The Bellydance Shimmy Workout is a beginner-level dance fitness and instruction program created by classic-style bellydance star, Sarah Skinner. Shimmy, the delicate shaking of the hips or shoulders and chest, is an essential skill of classic bellydance, with endless variations in types of shimmy, shimmy techniques, and intricate ways of using them in dance.
Sarah's program offers a tutorial section introducing a wide range of shimmies at beginner level, and a workout of 6 five-minute shimmy practice sessions with stretches in between. The workout is designed so that you can do it as an hour-long class, or, if you only have a few minutes to practice your shimmy, you can choose from a array of 5-minute shimmy drills.Sarah opens her program with a leg and ankle strengthening drill to make your shimmies bigger and steadier, so you can easily modulate the speed and the amplitude of your shimmy. This section lays the foundation for solid technique to maximize your physical ability and prevent injury.
The workout shimmy sections layer shimmy on weight shifts and hip slides, adding graceful arm patterns to improve coordination. Sarah goes over ¾ shimmies and shimmy walks including the Arabic hip walk, twist shimmy, and layering shimmy on a wide range of travel steps. The program includes drills for better upper and lower body coordination - performing chest lifts, circles, and other upper body moves while maintaining a steady and supple hips shimmy.
Flirty and graceful shoulder and chest shimmies and Sarah's Choo-choo Euphoria, the running shimmy practice session, add to the full body workout and exhilarating sense of joy and freedom of movement. The final section of the workout is a review of all types of shimmies drilled in the program - it s a great technique refresher and a perfect tool for muscle conditioning.
The program features two versions of the workout: with voice cues and with music only. Additional sections include warmup and cooldown designed to lengthen, release, and condition your muscles for best dance performance with a special focus on the muscle groups responsible for maintaining and modulating the shimmy.
