Thread: Can someone help me with a dance move?

I want to learn how to do this. I don't know if it has a name and I can't seem to find it in any clips but it's really common. Here goes:

The dancer is facing audience, and moving backwards as as she takes a step back, the leg that sweeps around to the back is accompanied by a hip drop. For example, weight on Right leg, Left leg ronde de jambe around to the back transfer weight to Left leg with a hip drop, repeat each side moving backward.

I have tried this at home and it looks stilted and wonky. Can anyone school me on this? Maybe my weight changes are wrong?

I do a step like that - drop the right hip, feet close together and knees bent, in the "have to go pee pee" position. As the right hip circles around to the back, the right leg sweeps back in the ronde de jambe. Weight transfers to the right as the hip circle travels to the back, about mid-way. Hip circle is completed on the left side and the left hip drops. Then the hip circles travels back, the left leg follows, weight transfers in the back half of the hip circle, and finishes with the right hip drop.

Hope that makes sense. I originally learned the step as "Back walk figure 8" in the Jamila Salimpour terminology. The ronde de jambe is a later addition, at least in my dance progression.

Edited to add: I call the step "Bop around" for my students, because the hip bops into the drop and then goes around to the back.

Try it without the ronde de jambe and then add that, maybe that will help.

Sounds to me something I once learnt as "John's Step".

Two things may help. One, step on demi and as you do the "drop" lower your heel on the back and change to demi on the front (so it isn't really what I'd call a "drop"). The other is, how is your flexibility doing a plain boring hip rock (feet in parallel, weight even, hips move up and down without sliding to the side or twisting forward)? You may need to work on your range of motion.

Good luck.

sounds like a "gooch" to me.

basic description... with weight on the back leg, let the front hip "bounce" down-up (not a drop & lift, but a bit sharper, faster movement, like a how a basketball will spring back up) followed by a swing of the leg around to the back when the hip comes up.
switch your weight to that leg - now at the back. hips should be twisted to opposite side. Repeat on other side.

if you're give a count to it, I use: bounce - and around - bounce - and around (1-2, 3-4)

i think i know the step your talking about. ill see if i can find a video of it somewhere

I think I've learned this step as the drop-swing or X-step, similar to dunyah's description. We hip drop to the front on the (1), pick the hip up and circle it vertically to the back with the toe sweep on (2). repeat other side....

Originally Posted by dunyah

I do a step like that - drop the right hip, feet close together and knees bent, in the "have to go pee pee" position. As the right hip circles around to the back, the right leg sweeps back in the ronde de jambe. Weight transfers to the right as the hip circle travels to the back, about mid-way. Hip circle is completed on the left side and the left hip drops. Then the hip circles travels back, the left leg follows, weight transfers in the back half of the hip circle, and finishes with the right hip drop.

.

Dunyah, I think I saw you do it on the local news piece on you but it was so quick I couldn't see how it's done. It's at -0:19 on the vid.

http://www.kval.com/news/local/114429664.html?tab=video

Horseshoe hips!

Not sure if this is what you're after, the hips are working in parallel here but the leg stylization is there.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mahinmar.../0/POPBCuPwqYQ

Mahin

It looks like Andalee is doing a hip drop version around the 5:00 mark on the Episode 3 uncut solos video at the start of her drum solo. http://topbellydancer.com/performances3.html

Is it the step I'm doing at :11?

Originally Posted by Bahtya

Dunyah, I think I saw you do it on the local news piece on you but it was so quick I couldn't see how it's done. It's at -0:19 on the vid.

http://www.kval.com/news/local/114429664.html?tab=video

Yes, I'm doing it but without the ronde de jambe. It's so brief, you don't see the whole movement on both sides.

I'm really enjoying everyone's descriptions of how they do this kind of move!

I've wanted to learn this for some time. Clips! clips! I've been searching you tube and still can't find any.,

Originally Posted by Bahtya

I've wanted to learn this for some time. Clips! clips! I've been searching you tube and still can't find any.,

So it isn't the step I"m doing at :11 in the video I posted?

Yes Norma, That's it I think but minus one hip drop. Likely a combo of yours and Dunyah's

I am sure it's the basic step though. How do you do it then?

Norma, I think you're doing essentially the same thing as Andalee on the PBD clip I linked just ahead of you. If it's not that move, I'm not sure what it is. The only other common moves I can think of that go back while sweeping the unweighted leg around are those large undulations traveling backward and the Saidi hop that's often done with a cane held overhead.

