I am not an expert but interested in the subject. I am dancing since two and a half years in my spare time and the shimmy is one of the most mysterious things. The stronger I 'm getting, the faster I can shimmy, the more I can go for knee-involvement. I think for absolute beginners, to try to speed up hip-moves by pumping the knees is really not good for the knees, maybe even bad for the lower back and I would not do it.

I never lock my knees, my right knee is sensitive, but I have strong muscles around the hips now, that control and hold the hip receiving the push from below. If I push from knee and thigh the hip doesn't "fly" to the side in a way that would overstretch the inner side of the knee of the pumping leg.
If I go for knee shimmy or hip/thigh/glute-driven shimmy depends in what position I do it, what is the music, what moves come before and after...often there is no option I'd say. A lot of layering wouldn't work with a knee shimmy (not for me, at least). I wonder what the pro's take on this.

I think that "thinking knees" is what's causing recent confusion on how to do shimmies - the knees do not actually "drive" the movement, rather they move because of what's happening above them. The upper leg, hip, & torso muscles are what's driving the movement; thinking about knees is how beginners SEE the movement, before the get the hang of consciously controling the muscles.

Wow, see this is why I don't teach. My first thought was, "Of course it's all in the knees...oh wait...or is it?" I suffer from that awful affliction where if I think about a move too much, I forget how to do them. My body just sort of "knows" how to do them and I do them. But if I try and break things down to explain, I'm lost.

That being said, Anthea seems to have described it the best. Way better than I could. I'll just point to her post and nod vigorously.

Hmm…I meant for this comment to be much more helpful than it turned out to be. Sorry!

When i'm with certain teachers that demand it or choreograph a dance with it, i do it--BUT i do it in way that is SAFE for my body...still driving the shimmy as much as possible from the hips (glutes and obliques/or no obliques) and adding the knees as an afterthought...it seems to work as i don't get corrected. I had to spend months getting to know my body though before i really felt i was using the correct muscles to execute this safely. Besides that i don't use it, and in my classes i give a demonstration but immediately explain how relatively new this shimmy is all the issues the movement brings with it, and focus on the glute/oblique driven shimmy.

I am also a student of Suhaila's, in her format it all comes from the glutes which also frees up your body to layer and layer as you want. The folkloric explanation is an interesting one and i think it makes sense. Given that i'm all for learning all styles within belly dance, i add this move to my toolbox which i use or not use as i see fit.

:)

This post was incredibly helpful to me. The shimmy is one of my weakest movements...my one side gets "lazy" as I dance and I usually have to slow it down and then pick my speed back up to get back to where I should be.
I learned from day 1 never to drive this movement with my knees or I would shorten my dance career for sure.

Helloooo, I'm trying to be a bit more active on this tribe now that work isn't crazy busy. So here goes, shimmiiiies. Humor me on this and it may help you out in your quest.

Let's say joints and bones can only postion your body - and muscles generate the movements. In that case, you need to do the following in order to get a shimmy going:
1. hold your core!! (otherwise you have no balance or control)
2. bend your knees (otherwise you have no room for movement)
3. generate the shimmy from the hamstring (its a big muscle with lots of ompfh to give)
4. dont tense up - keep your inner thighs relaxed

So, going by this concept you have 2 types of shimmies that can be done;
1. folklore - axis of weight balance is in the arch of the foot (even on both ball and heel), knees are bent ahead, hip is tucked behind (tuck is from the abs - think of tensing the horizontal muscles between the hip bones), chest is centered over weight point in the arch of the foot.
The movement is pumped from the upper hamstring where the glute and the hamstring incize with each other. It is NOT a full contraction - but rather a continous pumping motion. I compare it to the air climber or air stepper www.shopatshowcaseus.com/aircl....html. The amount of air is consistent so when one hip goes up or down, the equal amount of air is pumped in or out of the opposite hip. The upper hamstring is the generating muscle.

2. Raqs Sharki - axis is the same as above but knees are only slightly bent ahead, hip is just tucked from the abs and just slightly behind the chest. This shimmy utilizes the lower hamstring just above the knee bands. It LOOKS like you're pumping from the knee, but you are infact using the hamstring.

Just to show you a sample www.youtube.com/watch
the shimmy used in this clip is #2 mostly.

and here a sample of #1 www.youtube.com/watch
you can see the hamstring working above my knee because of the thightly fitted pants *grin*