Part 4 - The Hips (section B)

Hip Twists – Bring one hip forward and then move it back, repeating this movement. You can travel with this by stepping forwards, backwards or to the side. As well as going up and down. Keep the rest of the body still.

Hip Shimmy – You move the knees rapidly controlling the movement with your hips, alternatively you can squeeze the gluteus muscles individually. The end result should be a rapid ‘vibration’ of the hips from side to side.

Egyptian or "straight legged" shimmy - This involves keeping the legs straight but not locked. Drive the movement with the thighs, allowing the knees to move freely. The hip is loose and relaxed with no tension in any other part of the body. This shimmy is perhaps one of the easiest to sustain and due to the straight legged nature of the posture allows for ease of layering for undulations and shimmy twists.

Bent legged shimmy - Keep legs close together and bend knees slightly. This shimmy produces a more rolling effect. The knees move freely.

Shivers - There are two ways to produce shivers - with straight legs or bent knees. The straight legged shiver is more often performed with the body weight on one leg and this supporting leg is the one that shivers. The bent leg shiver produces exquisite tremors which can be layered with figure eights and walking.

Forward Vertical Figure 8 – Imagine you have a figure eight laying on the floor at your feet, you bring you right hip forward, go round to the back, across to the other side and bring the left hip forward and round to the back and over to the other side. The movement should be smooth.

Backward Vertical Figure – Using the same principles as the forward, but instead you bring your right hip to the back, round to the front and then slide across and back to the other side, bring the left hip round to the front and then back over to the other side to start again.

Upwards Horizontal Figure 8 – Imagine you have the figure of eight floating on it’s side in front of your pelvic area. Bring the right hip up, out, round and down then push over and down to the other side and bring the left hip up, out, round and down. You are using the balls of your feet to lift and lower the movement. The movement is accentuated as you come up and down.

Downwards Horizontal Figure 8 – You start with the right hip up, bring it out, round and down, slide over and up to the other side. Now you have your left hip up, bring out, round, down and over and up to the other side. The movement is accentuated as you come down and up.

Hip bump and twist – Push your hip out to the right, as though you’re slamming the car door shut shifting all you weight to that side (this is the hip bump) and then twist the right hip forward and back, then sway over to the left and push out (shifting the weight to the other side) and twist forward and back.

Hip drops, lifts and kicks – Move the right foot in front of the left, resting on the ball of the foot, keep the left foot flat. Starting with the hip up, drop it, then lift and as you drop the second time kick out the right foot. Keep repeating the hip lift, hip drop, then hip lift, drop and kick. Make sure you scrape your foot along the floor, as though you have something on the bottom of your foot.

Bicycle Hips – Bring the right hip up, slide it back then down and across to the middle, then slide it up, forward and down then back. You can do this on both sides by alternating.

Sources/Research: My teacher/Shira
Belly Dance UK
Caroline Belly Dancer