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Glossary

Note: "ATS" label are for American Tribal Style movements. Jamila Salimpour Format movements are in the bottom section.

Posture
• Feet flat, hip socket distance apart.
• Knees slightly bent, soft.
• Hips are squared over the ankles.
• Flat back.
• Ribcage directly over the hips.
• Shoulders relaxed down.
• Neck long.
• Chin lifted.
• Crown of the head to the sky.
• Finger tips are extensions of the arms.
• Energy throughout.



Exterior Hip Circle, or hip circle for short. If you're practicing this, warm up with hip slides out to the sides, then sliding the hips forward and back, all while keeping your shoulders squared and head in the same place in space. Remember that your needs are bent and parallel, meaning one knee should not be more or less bent than the other. After warming up, start your hip circle to the front, then right, then back, then left. Keep the path a smooth and rounded shape. Then practice going the other direction.


ATS Body Wave. This movement is essentially the exterior movement to the undulations we covered in the first class. Leading with the head, we lean forward, lift our entire torso up, the pull back down.


Lateral Body Wave. Starting in dance posture, step the right foot out just past hip distance, while sliding and tilting the right shoulder down and to the right. Then, lift just the heel of the left foot. Press the ball of the left foot into the ground as you pull the left hip in towards you. Slowly control the lift of the heel until the toe of the left foot lifts off the ground. Bring the left foot into center and realign just for a split second before the left foot steps out to the left to start the wave towards the left. You can think of this movement as if you were kelp in the calm sea. Deeply rooted in the ground, yet you can still move with the slow and smooth oceanic current.


Hip singles. Essentially, alternating right and left hip up. This movement can be executed using the right and left glute contraction.


Pelvic locks. Contracting the lower abdominal muscle (not your entire stomach), then lower back muscle.


Hip squares. Putting the hip singles and pelvic locks together, we can start in the front: contract lower ab, right hip up, contract lower back, left hip up. Practice continuously in one direction, then practice continuously in the other direction. Also, try starting from the right hip, the left hip, or the back.


Interior hip circles (also known as "Omi"). Smoothing out the hip squares (or connecting the sides of a square) in to a circle. This circle is "interior", so the affect is about bringing the energy in.


Chest locks. Lift chest up by contracting the upper back muscle and then contracting the upper abdominal muscle to bring chest down. Practice up and down continuously, then double lifts up and down; also varying speed and intensity.


Chest tilts. Similar to the hip singles, we are bringing the right rib cage up, then the left rib cage up. This also means when one side of the rib cage is up, the other side is down. Feel using your oblique muscles. For example, when the right side rib cage is up, the left oblique contracts.


Chest squares. Similar to the hip squares, the chest squares utilize the chest locks up and down and chest tilts right and left. So if the chest squares start front going clockwise, the sequence would be: chest lift up (upper back contraction), right chest tilt (left oblique contraction), chest down (upper ab contraction), and left chest tilt (right oblique contraction).


Interior chest circles. Similar to the Interior hip circles, smooth out the 4 sides of the chest locks and chest tilts.


Head slides. Using the neck muscles and keeping the head (notice chin) steady, slide the head to the right and left. This is not a head tilt.

Undulation. Contraction in the upper back, upper abs, lower abs, and release. Practice this slowly, then speed up. Once you get comfortable, add walking. As you step with the right foot forward, upper back contraction (chest lifts up). As you step with the left foot forward, lower ab contraction.
Another way to practice undulations standing in place is in front of a wall (with your bum barely touching the mirror). Start by lifting the chest up, then pressing back towards the mirror, following with the rest of the your back towards the mirror. The key here is the gradual process; thinking about reaching back one vertebrae at a time. It's easy to just push your entire body against the wall at the same time... and unfortunately will not have the same effect.
Another way to practice undulations is on hands and knees; connecting the yoga "Cat and Cow" poses.
Yet another way to practice undulations is on your back.

