;,..l;,..l;,
(Hey, worked for me! I lived in NJ before I started bd and I can say it was my easiest, quickest move.)

LOL - I should have put that in my contract when I moved back here to NJ. I have never been able to do really good and cheesy side-to-side headslides, and I do a lot of work with shoulder/neck stretches/warm-ups in my classes. I am able to do a lot of classical Indian dance neck moves/headslides that are more front/back and diagonal, and have no problem with Zar and Khaleegy head/neckwork. A lot of my students can just do it right off the bat, so after doing this for 10 years, I'm inclined to believe it's a structural thing, as I have a pretty thick neck. (to match my head..)

Originally Posted by Halima-Dances

Ha! I teach my students that the "Don't go there, girl" accompanying hand movement is optional. ..l;,

Me too! The funny thing it I can see the light bulbs go off when I use it.

I also mention to my students to think "down". If you just try to slide your head you're more likely to have your head/chin tip up (Although, Saqra says that is a Persian variety... so just know which you want to do! ;) )

Originally Posted by elisagamal

here is how I teach it at parties: make two fists and then stick your thumbs up. keep your thumbs pointing up to the ceiling and rest your fists on your collarbones (if your thumbs were down, your hands will look like you're punching yourself in the neck). now, without tipping your head over from side to side, touch your jaw to your thumb on one side and then the other. you can move your thumbs real close to your face so you just move a little tiny bit.

I've never seen this one not work...

I know this post is really old, but I had to thank you for posting this Elisagamal! For whatever reason, it works on me and I can seem to take my hands and just lightly press on my collar bones and do them, but if I take my hands away my slides become much slower and then almost non-existent. At least I seem to finally have a way to practice them now!

LOL believe it or not that was the hardest thing for me to get!!! I finally "got it" when my master instructor told me to RELAX my shoulders!!!