Shamira's Tips - Shimmies

Q: I bought your sensuous workout DVD and love it! I just starting bellydancing and have become completely enthralled. I want to practice all the time, but I'm not sure if I'm doing my shimmies correctly. How far should you bend your knees when you do shimmies? Do you bend like you're sitting down in a chair or do you bend them forward so they are over your toes?

I will be signing up for a beginners course where I will be dancing at least 5 hours per week, but for now I'm practicing using DVD's. I want to make sure I correct any bad habits before they start. Any help you can give is appreciated! Thanks for being such a beautiful dancer and inspiration. Every time I use you DVD, I want to practice, practice, practice! - Page

A: Well aren't you a doll, thank you!

Great question. I had to stand up and really check it out and you know what? It's a little of both! I'd say it's about 70% sitting down and 30% forward. Or even 80-20. Find what works best for you, every body is different and you need to honor what your body feels best doing. Mind you, it's not a deep bend at all, it's just enough so that you sink down and release your knees so they can go back and forth.

And remember - loose, loose, loose. No tensing up any muscles in your rear end. In class, I call it "jello butt"! Eventually you can try bending even deeper when you shimmy and do outside figure 8's at the same time. Keep an eye on your posture when you do this and try not to bend forward, keep your back straight. I hope that helped, let me know.

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