Thread: Help! I can't get my hips to work.

I need tips on how to loosen up my hips. I don't know if it's the lack of muscles, if the muscles are too short and tight, or if there can be something wrong with my bone structure, but I just can't move my hips Well they MOVE, but too stiffly, and they take the whole middle of my body (waist to knees) into the movement.
I started in a belly dance class (ATS) to learn to manage my body, but I'm horribly afraid that it will never work. Right now my problem is that I can't get my shimmying to work, and it's really tearing my self esteem apart!
I don't know which muscles/body parts to use, how it should feel or anything, just how it looks when others do it, and that's not getting me anywhere.
I've read that it should come from altering the stretching of the (bent) knees, but the only way I can get my hips to move is by pulling either side with the muscles that go from the waist to the hip... This is sounding really silly but I don't know how to explain - hell I don't know WHAT I'm doing wrong! It's obviously more like I'm swinging my butt than moving my hips up and down...

Do you really think that practice is all it takes and there 's nothing wrong with me or should I give up?
The majority of the girls in the class has more dance experience than me, and they act like shimmying is no struggle at all (and worst of it is that they act as if it never was - so how should I know where to begin if no one can tell me or even understand what's so difficult?)

All I want is to be good enough to show myself onstage without having to be ashamed - it's all I EVER wanted.

WARNING

Warning: This is an Old Thread This discussion is older than 60 days. information contained in it may no longer be current

Oh thank God it's not just me then! I think my hips don't work like they're supposed to either.

If I consciously try to wiggle my bottom half only my top half seems to move.

If I try to shimmy my top half only my bottom half moves.

And yes, I have tried doing the counter-intuitive thing ( moving my bottom half in order to get my top half to move, or vice versa) and nothing moves independently at all.

I DON"T GET IT!

And I dance a lot of Argentine Tango, which is all about this thing called dissociation - i.e. getting your body above the waist to stay still and your body below the waist to do something completely different. That I can do, although my teacher tells me I am pretty stiff through the hip and need to loosen up and be able to move a bit more - but tango requires quite controlled movements, and wiggling and shimmying are both out.

I've got my bum-shimmy sorted - that really is all in the knees, and is ever so much easier once you have a pair of good high heels on, as the heels alter the angle of your pelvis, and automatically make your bum look as though it is sticking out a bit. My other tip is to practise in a pair of shorts/knickers to which you have attached a bit of fringing - even a couple of rows stuck on with safety pins will do, but anything which will emphasise the movement. Looking over your shoulder to watch what you're doing only makes things worse, as it alters your posture again, but if you pin on a couple of bits of long fringing you can feel the fringing against your thighs. You need to think about your knees as being soft ( i.e. not locked) but not actually bent. Very slightly raise your heels alternately left-right-left-right and knock them on the floor, but focus on the movement coming from your knees. Remember to stand upright - don't stick your bum out, and keep your head high.

But if anyone help me with grinding so I don't feel like I'm doing the 'funky chicken', I'ld be grateful. I was taught to imagine I'm drawing a figure of eight with my pelvis, which I get as a concept, but either I was told the movement wasn't big enough or that my knees were too soft and I looked bow-legged.

I empathise!

Vx

I don't have problems with my hips moving independently of my shoulders, but I just can't shoulder shimmy without wiggling my arse - I just can't manage it! x

try to relax into it and really let all your muscles move in the way they want to...some people are natural shimmiers and others need to work at it...try gentle stretching as well to increase your flexibility but most of all relax and dont beat up 0n yourself about it hun. xxx

Thanks for the answers

I will try putting a fringe on something, it seems like a good way to begin FEELING what's right instead of having to be anxious about looking.
I can wiggle my butt without problem, but getting my hips to move up and down fast enough - not at all. But I'm starting to think that the practice thing might work! Walking shimmy seems harder though, but I guess if I just dance and try to get the rest of it right, I will get better with time. My shoulder shimmy's pretty good though - or at least I think so, I haven't asked anyone, and my fiancé's impressed with almost anything I do ^^

the walking shimmy is harder than static but its masterable for sure...i did american tribal style bellydancing for a while and much preferred itto trad. egyptian so many similarities though. dont get disheartened but just enjoyit and it will all come together. xxx

As a fitness instructor I've seen several people with inflexible pelvis/hips. It's not uncommon and can be overcome to some degree with the right stretches and mobility exercises depending upon where the inflexibility occurs, for example, some people have very tight hamstrings which don't allow the pelvis to fully rotate back.

If you can perform the move slowly in your own time then it won't be a flexibility issue but rather one that will be overcome with practice once you have drummed it into your muscle memory.

Hopefully it will just be a matter of lots of practice! Good luck with your wiggliness!

I'm same, can't bottom shimmy or shoulder shimmy. It's coming, but it takes time and practice. Everything else moves, except the body part I'm wanting to move.

Isolations are Serious Business!