Hip lift shimmy with weight change

For this week’s shimmy drill we are going to continue working with the hip lift (bent knee) shimmy. Starting with a hip lift shimmy, first note that you can switch which muscles are driving this shimmy without changing its appearance. For this exercise we need to move the shimmy out of the knees and into either the lower obliques or glutes. You can work on that by practicing the shimmy while kneeling. Kneel on the floor and engage your abs and quads as you lean back slightly. Then work on creating the shimmy with your obliques (my preference) or glutes. You can build up speed the same way you learned to speed up the standing version of the shimmy. Once you can do this you are ready to move back into a standing position.

While standing in dance posture, start your hip lift shimmy. Next shift all your weight to one foot, extending the other foot into a lunge position. Keep the shimmy even on both sides even though the weight is all on one side. Stay in the lunge for 16 counts. Shift back to center for 16 counts, then lunge the other way and keep the shimmy even for an additional 16 counts. Keep practicing throughout the song. I recommend trying this to Sandstorm (Sinbad). Once you can successfully keep your shimmy even in spite of the weight changes, you can speed up the weight shift, first to every 8 counts, then every 4, every 2 and finally every count, which allows you to layer a hip lift shimmy onto your traveling moves.