Bahtya, would you be interested in uploading a video of what you're currently doing, and maybe we could diagnose what's going on that way?

Originally Posted by MahinS

Not sure if this is what you're after, the hips are working in parallel here but the leg stylization is there.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mahinmar.../0/POPBCuPwqYQ

Mahin

Almost! but the one I'm thinking of doesn't have an undulation/pelvic drop it's mor of a hip drop

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

Norma, I think you're doing essentially the same thing as Andalee on the PBD clip I linked just ahead of you. If it's not that move, I'm not sure what it is. The only other common moves I can think of that go back while sweeping the unweighted leg around are those large undulations traveling backward and the Saidi hop that's often done with a cane held overhead.

Bahtya, would you be interested in uploading a video of what you're currently doing, and maybe we could diagnose what's going on that way?

I don't have my camera. Sorry. I missed your link with the PB performance. I'm going to check that and go through my youtube fave list and see if the move is in there. Be right back.

Tourbeau, WINNER That's the one (Andalee in PB, what a lovely dancer) I knew I'd seen it done somewhere recently!

It looks like a ronde de jambe, drop hip then again on the opposite side. When I try that it looks so stilted. I go:

Wt on right leg, knee slightly bent, Left hip drops then lifts, so Left leg can sweep back transferring weight to Left leg and begin again on R. Only when I do it the move lacks fluidity between the hip drops and leg sweeps. Instead of moving the sweeping leg back and hips sort of going up and under, my hips look stiff. Looks like I'm trying to lift from chest to raise myself up unstead of from core. Does that make ANY sense?

I want to smooth it out. I know Andalee's has to be sharper to match her music, but that's the move. I like Norma's version too with the 2 hips drops, but I'm sure I'll have to learn the basic move first right?
How do I do that?

Hannan also does it here at 2:18, only she does have an undulation in hers. Now I'm super confused. maybe mine is stilted because I'm missing the undulation?

Originally Posted by Bahtya

Wt on right leg, knee slightly bent, Left hip drops then lifts, so Left leg can sweep back transferring weight to Left leg and begin again on R. Only when I do it the move lacks fluidity between the hip drops and leg sweeps. Instead of moving the sweeping leg back and hips sort of going up and under, my hips look stiff. Looks like I'm trying to lift from chest to raise myself up unstead of from core. Does that make ANY sense?

I want to smooth it out. I know Andalee's has to be sharper to match her music, but that's the move. I like Norma's version too with the 2 hips drops, but I'm sure I'll have to learn the basic move first right?
How do I do that?

I think of the backward-traveling undulation and the backward hip drops as being two distinct moves. In my mind, the undulations are more about the core strength to keep the undulation graceful during the backward weight transitions, where the hip drops are more about transitioning the weight shifts so you can switch from side to side without torque-ing your knees.

How are you at doing hip drops layered onto a turn to the back--right hip drops with right-face turn, or left hip drops with left-face turn? (She's turning to the front here, right hip drops with left-face turn, for reference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIf43i8t2-Y.) The weight shifts for the move you want are similar in concept because you have to be ready to shift quickly off the weighted leg, so all of your leg joints can continue to face the proper direction. In the hip drop turns, you're putting your weight back on the same leg, where this move goes from side to side, but the idea is essentially the same. If you "over-plant" the foot you're currently standing on and don't prep on the pickup beat to get off it, when you go to change orientation for the next step, you may end up weighting something wrong and twisting your leg.

I actually think it is easier to learn the double-drop variation first, since it has more bounce to it, and there's more time in between transitions. (Think "down...down CHANGE, down...down CHANGE.") I'd work on that first without the big leg sweeps, and then take one of the drops out and put the leg sweep back in, but there are lots of possible approaches, and somebody else might have a better way of thinking of it.

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

Norma, I think you're doing essentially the same thing as Andalee on the PBD clip I linked just ahead of you. If it's not that move, I'm not sure what it is. The only other common moves I can think of that go back while sweeping the unweighted leg around are those large undulations traveling backward and the Saidi hop that's often done with a cane held overhead.

Bahtya, would you be interested in uploading a video of what you're currently doing, and maybe we could diagnose what's going on that way?

You are right we are doing the same move. And the video with the undulation is the same basic idea, but adding the undulation makes it a separate move in my opinion as you said Tourbeau.

I'm doing a single hip drop, not a double, what makes mine look different from Andalee's is my version is more exaggeratede and I'm working my hip at an angle instead of straight.

And yes Tourbeau it is easier to do the hip drop as doubles first.