ATS Arabic Family:
Arabic 1 - L ball behind right with undulations
Arabic 2 (or Basic Arabic) - R flat, L ball, R ball, L ball with undulations
Arabic 3 (or Arabic Hip Twist) - Arabic 2 with R hip twist on 3, undulations
Arabic 4 - R forward, L step, R back , L step; with hip singles


Liquid Walk Back. Start by bending the right knee and dropping the right hip forward, lift the right hip up and in towards the body as you lift your right heel; while still making contact with the floor with your right big toe, slide the leg back as you drop your right hip back. Your left hip will now be forward. Bend the left knee and drop the left hip forward, lift the left hip up and in towards the body as you lift your left heel; while still making contact with the floor with your left big toe, slide the leg back as you drop your left hip back. Now your right hip will be forward. The arms are open and parallel to the floor; the shoulder roll forward, up, and back, mimicking the motion of the hips (same side shoulder as the hips).

ATS Basic Egyptian. This is an ATS (American Tribal Style) movement. Starting with the right foot, right hip comes up the same time the ball of the right foot makes contact with the floor. Place the right foot back in place. Following with the left foot, left hip comes up the same time the ball of the left foot makes contact with the floor. Place the left foot down. This movement can be done in place or walking.


Sidewinder. This movement is basically arm undulations incorporating ribcage. With your head looking right and both elbows up about shoulder height, push the right palm towards right as your slide your ribcage towards the left. As the right palm is gliding to the right, the left top of the wrist pulls up and over towards your left ear. Just as the right arms is straightening out, your left wrist should have arrive at your left ear. Pull the right wrist up as you push the left palm out towards left, look left and slide the ribcage right. Remember to keep it slow and a consistent pace of movement. This is the full expression. If you need to keep it simpler for now, stick to just the arms, then add the head, then add the ribcage slide as you get more comfortable.


Reach and sit (ATS). Hips like the hip bump, arms extended out to the sides. Stand in showgirl posture: right foot in front, most of your weight in the back leg, body is at a slight diagonal (facing left). On count 1, step the right foot slightly to the left as you slightly reach out to the right with the right arm. On count 2, step the right foot back and bring the right arm back to starting position.

Propeller turn. In the American Tribal Style repertoire, the propeller turn has a few setup movements, which include right arm lowers to shoulder height, then raise; left arm lowers to shoulder height, then raise back up. Then the right arm lowers again to shoulder height, then raise just the wrist up to cue the turn. Right arm swings down and up as the right foot crosses over the left foot for a cross turn (full turn). Finishing facing front left diagonal with right arm up and left arm extended at shoulder height, right foot in front.

Corkscrew turn. In the American Tribal Style repertoire, the corkscrew turn has a few setup movements, which include right arm lowers to shoulder height, then raise; left arm lowers to shoulder height, then raise back up. Then the both arms lower to shoulder height, then raise both wrists all the way up. Right foot crosses over the left foot for a cross turn (full turn) as the hands plunge down the center of the body. Finishing facing front with both arms opening out at shoulder height.

Hip Slides. Both knees slightly bent. Use the obliques to slide the hips to the right and to the left.
For the purpose of "tribal fusion style", we are incorporating arms/hands to the slide. First starting overhead, slide the arms directly down in front of your body, then out to the side. Your arms will move faster than the hips because both hips and arms are moving at the same time.


Jamila Salimpour Format Movements



Basic Egyptian
Definition: Feet are quarter time downbeat right step touch. Hips twist quarter time downbeat right.

  • going forward / backward
  • Forward Back Forward (traveling forward / backward)
  • Full Spin - 3 step turn to the Left, BE, 3 step turn to the Right, BE
  • Open Spin - feet is flat, ball, flat, ball, step, pivot, step pivot, with arms at 5th and 1st during the BE

Pivot Shift Step
Definition: Feet are quarter time downbeat right touch step. Hips twist 3/4 full time.
  • going forward / backward
  • Baraka - half turns with Pivot Shift Step

Twist Step
Definition: Feet are half time. Right foot flat, Left foot on the ball behind Right foot. Hips twist downbeat Left full time. Keep knees bent!


Running Choo Choo
Definition – R on ball, L flat; downbeat L
  • Running Choo Choo #1 - traveling to the right.
  • Running Choo Choo #2 (or Variation 1) – R forward and back.
  • Running Choo Choo #3 (or Variation 2) – 2 forward and 2 back.
  • Running Choo Choo #3.5 - 4 forward and 4 back.
  • Running Choo Choo #4 (or Variation 3) – forward, middle (2 o'clock), middle (4 o'clock), back.

