Belly Dancing Shimmy: Shoulder Rolls

Video Transcript

"Are you ready to add some nice smooth moves on top of your shimmies? My name's Karen and this is Johanna. We're with Hip Expressions Belly Dance Studio, in Saint Petersburg, Florida. We're going to take a nice smooth shoulder roll, and layer it on top of a powerful shimmy, so let's first start with reviewing the shoulder roll. Let's get our body in the right position; feet slightly apart, knees bent a little bit, pull that belly button in, lift the chest, arms out to the side, and we're going to make a nice circle on each side with our shoulder only. The hands are going to stay nice and still, and we're going to transfer that energy from shoulder to shoulder by letting them go continuously like a horizontal spiral from one side to the other. So make sure you keep your chest lifted, your head held up high, and breathe. Let's add that shimmy. Get it going nice and strong, and make sure you practice these moves separately before you put them together, to make sure that they're nice and distinct, and roll, and roll, and roll, and roll. And let me turn to the side so you can see a little better. You are rolling a nice circle, that's it. Keep breathing. Keep those heels pressed into the floor. Practice this in the mirror so you have a nice smooth shoulder roll on top of your powerful shimmy."