Thread: How to shimmy like Randa Kamel

Hi all,

I've been watching Randa Kamel videos and practicing, trying to capture her perfect little shimmy. It's bigger and more muscular than my knee driven shimmy, but smaller and tighter than my hip driven shimmy. I thought maybe some of the wise dancers on Bhuz could unlock the secret. She shimmies quite a bit in the first 30 seconds of the following video.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB75nuELOq0&feature=related]YouTube - Randa Kamal 2[/ame]

Any advice on how to get it?

Because of the sharpness of her movements, I'm betting that she's using both her knees (some more, some less at different times) and her glutes at the same time.

Suhaila cheeks I bet!

I don't know, I'll asked her when I hopefully take lessons from her next week!

I agree it's a combination of things.
I think its where she holds her weight-either on the front/back of her feet and I think she relaxes her glutes & tighens with changing her weight to the right or left.

Not sure if that made any sense...

Originally Posted by amity

I don't know, I'll asked her when I hopefully take lessons from her next week!

I agree it's a combination of things.
I think its where she holds her weight-either on the front/back of her feet and I think she relaxes her glutes & tighens with changing her weight to the right or left.

Not sure if that made any sense...

that's what it looks like to me, glute and hip shimmy, but I think that theknees are not involved, because she did some figure 8's with level changes, w/the shimmy layered over it

Suhaila cheeks I bet!

I somehow seriously doubt that Randa Kamel has studied Salimpour technique.

It reminds me rather of the hip rock shimmy I learned (which is neither a leg nor a glute shimmy) but punchier, which suggests the butt is getting involved from time to time.

I also thought it looked like she was using her glutes, but I thought that was just an American Suhaila inspired thing. If that's what it takes, I will go back to practicing my glute squeezes.

Amity, yes, if she teaches you her technique, please share it here.

Originally Posted by amity

I don't know, I'll asked her when I hopefully take lessons from her next week!

I agree it's a combination of things.
I think its where she holds her weight-either on the front/back of her feet and I think she relaxes her glutes & tighens with changing her weight to the right or left.

Not sure if that made any sense...

Oh Amity please keep us updated on this. I sure hope you get to do some privates with her!

I'm really hoping so. I haven't heard back from her, but I will be tracking her down! So far I've heard from Raqia, Yasmina, Outi, Atef, Mahmoud, and possibly Leila? Sooooo excited!

I do this with the Egyptian (aka knee-driven, "Raqia Hassan") shimmy, or as a "hybrid" between egyptian shimmy and vibrato, as did Randa in the workshop I had with her.
In the words of Raqia: "And now we put shimmy to it!" ..l;, That woman can layer like no other

I am pretty sure I remember Suhaila telling us that she was about to go to the middle east to teach a couple of years back, it's possible that her technique is traveling. Vibrato? Please explain....

I will bet its hamstring generated just below the glutes but above the knee.
Anyone remember Dandesh (sp?) in the black mini skirt performance in LA a couple of years back? You could clearly see where the muscle contracted and released.
David can be much more technical on this than I can, in fact I think its in his book. Let me tell him about this thread.

Originally Posted by anala

I am pretty sure I remember Suhaila telling us that she was about to go to the middle east to teach a couple of years back, it's possible that her technique is traveling. Vibrato? Please explain....

Hmmm maybe that`s the wrong word, I saw someone American mention it somewhere and thought that was the word you "all" use overseas ..l;,
It`s the same as a freeze shimmy, where you tense your muscles until they start vibrating.

Boy, that's the million dollar question, isn't it. How can I shimmy like Randa Kamel?

I don't know, but she looks very muscular and strong.

Originally Posted by patrisha

I will bet its hamstring generated just below the glutes but above the knee.

Then this would suggest she's doing, at least in part, what people erroneously call the "knee shimmy", since the ham curls the knee joint but can't directly move the hip joint.

She could still be using other muscles importantly, since none of these shimmy techniques are mutually exclusive of the other.

Sedonia

Yes, people incorrectly call it a knee shimmy.
Its not generated by the knee joint.
Also, I would not think that Randa Kamal learned to shimmy with the Salimpour technique.

Oh Randa, dear Randa, please enlighten us

maybe she can hear me ... if not Amity all hope is in your hands.

Well, just because she may be engaging her glutes in ways similar to Suhaila would in no way imply that she *learned it from* Suhaila!

In this clip she doesn't seem to be moving her knees excessively, it doesn't look at all like Raqia Hassan's exaggerated leg pumping shimmy. It seems to come from the thighs....or hamstrings. (click on title)
[ame=http://youtube.com/watch?v=E7i4rLJYYlA]YouTube - randa kamel[/ame]

That said, I have a DVD of Randa's performances where she REALLY pumps her legs back and forth a la Raqia while wearing a mini. Her hips look great, but the big leg movments really detract from the overall shimmy effect, your eyes are automatically drawn to her legs and glued there because that's where the action is.

Regards
Priscilla

Hey everyone.

