Thread: Most creative explanations for dance moves...

I love imagery (food and otherwise) LOL! For hip circles I say to imagine you are standing in a big bowl of cake batter and to use your hip to scrape down the sides of the bowl..g.: .... during shimmy drill when I want arms up, faces lifted and chest open I tell them that it's raining cheesecake ..l;, ...omis, it's "churn, churn, churn, I can't believe it's not butter"..l;,

tiny little tremble-y shimmies for taqism? "like a tiny little kitten alone and cold in the rain"..cr.:

we're working on a veil piece right now that I need them mentally in Savannah...in July...slow humidity-saturated and meeellllttyy

and of course breathing deep and "getting those two lungs full of FABULOUS" before going onstage!

~~Kimahri

The best Kimahri-ism is Pez Head. For head accents, lift the chin slightly rather than throwing the whole head back like a Pez dispenser.

My students reminded me that I have a whole cluster of movements that I have, in one way or another, described "Bond Girl" or "Charlie's Angels" moves that they can use if they ever find themselves trapped in a glamorous and needlessly complex and silly situation by a villian...such as, when trapped between two panes of glass, you can use the vertical fig 8/sway step to slowly slink your way out of the situation when they're not looking/busy monologuing....

(...there are others...)

Originally Posted by theesfield

hmmm...if I had Crayons on my nipples, I more the likely will be drawing lines closer to the floor than on the wall ,f::

Nilaja

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!..l;, ..l;, ..l;, ..l;, ..l;,

Originally Posted by aamel_MirahAmmal

:...One of my favorites was a combination that a group of my beginners came up with based on goofy move descriptions I'd used in class....So...my wonderful beginners (who liked to sometimes go to the bar across the street after class) came up with a wonderful little combination they called the "grasshopper":

1 figure 8, 1 horizontal hip circle and a shimmy --or--

SCOOP THE ICE CREAM, SCOOP THE ICE CREAM, DON'T SPILL YOUR DRINK AND BLEND!!!!

Oh-my-gosh!! That's hysterical! I so wanna be part of your class! I'll bet they just love ordering grasshoppers at the bar. ..l;, ..g.:

Miranda

My teacher has a load of "code phrases" that we instantly understand, but must sound bonkers to an outsider:

"How's Oscar?" When she initially teaches neutral pelvis, she likens the pelvis to a fishbowl. Oscar the fish lives there. If you forget to engage your abs, the fisbowl spills the water and Oscar gets out. (And tucking too hard spills him out in back.) So "How's Oscar?" means "is your pelvis neutral and your abs engaged?"

"Slide the butter dish." When she teaches a hip slide, she explains that you want the butter dish to stay on the table when you move it -- don't tip it up or down. So you slide the butter dish to the right or left.

"Big tray of cookies" -- Particularly for the non-dancers in the beginner class. They never know where to put their arms. So she tells them they've got a gigantic tray of cookies for all their friends and to hold it as they walk across the floor. If someone's arms come too far forward, she'll say, "More cookies! More cookies!" For closing arms in a slow turn, she'll go to "hug a big tree," and for faster turns "hug a little tree."

Originally Posted by laura 2

When teaching the top half of a camel (old skool AbCab version, not an Egyptian style undulation), I tell the student to pretend there is a bowl of whipped cream just in front of their bust. They are to then reach forward with the chest and scoop the whipped cream into the front of their bra, then lift up and out of the bowl. While it works really well to illustrate how you should not bend at the waist, it never fails to generate a lot of giggles..

:Abiggrin: When I break down the upper chest moves, I go something like this:

A cute guy walks by (push the ribcage slightly forward)
Your mom walks in (stand up straight)
Your boss has bad breath (push the ribcage back) and
Your finally home! (drop the ribcage into a slight down).

the students really love the "boss has bad breath" verbal cue!..l;,

Originally Posted by Kimahri

I love imagery (food and otherwise) ~~Kimahri

Me too! My favorite is chocolate frosting for wrist circles!:tongue:

My neice's favorate is the "pet the kitty" for finger ripples.

