Belly Dancing: Choo Choo Shimmy - Women's Fitness

Belly Dancing: Choo Choo Shimmy - part of the women's fitness video series by GeoBeats. Another way to shimmy and belly dance is on the balls of your feet. Some people call this a traveling shimmy or a choo choo shimmy. So what I am going to do is, I am going to lift the heels slightly, soften the knees, and every time I step a foot to the floor, it causes a reaction in the hips. So foot, hip, foot, hip, foot, hip. They work to together. So every time for instance I put my weight on the ball of the right foot, the hip comes up. It is instance. Same thing with the left, ball of the foot and the hip, they work together. So when I have both heels lifted, I am still wiggling the knees back and forth to create this motion in the chest. I find a lot of my students when they are new to this, they move their feet really fast but their hips do not move at all. So you want to make sure that one you are not cramming your feet into the floor and that you are also getting this action in the hips. Okay, so the other thing to keep in mind is that your feet are your steering wheel. If I am traveling to the right or turning to the right I have my right foot slightly in front of the left. Lift the heel, bend the knee. This is going to take me in the direction of the right. Conversely, if I have my left foot slightly in front of my right, I am going to lift the heels, bend the knee and this will take me in the direction of the left. Now I cannot stress the importance enough of keeping the upper body stable. So if it feels like you are doing this, slow it down. Keep your scolding hot cups of tea on your shoulders. I had rather have you go extremely slow and have correct form than go as fast as you can and move those shoulders. So now I have my left foot in front of the right, I am going to actually try to take a turn over my left shoulder. Again, this is my steering wheel. Here I go, turning to the left. Now, I am going to switch my feet, I am going to travel to the right. And then turning over the right shoulder, traveling left, then turning left. Then traveling right and turning right. You can go ahead and give your heel a nice press into the floor after you do these to release the calf. Now, if you go slow, it is here, it is nice and rhythmic, make sure it matches the beat to whatever you are dancing to. If you want to speed it up, the feet actually, I am going to have to say they scoot, not really a step, they are really hugging the floor. Not lifting up so much and I can take that really as fast as my feet can carry me. And that is your choo choo shimmy.