I have put together a 'glossary' of our moves so that you can practice them at home, complete with descriptions. Each week I'll try to add what we have learned in class. Eventually, I'll have this on our regular website with password protection so that only students can access it:

Posture – feet paralell pointing forward, hip-width apart; tailbone tucked; shoulders back, chest lifted

Hip Slides -(keeping waistband parallel to floor, sliding hips out to the right & left, and forward & back to neutral; use oblique abs for this; keep knees from separating)

Hip Circles - hips slide through all 4 points of a square smoothly, left, forward, right, neutral (or vice versa); keep upper body still by keeping abs tight

Crescent hip circle combo - Crescent hips swinging forward and to the right, forward and to the left, then a full circle to the right; repeat to the left – swing forward and to the left, forward and to the right, then a full circle to the left; arms sweep open to the sides, then straight up, then slide down the side of head and chest)
With ½ turn: cued by flipping hands overhead into “antlers”; turn all the way to face the back while completing full hip circle to the right, finishing with hips on the right; then half circle to the left, half circle to the right, then full circle to the left while turning around to face the front

Hip Locks – use oblique abs to lift right hip straight up and back down; repeat on left; use glutes to lock into place sharply – lock continuously from right to left without stopping in between

Pelvic Tuck – using the lowermost abs below the bellybutton, lift the pelvis up, moving the waistband – release to drop back into neutral

Internal hip circle/ami – connect the four points with the hips of – right hip lift, pelvic tuck, left hip lift, neutral (and vice versa)

Rib Slides – ribcage pushes out to the right and left, parallel to floor, without using shoulders or arms, and while leaving head centered (in line with belly button)

Chest lifts – lift ribcage up by pulling diaphragm(tummy) in and lifting up while slightly arching back

Rib Circles – connect the four points of a square smoothly - rib slide left, lift, right, neutral (or vice versa)

Snake Arms - giving the illusion of a wave passing through your arms, being generated from the sternum; start with backward shoulder rotation, add slightly bent elbows lifting up and back, then rotate forward and down; add soft wrists and engaged fingers – tips: keep them shallow both up and down and forward to back – no higher than chin or lower than ribcage

Floreos – (spanish for ‘flower) – wrist circles

Ghawazee 1 - hip locks while walking (one bump per step) – arms usually swing up to the sides and clap overhead on count 8

Ghawazee 2 - double hip locks while walking (two bumps per step) – arms usually start overhead with palms facing outward, push wrists to the right corner and left corner with each step

Spanish Box Step - cued by bringing arms down to left hip on counts 7-8 of Ghawazee 2; continue Ghawzee 2 while turning to the left in place, facing each corner. 2 bumps per corner; arms start flat at waist with palms up for first corner, then cross overhead for 2nd and 3rd corners, and then back flat at waist with palms down for last corner

Basic Egyptian – Step on right foot, left left hip up and twist forward by ‘squashing a bug’ with the left foot (start pointing out, then twist foot and knee in, then twist back out); step on left foot, repeat hip lift and twist with right hip – arms are slightly curved overhead with palms facing to the forward corners, sharply pull left arm down on the forward angle with left hip bump, and right arm comes down with right hip bump

Choo Choo - AKA "Hip bumps" - one foot resting on the toe while same hip bumps straight up on each beat, can be done moving to left or right, scooting "dead leg" along

Choo Choo Turn Combo - Begin with 8 choo choos in place, cue turn by swinging right arm down and pushing out to right side, turn in place with 8 choo choos, continue choo choos while arms push out to the right with a wrist circle and pop, then overhead, then left, then down at waist; cross right foot over left and pencil turn (unwind) around to the left; small torso twist layback with left arm pulling down to face and out and right arm follows on the right with same motion.

Mya – making a figure 8 with the hips, perpendicular to the floor; start with right hip lock up, then slide hips out to the right, then drop hip down and pull hips back to neutral while lifting left hip up, then slide hips out to the left, drop left hip down, and slide hips back to neutral
Reverse Mya/Taxeem – start with right hip dropping down, then slide hips out to right, then lift right hip up, slide hips back to neutral; left hip drops down, slide hips out to left, lift left hip straight up and bring hips back to neutral

Snake Hips – making a figure 8 with hips, parallel to the floor; start by twisting the hips so that the right hip is pointing to the front right corner, push right hip out, twist to bring the right hip to the back right corner, slide hips through the center on an angle so that the left hip is now pointing to the left front corner, then twist to bring the left hip to the back left corner
Reverse snake hips – same motion as above, only start by twisting hips so that the right hip is pointing to the back right corner, slide right hip out, twist to bring the right hip forward to the front right corner, slide hips through the center on the angle to push the left hip to the back left corner, then twist to swing the left hip to the left front corner