the funniest I've heard is from maleeha. she'll call out LOVE LETTER!, which took me a couple workshops to finally figure out what she meant. you're supposed to imagine you're holding a folded piece of paper between your butt cheeks to help keep your glutes ingaged.

the raunchiest I've heard was from Hallah Moustafa at workshop last month. I've met her in person and have seen her dance, but I've never studied with her. anyhow. she told us straight up front that she had a mouth like a trucker, and she wasn't kidding. for glute engagement, she walked up to somebody and said "now, what would you do if somebody just kicked you right in the *ss?" we all clenched like mad and she nodded proudly and said YES! later, she was teaching us a one sided level hip circle, pushing up through the center and around to the back. she says "imagine you're holding a PEN in your P*SSY and you're drawing a circle on the floor!" all of our eyebrows shot up in startled amazement and we looked back and forth at each other, and then we all began to nod. hallah yells out "it WORKED, didn't it! and you'll never forget it!" nope! lol!

sometimes it feels like I spend half of my teaching time coming up with euphemisms to help people connect. rather than the grand canyon image, I tell students that they're reaching over an electric fence to pet a pony. or they've dropped their purse on the other side of a barbed wire fence. I imagine that wouldn't work though for born and bred city girls. ;) for posture I'll come up behind someone and tell them I'm going to poke them under the bra strap with an ice cube. for core posture and engagement, I'll ask students to imagine holding an easter egg in their uterus. you don't want to crush it, and you don't want to drop it - just hold it nice and securely. then of course you've got the meat hook screwed into the sternum image holding you up, and your head is a happy little daisy bobbing on the top of a long slender stalk. put the fuzzy chicks in your armpits and you're ready to dance!

Originally Posted by amirahdancer

For hip bumps, I tell my beginners to pretend they just came back from a great day of shopping. Their arms are loaded with clothes and shoes and when they shut the car door, it didn't shut all the way. I ask them what would they do, and most of them bump their hip to the side. So we joke about being in a parking lot with many un-shut car doors that we have to go around a shut with our hips.

yes good quote but be carefull I did do this move on my car now Ive got a dent in my car door and hubby wasnt amused.......

Originally Posted by debzzz

yes good quote but be carefull I did do this move on my car now Ive got a dent in my car door and hubby wasnt amused.......

Hahahahaha! You must have an awesome hip bump to dent your car ..l;,

Originally Posted by elisagamal

the funniest I've heard is from maleeha. she'll call out LOVE LETTER!, which took me a couple workshops to finally figure out what she meant. you're supposed to imagine you're holding a folded piece of paper between your butt cheeks to help keep your glutes ingaged.

..l;, I had one student who suddenly shouted "OH! It's like you put a penny up your butt and try to make change!"

I still remember that one!

[QUOTE=jewelbellydance;117852]I've likened it to lifting your boobs onto the tray ready for a mammogram. Arghh! Not that I"m really qualifed to say this, as I've never had a mammogram...

Yip - and as one who has had a mammogram - (several ) .w.: please believe me nothing in this dance is anything like it - it's a very exaggerated movement - but I do know what you meant!!!!!!!

All this is Very entertaining - but I have seen some students in the face of the more overt analogies disappear and never return - (not from my class) - I'm very - perhaps over - careful.

When I break down the upper chest moves, I go something like this:

A cute guy walks by (push the ribcage slightly forward)
Your mom walks in (stand up straight)
Your boss has bad breath (push the ribcage back) and
Your finally home! (drop the ribcage into a slight down).

A teacher here uses "He's cute, he's rich, he's ugly, don't care", which I've stolen with appropriate credit.

Amel Tafsout refers to the chest lifted as "sunshine" and if our chest wasn't lifted, she would say "where's your sunshine?"

ha ha - I love the many variations of describing an upper camel.

But my favorite by far (and for some reason my students LOVE it) is to pretend they just got out of the shower, and can't use their hands to grab the towel off the bar.

You lean forwards and "dry off" your boobs by sliding them up the towel and away. ..g.:

I like to use the nauli kriya thing from yoga to help my students build the necessary muscle control used in doing stomach rolls and flutters. A big part of learning these moves is toning abdominal and diaphragm muscles, and learning to CONSCIOUSLY control what they're doing. Nauli kriya helps link the brain to those muscles, and tones them.