This is how I teach my students:

1. First practice doing hip drops front to back. I'm going front to back, not up and down.
a. Left foot is on the ball, knee slightly bent, toes should be slightly pigeoned toed in.
b. Drop the left hip down to the front, left knee goes in.
c. Swing the left hip around to the side and drop the left hip down to the back, left knee goes out, left foot pivots out.

Practice this move until you can do it comfortable, knee in, knee out. Do the same thing on the right hand side.

2. To change positions, practice the hip drops to the front and to the back.
Count:
1. Front
2. Back
3. Front
4. Back

However, on count 4 you are going to switch to your right hip. What happens here is you are swinging your left leg to the back and at the same time positioning your right hip to the front. So on count 4 you aren't bringing your hip all the way to the back but instead you are swing the left leg so it ends up behind your right leg and your right hip is now lifted and ready to go. Repeat this on both sides, slowly at first then gradually build up speed.

3. Once you are comfortable doing in 4 counts then you can do it in 2 counts. Same idea, one hip drop to the front, then on count 2 as you start to bring the hip to the back you "fool the eye" and actually swing your leg back and the opposite hip is up and ready to go. Practice shifting the weight slowly at first then gradually build up speed.

The key is when you swing your leg back, you need the opposite hip to go up at the same time. It is easier and very pretty if you do it in a diagonal. So, if you are facing the front, when you switch from left to right, your right hip should be in front, facing the audience, the left hip is to the back. When you shift your weight again, the left hip will now face the audience. .

It's a great traveling step and one well worth spending the time to learn.

Norma, Tourbeau, you two rock! I will study your posts and work on this tomorrow. I'll keep you posted...

I tried it a bit tonight. Norma, thanks for pointing out that the hip drops are at an angle and not just up and down. That helps. I am exhausted. Have a hafla coming up Sat (I am so nervous) so I've been drilling and practicing for that. I am going to try to do some improv (first time during a performance) instead of having the whole thing choreographed. wish me luck. But I'll get back to this thread because I really want to learn this move. It's so pretty!

Originally Posted by Bahtya

Norma, Tourbeau, you two rock! I will study your posts and work on this tomorrow. I'll keep you posted...

I tried it a bit tonight. Norma, thanks for pointing out that the hip drops are at an angle and not just up and down. That helps. I am exhausted. Have a hafla coming up Sat (I am so nervous) so I've been drilling and practicing for that. I am going to try to do some improv (first time during a performance) instead of having the whole thing choreographed. wish me luck. But I'll get back to this thread because I really want to learn this move. It's so pretty!

Good luck with your improv!

Thanks, I am sooo nervous about it

Another thing that may help you feel more stable is driving the drop with your standing leg rather than concentrating so hard on what is happening in front. If you do hip drops the way I learned them, your supporting leg is doing most of the work anyway, but it helps to think about that leg/hip rather than the one you are presenting. It has helped me in a lot of such movements.

I was doing this in my kitchen and i realized two things about how I do this move that may help (or confuse you ) you.

1. I think this has been said but I drop the hip forward at an angle, the drop back is less or a drop and more of just a "now all my weight is on the back leg"

2. When I do the foot release it's not a circle at all, it's more like half a heart with the round part at the front and narrowing at the end when I bring my 'working hip' to the back

Originally Posted by Glindella

I was doing this in my kitchen and i realized two things about how I do this move that may help (or confuse you ) you.

1. I think this has been said but I drop the hip forward at an angle, the drop back is less or a drop and more of just a "now all my weight is on the back leg"

2. When I do the foot release it's not a circle at all, it's more like half a heart with the round part at the front and narrowing at the end when I bring my 'working hip' to the back

These are good tips too!

Originally Posted by Glindella

I was doing this in my kitchen and i realized two things about how I do this move that may help (or confuse you ) you.

1. I think this has been said but I drop the hip forward at an angle, the drop back is less or a drop and more of just a "now all my weight is on the back leg"

2. When I do the foot release it's not a circle at all, it's more like half a heart with the round part at the front and narrowing at the end when I bring my 'working hip' to the back

Oooh I still can't get it to be smooth. I just know I am not transfering weight the right way. Norma I am watching your clip over and over and I feel like I am doing it, but I am thrusting the pelvis and rib cage out way to far as I try to sweep the leg back. it looks ridiculous!

Amelia does it here at around 3:50-4:03. I can't find any clips of dancers doing more than a couple of these traveling drops. That's what I want: footage of continuous traveling hip drops She is such a lovely dancer. There are about 17 moves in this piece I'd like to learn.