...that's one way to think of doing a three-quarter shimmy. Probably not the most eloquent or technical definition, but in a pinch it works.
I began my Tribal level II class last Wednesday and one of our drills for this level is a series of exercises featuring three-quarter shimmies at progressively greater speeds. I'm glad that I've been trying to work on this move on my own for a while, otherwise it might have just looked like I was doing part of the chicken dance while walking. The introduction my teacher gave was surprisingly brief but almost everyone seemed to get it right off the bat, at least at a slower pace. I can do a passable three-quarter shimmy at moderate speed on flat feet, but to my great chagrin, once I'm on my toes it dribbles off into nothingness. Likewise I have difficulty incorporating it into other steps like Turkish (thankfully I've been told that's level III material) and even doing a complete 360 degree turn is difficult while maintaining that desirable wiggle. I love the three-quarter shimmy, it just hasn't fully "clicked" for me yet.
What proved to be most challenging for me in that first session was a fairly basic variation of a move already in our repertoire: the Ghawazee Box. I'm not sure what the Ghawazee is called in other forms of Tribal bellydance but essentially it is two hip bumps on one side, followed by two hip bumps on the other side. It can be done in place or while traveling foreword or backward. The hip performing the bumps is twisted slightly toward the front (it's almost like the training wheels you use before progressing to the three-quarter shimmy).
In the Ghawazee Box, the move is performed in a tight turn and the feet alternate in touching the four corners of the imaginary "dance box" which surrounds you. In this case, the turn is not on one static, central pivot point, and the pattern of the footwork for some reason just befuddles me. It was embarrassing being as I seemed the only one who didn't consistently get it. There were times when I did do it correctly a few times in a row, but it never lasted. Drawing up a little diagram and practicing the footwork using the grid work of the linoleum in my kitchen hasn't even fully solved the issue for me. My main puzzlement now is if the move should be bringing me back to my original starting position (a full 360 degrees) and if so how does that fit into the 8-counts the move is (I believe) supposed to take? I feel like I'm missing something obvious and essential, and I'm sure that I am.
Perhaps I need to watch others perform it and see it from an outside perspective. It was only demonstrated to me that way once or twice before we actually began attempting it ourselves, and it's a lot harder for me to watch what the instructor is doing if both she and I are constantly turning. We'll see!
Update: Evidently the Ghawazee Box does not bring you back to your initial starting position on the 8th beat; on the next 1 count you either shift slightly to return to regular Ghawazee position (facing front) or you angle once again towards the upper right corner of your dance box to continue turning for the next 8 counts.
5 comments:
I'm wondering is this is like FCBD's Chico Four Corners. From the set up you angle R hip to the front R diagonal (1-2), L hip to the back R diagonal (3-4), R hip to the back L diagonal (5-6), L hip to the front L diagonal (7-8) and then you're ready to cycle through again. I learned this move by thinking of a Spirograph toy.
Amy, I think you're on the right track in visualizing the movement. A spirograph toy is a really good comparison too :) It's like performing a quarter turn from one corner to the other in succession like you describe, pausing slightly for the double hip bumps at each corner. There are also arm movements associated with it, and you look in the direction of the corner in which you turn.
I love naming stuff! I think the Ghawazee box is essentially the same as the Chico Four Corners (named after the area FCBD was in when they though of it, Chico, CA, and the four corners) and it's the same as Kajira's Black Widow (because it's like you're drawing a web on the floor).
Are you taking classes with Hipnosis?
I am taking classes with Hipnosis. I know that they are based on the FCBD format and the Gypsy Caravan format, but I believe they have made some revisions to that base. I'm not too familiar with Gypsy Caravan so I cannot say exactly how similar it is to what they do (although my teacher was saying that she recently took a course with them and their cuing is very different from ours), but the Hipnosis vocabulary does definitely vary from FCBD from what I've seen. We use moves on both the right and left side, etc.
I started with a mix of FCBD, BSBD (Kajira's) and GC (and at the time it was all called ATS). I took a workshop with Hipnosis my first year of dancing, I wish I could take classes with them all the time (Viki was the first tribal dancer I saw, at the Fairie Fest in 2002).
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