Shimmy

Shimmy

A shimmy is a dance move in which the body is held still, except for the shoulders, which are alternated back and forth. When the right shoulder goes back, the left one comes forward. It may help to hold the arms out slightly bent at the elbow, and when the shoulders are moved, keep the hands in the same position. In 1917 a dance-song titled "Shim-Me-Sha_Wobble" by Spencer Williams was published, as was "The Jazz Dance, which included the "Shimmy-She", among others. Flappers performed this dance in the 1920s. The origin of the name is often attributed to Gilda Gray, a Polish emigrant to America. An anecdote says that when she was asked about her dancing style, she answered, in heavy accent, "I'm shaking my "chemise". However, in an interview Gilda denied having said this, and earlier usages of the word are recorded. In the late 1910s others were also attributed as being the "inventor" of the shimmy, including Bee Palmer.

The move is also known under different names in various folk dances, in Gypsy dances. In Russian this move is called "Cyganochka", or "gypsy girl", and is done by gypsy female dancers to produce a chime of costume decorations made of the sewn-on coins.

The dance move with this name is used in various modern dances.

The shimmy is also a class of belly dance moves. Depending on the desired effect, style, teacher, and country of origin of the particular dance, a shimmy might be executed differently, but altogether, the shimmy will manifest as a fast shaking or shuddering movement that can be rhythmic or arrhythmic. The movement may be localized, such as in the hips, shoulder, chest, etc., or the move might be loose and general, reverberating through the entire body. Shimmies in belly dance can also have orientation, such as an up/down movement or a twisting movement of the hips.

External links

* [http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3shimy.htm Shimmy] at "Dance History Archives"


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  • shimmy — [ ʃimi ] n. m. • 1920; mot arg. angl. amér., altér. de l angl. chemise, mot fr. ♦ Anglic. 1 ♦ Anciennt Danse d origine américaine, en vogue vers 1920, qui s exécutait avec un tremblement des épaules. 2 ♦ (1925) Tremblement ou flottement des roues …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • shimmy — (v.) do a suggestive dance, 1918, perhaps via phrase shake the shimmy, possibly from shimmy (n.), a U.S. dialectal form of CHEMISE (Cf. chemise) (mistaken as a plural; Cf. SHAMMY (Cf. shammy)) first recorded 1837; or related to SHIMMER (Cf.… …   Etymology dictionary

  • shimmy — [shim′ē] n. 1. [< CHEMISE misunderstood as pl.] [Old Slang] Slang former a chemise ☆ 2. [< phr. to shake a shimmy] a) a jazz dance, popular in the 1920s, characterized by much shaking of the body b) a marked shaking, vibration, or wobble,… …   English World dictionary

  • shimmy — ► NOUN (pl. shimmies) 1) a kind of ragtime dance in which the whole body shakes or sways. 2) abnormal vibration of the wheels of a motor vehicle. ► VERB (shimmies, shimmied) 1) dance the shimmy. 2) shake or vibrate …   English terms dictionary

  • Shimmy — Shim my, n. A chemise. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • shimmy — s.n. v. şimi. Trimis de LauraGellner, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DN …   Dicționar Român

  • shimmy — (izg. šȉmi) m <G šȉmija> DEFINICIJA glazb. pov. društveni ples raširen u SAD u za Prvoga svjetskoga rata, kasnije popularan i u Europi ETIMOLOGIJA amer.engl …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • shimmy — vb *shake, tremble, quake, totter, quiver, shiver, shudder, quaver, wobble, teeter, dither …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Shimmy — Shim|my 〈[ʃı̣mı] m. 6; umg.; salopp〉 nordamerikanischer Gesellschaftstanz der 20er Jahre im 3/4 Takt [engl.; Kurzform von shimmyshake „Tanz mit Schüttelbewegungen“] * * * Shimmy   [englisch/amerikanisch, ʃɪmɪ], Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts in den… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Shimmy — Le shimmy est une danse qui trouve ses fondements aux États Unis, dans la danse noire de la fin du XIXe siècle. Elle évoque la notion de chatoiement et de vibration. Il a été un peu modifié par des immigrants blancs qui y ont vu une parenté… …   Wikipédia en Français

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