Circle Step
Definition - Exterior hip circle downbeat left clockwise half time with feet downbeat Right half time.
  • Circle Step with dip – As hip goes back, dip torso forward
  • Variation 1 - circle step with clockwise 1/4 turn
  • Variation 2 - circle step with counterclockwise 1/4 turn


Arabic Family - 
Arabic 1
Definition - Right foot flat, left foot on the ball behind right foot. Feet half time. Undulation up to down half time.
Arabic 2
Definition - Right foot flat (ct 1), left foot on the ball (ct 2), right foot on the ball (ct 3), left foot on the ball (ct 4). Feet half time. Undulation up to down half time.
Arabic 3
Definition - Right foot flat (ct 1), left foot on the ball (ct 2), right foot on the ball toes facing right (ct 3), left foot on the ball (ct 4). Feet half time. Keep the feet under body. Undulation up to down half time. Right hip twist back on count 3 and twists forward on count 4.
Arabic 4
Definition - Right foot flat steps forward, left foot steps in place, right foot steps back, left foot steps in place. Feet half time. Hip singles half time.




Turkish Walk
Definition - Step right foot forward (ct 1,2) , left foot extends out back on the ball; drag the left foot in to meet the right (ct 3,4), left foot flat on 4 so that right foot can step out again on ct 1. Undulation with external forward lean (ct 1,2) and backward lean (ct 3,4) motion.



Counterclockwise Pivot Family
Essentially, twists with right foot on ball and left foot flat. With all these variations, add a quarter turn to go around.

Counterclockwise Pivot Half Time
Definition - Twisting right hip up on the downbeat, half time.
Counterclockwise Pivot Full Time
Definition - Twisting left hip on the downbeat, full time.
Counterclockwise Pivot Double Time
Definition - Shifting weight between the right ball and the left heel. Hips up with the feet. Double time.
Counterclockwise Pivot variation "One up one down"
Definition - Similar to the Counterclockwise pivot full time, the back leg almost straight on count 1 and then bent on count 2, almost straight again on count 3, and bent again on count 4.


V-Step
Definition - This is a 16-count movement. Walk RLRL to left diagonal (start by right foot stepping behind left), Basic Egyptian (R and L sides for 4 counts); Walk RLRL to right diagonal (start by right foot stepping behind left), Basic Egyptian (R and L sides for 4 counts).
V-Step with turns
Definition - This is a 16-count movement. 4-count turn start with right foot behind left turning over right shoulder, walk RLRL to left diagonal, Basic Egyptian (R and L sides for 4 counts); 4-count turn start with right foot behind left turning over right shoulder, Basic Egyptian (R and L sides for 4 counts).

3/4 Shimmy on the down
Definition - Step the right foot with the right hip down-up-down-hold. Step the left foot with the left hip down-up-down-hold. Start slow and speed up to full tempo so that the feet are walking on the beat while the hips move 3 times per step. Options are flat foot or on the ball of the feet.

Samiha
Definition - This movement is essentially 3/4 shimmy on the down with the right foot flat and left foot on the ball. Start with the right foot stepping over towards the left while the right hip twists and executes the 3/4 shimmy. Then step left foot on the ball and twist the hips back to neutral while executing the 3/4 shimmy. The difference in the timing is that the 3/4 shimmy starts before the beat (similar to our finger cymbal 3 pattern), so that the last hip down is actually ON the downbeat.

Turkish Walk
Definition - This movement is essentially the exterior movement to the undulations we covered in the first class. Leading with the head, we lean forward, lift our entire torso up, the pull back down.

4-Count
Definition - Note that the steps are on counts 1-and-2-e. Step the right foot back behind the left on count '1'. Step left foot in place on count 'and'. Step right foot in front of the left toe, both feet in releve on count '2' while twisting the right hip forward. Step the left foot on the ball in place on count 'e'.

5-Count
Definition - Step right foot behind left, step left in place, then right-left-right in place like a "cha cha cha" move; Step left foot behind right, step right foot in place, then left-right-left in place like a "cha cha cha". 5-Count with half turns. A variation of this movement is to utilize the "cha cha cha" part to take a 3-step half turn. You can do this on every-other or on every "cha cha cha".

8-Count
Definition - Start with body and toes facing left diagonal. Feet flat, step right, left, right, left, right, left; step on the right ball to do a half turn, step left. Repeat this to get back to facing front. Pair this with arms: starting both arms up, gradually lower the arms to shoulder height. Then on count 7 (or when your right foot is on the ball), snap the arms back up.