The shimmy Randa Kamal uses is the Reda shimmy - more known as the Raqia Shimmy or Jillina Shimmy. However, when Randa and I hung out at the Stockholm Bellydance Festival back in the days and she used me as a puppet to demonstrate the correct way to do things when people asked questions this is what I learned:
1. the shimmy is generated by the hamstring. When you contract the hamstring, it automatically pulls the knee backward. The hamstring will be fully contracted way before the knee joint locks or even straightens fully.
2. this shimmy takes quite a lot of strength training of the hamstrings prior to looking as excellent as it does on Randa.
3. Randa is reeeeeaaallly strong.
4. you have to relax your hip and lower body to generate this relaxed look. You especially have to relax your glutes and allow the hip line to move vertically.
5. you get a better result if you align your knees ahead, hip behind and chest square on top of your alignment axis/weight point in your feet and then tuck your abs in to open up the distance between the hipbone and ribcage in your lower back. This results in the typical forward leaned Egyptian posturing of the body.
6. think of pumping the movement from the floor through your hamstring and isolating it at the diaphragm.

There, that's a pretty simple explanation of how you may achieve the shimmy that Randa uses.

Just for the record, it's hardcore Egyptian technique - it's not Suhaila Salimpour Technique or a kneeshimmy or anything like that. It's a straight forward Egyptian shimmy with correct muscle work and alignment being the key to achieve the result.

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DaVid

wow. that is fascinating! thanks David. I have no idea how I'll work to isolate my hamstrings...they're really strong, but really tight.

Excellent description! I was right with you until 6. "... and isolating it at the diaphragm." Would you please elaborate a little on that?

omg. how am i sposed to just contract my hamstrings. i am nowhere near strong enough for this kind of stuff.

Great post, David, thanks!

Wow, I had no idea I would get these many answers. Thanks, guys...g.:

I will definitely be working on that hamstring thing. So, does anyone have any specific exercises/drills they recommend to strengthen them for that type of shimmy?

I would love to explain, but then I'd have to charge you....just joking.

- bend your knee (relaxed hamstring)
- contract the hamstring and allow the knee to move backwards and the hip line to move vertically
- keep the core/abs contracted
- keep the upper back contracted and maintain the ribcage and shoulders horizontal
- dont contract and release the hamstring to full contraction and full release, but rather pump the motion through the muscle.

As for strengthening the muscles - the best advice I have is to really focus on the muscle work in the movement when practicing. Go slow, go strong - pay attention to how the muscle is working throughout the movement. Dont relax at any time - keep "ready to go"-mode. There are a ton of hamstring exercises out there, but nothing will condition you for dance as well as dance itself when done right. DO remember to stretch properly tough, otherwise you just get tight and start walking funky...and it looks very suspicious in public.....

OK, if that leaves any questions - I recommend booking me for a workshop or buying my book OR upcoming instructional DVD LOL... sorry, I couldnt resist.

DaVid

David, I'm confused. The hamstring curls, it doesn't extend. So the ham should be what causes the knee (of the same leg) to push forward, not pull back. When the hamstring is fully contracted, either that knee is going to be bent (e.g. the knee forward and that hip down) or the quad must be contracted also to cancel out the movement.

So, for example, contracting your right ham can only cause right knee to bend, not straighten, right?

Sedonia

Originally Posted by NajlaHalem

wow. that is fascinating! thanks David. I have no idea how I'll work to isolate my hamstrings...they're really strong, but really tight.

Hi Najla... dont worry about isolating the hamstring. Muscles are connected to each other and joints and will affect each other. Think of it more as if there is a prioritation principle involved:
Primary motion generated by hamstrings
Secondary motion generated by the knee following the hamstring
Tertiery motion generated by maintaining correct weight distribution and posture

DaVid

Originally Posted by ssipes

David, I'm confused. The hamstring curls, it doesn't extend. So the ham should be what causes the knee (of the same leg) to push forward, not pull back. When the hamstring is fully contracted, either that knee is going to be bent (e.g. the knee forward and that hip down) or the quad must be contracted also to cancel out the movement.

So, for example, contracting your right ham can only cause right knee to bend, not straighten, right?

Sedonia

Sedonia, the hamstring is the muscle on the backside of the thigh. The area referred to as hamstring consists of several bands of muscles that go from the sides and back of the knee up the backside of the thigh and in under the glute muscles. The contraction in question happens below and at the incision point of the glute and hamstring area.

Your weight is supported by the quads.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by david

Sedonia, the hamstring is the muscle on the backside of the thigh. The area referred to as hamstring consists of several bands of muscles that go from the sides and back of the knee up the backside of the thigh and in under the glute muscles. The contraction in question happens below and at the incision point of the glute and hamstring area.

Your weight is supported by the quads.

Hope this helps.

Well, no. I know where the muscles commonly called the hamstring is on the human body.

I also know that its action, when contracted, curls the lower leg towards the body. In other words it causes the knee to bend. Think about how you strength train the hamstrings -- you curl your leg with resistance. If the ham is contracted when the knee is moving back, it seems to me that biomechanically, it can only be functioning as an antagonist to the quad (which may very well be extremely important in shimmies). But if so its not causing the motion its decelerating and controlling the motion (which I'm sure it does because keeping the hams engaged as an antagonist is how one keeps from slamming the knee all the way back into the hyperextended position).

My issue isn't whether the hamstrings are involved in an Egyptian shimmy -- I''m sure they are. My point of confusion is in your description of saying that contracting the hamstring makes that knee move back. Perhaps there is something I"m missing but I can't understand how that happens.

Sedonia