Thread: shimmy while doing a belly roll

as a beginner to belly dance but with advanced dance experience, i've fallen completely in love with belly dance. while im still learning, there is on layered shimmy so to speak that i don't know quite how to approach: shimmying the hips while doing a belly roll. below is a good clip of what i mean (start watching at 0:53 to see what i really mean). so how should i go about tackling this move, i can shimmy and walk, move in a circle, on one leg, change levels, tremor, and then just shimmy at any speed. any advice on how to master this one? thanks!!



[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NGy2mOcY3o]YouTube - Belly Dance - 21 Shimmies with Leyla[/ame]

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The key for me to layer a shimmy over any core driven movement is that the shimmy has to be powered completely with my legs, and with no help from my obliques or abdominal muscles. The core has to be completely free to do the belly roll, undulation, hip circle or what have you.

I recommend buying the video

What the two above me said, but also: that is not a belly roll per se, it is a lower body undulation, and the shimmy is being driven by the legs. It is also important for this particular movement that your *buttocks* are loose, and that you tilt and lift the pelvis as you rock forward and back (in the undulation) by using your abs, particularly the ones right above your pubic bone whose name I do not know. Let the bottom be soft, otherwise the shimmy will seize up.

I do the shimmy first and then add the belly roll. The opposite doesn't work so good.

What Leyla is doing at :53 is more of a body wave than a belly roll. I recommend Jenna's Heartbeat of Bellydance for Shimmy Drills that will help you with shimmy layering. I put on music, have my students start to shimmy, then while keeping the shimmy going we cycle slowly through some standard moves (hip drop, hip lift, circles, slides side to side and front to back, body waves, etc). I tell them the most important part is to keep the shimmy going, and add the movement in as slowly as necessary to be able to keep the shimmy going. If you keep drilling this way, eventually you will be able to do the movement at a more normal pace. I do this drill with different shimmies as well. You pick a particular shimmy and stay with it for the whole drill.

To add the body wave, I'd start by standing with your feet a little offset, one slightly in front of the other. Then begin the shimmy, and when you are settled into it, start shifting your weight between the front foot and the back foot. Then try shimmying while sliding the chest forward and back while the lower body stays in place. Then you can try the shimmy with the whole body wave movement. Good luck!

zumarrad is absolutely right: this isnt a belly roll, its an upper body undulation. unfortunately, there is no magic method to master this one; just practice practice and practice it until you tacle it!
good luck and happy learning
xx
Athena

I'd call that move an undulation and not a belly roll too - I actually hadn't watched the clip when I posted.

Yep not a belly roll.

The best way is to get your standing shimmy on auto pilot for a minute or so and slowly work upwards with an undulation. Don't try the full undulation at one time. Get a feel for what is happening.

1. Stand shimmying
2. tuck butt, continue shimmying
3. roll upwards


Good luck!!

There's some great advice here, especially Halima's advice about keeping the shimmy going and adding movements. But the most important thing about layering is that it takes practice. There's really no trick to it other than practice.

Originally Posted by rachelw

There's some great advice here, especially Halima's advice about keeping the shimmy going and adding movements. But the most important thing about layering is that it takes practice. There's really no trick to it other than practice.

AMEN!

For how long can you hold basic shimmy ? (the one she describes at 0:10)

5 minutes or more ? VERY GOOD. Then you have no problem to start learning layering.

Zumarrad, Laura 2 and Halime are right. No belly roll here.
For nice clear belly rolls watch clips with Samasem. And of course try them with shimmy...

I'll second the advice to buy Leyla's video, it's one of my favorites.

I do an Egyptian shimmy first then I add the undulation. At least that works for me.