Anyway...

Tuesday night I came up with a new creative explanation for this exercise. I told my students to suck their navels upward into their rib cages so hard that they would puke the navel out from their throat. The "Ewwwwww!!!!!" reactions were very rewarding!


If you don't know what nauli kriya is, here's a youtube link:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6B5yQdvyDM"]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/ame] . It'll ask you to confirm that you're over 18, but don't worry, it won't show you anything pornographic. In my classes, I don't do everything this guy does, I just have the students do the "suck in the gut" part that he does at the beginning.

Originally Posted by caasious

ha ha - I love the many variations of describing an upper camel.

But my favorite by far (and for some reason my students LOVE it) is to pretend they just got out of the shower, and can't use their hands to grab the towel off the bar.

You lean forwards and "dry off" your boobs by sliding them up the towel and away. ..g.:

That would work for pelvic undulation too, the scoop move. Pretend you are making cookies and got something on your pants. You want to wipe it off fast before it stains.

Originally Posted by theesfield

hmmm...if I had Crayons on my nipples, I more the likely will be drawing lines closer to the floor than on the wall ,f::

Nilaja

Amen!

I always describe the egyptian shimmy as the "potty dance".

Originally Posted by zumarrad

A teacher here uses "He's cute, he's rich, he's ugly, don't care", which I've stolen with appropriate credit.

Amel Tafsout refers to the chest lifted as "sunshine" and if our chest wasn't lifted, she would say "where's your sunshine?"

Oh I like that. Soooo funny.

Originally Posted by Andrea2

I've used boobs on a shelf and full hands myself. When trying to get them to roll the ribs up (down, back, up, forward) I tell them to imagine a cat with a hairball. Not exactly glamorous, but they all get it.

I have called this the "cat hark" move, worshiping the porcelain god move, or simply the vomit move, depending upon who I am talking to.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

A teacher here uses "He's cute, he's rich, he's ugly, don't care", which I've stolen with appropriate credit.

We've also used this one, but with a slight variation...
He's cute, he's rich, he's creepy, he's married.

I had to laugh at Hadia's teacher training this past weekend. We were talking about how imagery and she proceeded to describe undulations as "riding a camel in the sea" (as in, what not to do). We nearly peed our pants as she proceeded to ride her camel.

I had a teacher describe body waves as taking out a tampon. It was gross.

Personally, I prefer more descriptive instruction. Tell me exactly what muscles to use, which angle and where my weight is, etc... camel riding and tampons do nothing for me. I can see where it can come in useful at times and can be fun, but I think it's important not to let it replace proper instruction. Just as the icing to the cake, perhaps...

Originally Posted by Adishakti

Personally, I prefer more descriptive instruction. Tell me exactly what muscles to use, which angle and where my weight is, etc... camel riding and tampons do nothing for me. I can see where it can come in useful at times and can be fun, but I think it's important not to let it replace proper instruction. Just as the icing to the cake, perhaps...

Different students respond to different ways of explaining. The approach you prefer is intellectual, and certainly is the best way to communicate with some students. Other people find it easier to respond to images. Some find it easier to learn by placing their hands on my body and feeling what I'm doing.

I think it's important for a teacher to be capable of explaining each move in at least three different ways. That way, if one explanation doesn't resonate with a student, maybe one of the other explanations will.


That said, I'm with you on one thing: I have no idea why someone would describe a body wave as being like removing a tampon! In the first place, as you said, it's gross! And in the second place, the movements seem nothing alike to me.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

I think it's important for a teacher to be capable of explaining each move in at least three different ways. That way, if one explanation doesn't resonate with a student, maybe one of the other explanations will.

I agree!

ie. the tampon thing, she was embarrassed, but evidently thought it was a good teaching tool. I know she meant well, but it was just not a good thing to say...

The room got very quiet...

My troupe has a move that we call "Gotta pee!"

Let's see if I can describe this movement...

