Thread: Geek alert; the long lost pelvic pulse

So I am watching Tahia over and over to seek out idiosyncratic moves that I can ad to my limited Golden Era catalog of moves and attitudes. One thing that I noticed is that modern dancers do not pulse the lower abdomen nearly as much as Samia, Tahira, Namia and others of the era. The layered move favored by them seems to be that small, rapid pelvic undulation done in an almost constant manner. Thoughts on this... anyone try it? It is exhausting! Got a secret or a tip?

Interesting. we did a lot of psoas work in class today and my teacher is breaking down the use of the thighs to add oomph to movement, as in

forward figure eight with a side lean (straight legs)
the back hip on the back loop stops, quick jewel (twist forward and back) with a percussive accent created by the tightening of the psoas at the end, straight (almost locked legs) pointed toe on floor pushing down to add oomph to the psoas tuck, the release.


I'm guessing that the lower abdominal work may have been the result of the constant tightening and releasing of lower abs and psoas as the were used to power the movement.

or I'm overtired from my day

Which I clearly was as I forgot to add in that while activating the psoas we also tightened the upper upper thigh and glute.

The soul of the old style seems to be very simple..yet it is not. That rapid, liquid, lower undulation is there like a heart beat. It is different than the occasional.. hit in the gut.. accent, no matter how subtle you make it..it just seems to pump energy like a heart.

is there a video clip you could point me to so I can see what exactly it is you're describing? (not that I think I'm going to be able to shed much additional light or anything- I'm just so curious)

34 seconds in is a good place to see it. Also 58

I do it all the time in my dancing. One way to look at it is kinda like doing a vertical figure 8 layered w/ a horizontal figure 8. You can also try it by doing a vertical figure 8, but like this: hip to the side, then up, and as you move it back in and down you do a slight pelvic tuck which will give the undulating effect. I love doing the move... it makes the dancing look so juicy. It's one of my go-to moves to layer w/ arm work when I'm improvising.

ETA: after watching that clip, I noticed that you are talking about a different move. It really helps to be up in releve when you are doing that pelvic undulation... will help you with momentum and keeping it elegant looking.

I cant help but think those high heels help with a stable releve, the speed and clarity is most amazing.

If you're talking about the lower torso undulation forward and back, changing the weight with tiny steps, barely moving the feet, helps a lot to power the move with more than the torso. The weight shift can amplify the apparent range of motion. Does that make sense? It's so much easier to show then say...

Yes, the weight shift, I thought as much. In trying this myself, I struggle with the speed. I tell my own students that speed only comes with strength. I can undulate big and juicy all day, but when it comes to moving just the pubic bone in a small, clean inward circle, I loose timing real fast.

The "pulse" hip circle at 34 seconds looks an awful lot to my half-trained eye like the regular movement in a lot of Algerian/Kabyle dance.

Like so.



Not *quite* the same, I think, but similar in mechanics, and at that same speed. When I've seen it done, that wiggling hip movement is pretty near constant.

Shareen El Safy does the best job of explaining that little pelvic roll-to me it's like pushing the hips flat forward till its' just over your toes, contracting the lower abs and then pulling the pelvis straight back and repeat repeat repeat.

Do any of you use this move in the small, rapid, sustained way that it used to be used by the old Egyptian stars? I call it a pelvic scoop, as opposed to the roll, which is what I call the up forward and down and in circle.

Originally Posted by anala

Do any of you use this move in the small, rapid, sustained way that it used to be used by the old Egyptian stars? I call it a pelvic scoop, as opposed to the roll, which is what I call the up forward and down and in circle.

I do, and for some reason I have a tendency to do 4 or so of them facing forward, and then do another 4 or so while rotating myself in a small circle. Or, I like to travel forwards with them and then juxtapose them with something sharp traveling backward, but I stole that from Fifi.