You lift one hip up from the back and drop it down in the front, making an upside down U shape with the hip. When you drop the hip in the front, your knees pull together slightly. Then you lift the hip up, circle that leg backward with a ronde de jambe and step backward onto that foot. Then you repeat the same with the other side. The "Gotta pee!" comes from moving your knees in toward each other when you drop your hip/pelvis in the front.

And the syllables of Gotta Pee roughly match the pace of the movement...

I've finally reached the point where I no longer giggle when we are practicing and I call out "Gotta pee! Gotta pee!" to remind my new troupe members of the upcoming moves.

Originally Posted by phillyraqs

Momo Kadous describes one movement as a banana -

boot the moon, with a banana? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srtYZIyLp_I]YouTube

Originally Posted by elisagamal

the funniest I've heard is from maleeha. she'll call out LOVE LETTER!, which took me a couple workshops to finally figure out what she meant. you're supposed to imagine you're holding a folded piece of paper between your butt cheeks to help keep your glutes ingaged.

my teacher tells us to imagine we got a $100 tip that fell between our legs and we want to keep it. alternately known as "good girl legs"

Originally Posted by elisagamal

she says "imagine you're holding a PEN in your P*SSY and you're drawing a circle on the floor!" all of our eyebrows shot up in startled amazement and we looked back and forth at each other, and then we all began to nod. hallah yells out "it WORKED, didn't it! and you'll never forget it!" nope! lol!

one of the ladies i dance with tells her beginners to imagine they have a pencil drawing the movements, often they have asked her something along the lines of "will this make me sexy?/when do i start feeling sexy?". for the vert. chest circle the pencil is sticking out of your chest, for the horizontal hip circle she says "now where is the pencil? do you feel sexy yet?" (in a taunting tone ^_~)
although i wish people didn't think of the vagina as a dirty word. over half the population has one! i can't help but associate being embarrassed of your intimate parts with being ashamed of being female. (not that i don't get embarrassed, but you know what i mean)

Originally Posted by elisagamal

for posture I'll come up behind someone and tell them I'm going to poke them under the bra strap with an ice cube.

yheah, i say imagine someone sneaks up behind you and dumps a bunch of snow down your shirt. anyone more than 15 years old around here has had that happen ^_~ (u know, unless ur friends are afraid of you...)

Originally Posted by debzzz

yes good quote but be carefull I did do this move on my car now Ive got a dent in my car door and hubby wasnt amused.......

d@mn woman! i think that could qualify as a super power! u can use ur cape for a veil

ACK! sorry that was so long.

My Egyptian-style troupe instructor uses "Dog Poo". It's a walk-two-three-tuck, lifting the foot on the tuck. You're walking. and you almost step in dog poo, so you kind of recoil and, at the same time, you lift your foot to avoid stepping in it.

She also uses "Whassamatta You" for a sidestepping Raquia with the hand sort of curved and flipping back and forth away from the face.

I use cigarette turn, too, as described above.

Raunchy ones? At the Mira Betz workshop, she told us to engage our lower abs by tucking our labia into our vaginas and sucking them up. :Aohmy:

Zombie thread!

Originally Posted by elisagamal

the raunchiest I've heard was from Hallah Moustafa at workshop last month...she says "imagine you're holding a PEN in your P*SSY and you're drawing a circle on the floor!" all of our eyebrows shot up in startled amazement and we looked back and forth at each other, and then we all began to nod. hallah yells out "it WORKED, didn't it! and you'll never forget it!" nope! lol!

My new group of beginning students tonight were doing well until I introduced internal hip circles. They were great as long as I kept it broken down to Right. Front. Left. Drop. Try to smooth it out & things went wonky and I got a lot of 'deer in the headlight' looks, no matter how I explained. They were starting to stress, so I stopped everyone & apologized if what I was about to say was vulgar (then they all pulled in closer & got interested, ROFL) & told them to imagine there was a crayon in their 'business' area and they're using it to draw a small circle on the floor between their feet. It clicked for every one of them, and they all did it perfectly after that. I was amazed, frankly. And thanked them for not being upset I explained it that way ..l;, Everyone got a good giggle though and it turned into the joke for the night - "careful, don't color in your neighbor's space" (getting big & dramatic w/the circle, lol), etc.