Pop, Locks and Shimmy x 2

2 DVDs with Almost the Same Name

Reviewed by Martha Duran
posted September 17, 2009

Pop, Lock & Shimmy: Drum Solo Technique & Choreography
(Intermediate / Advanced Belly Dance) by Michelle Joyce

This is a practice DVD for intermediate and advanced dancers that helps sharpen the moves. I would call it more of a drills DVD to improve your abilities to perform a drum solo with clear movements and exercises to keep your dancing strong, young, and crisp.

This DVD starts with a dance movement warm-ups; it includes not only a stretch but also a small section of dance movements to follow along and warm up the body. Then, immediately jump starts to the practice steps that are used in the drills that are done for most of the 90 minute duration of this DVD.

This DVD has a great drill section; it takes your breath away – literally, every movement is done enough times to improve your muscle tone or at least your ability to make that move stronger.

From hip lifts to hip drops, hip twists and shimmy’s to layered movements of the torso and hip that are challenging for an intermediate dancer and just a dance along for an advanced experienced dancer.

The title of DVD contains DRUM SOLO TECHNIQUE which is more than just strong nice movements. An intermediate dancer knows the moves and most of them know about rhythms and the appropriate steps for each one. An advanced experienced dancer knows all of the above so this DVD is not an educational DVD for advanced dancers, it’s more of a practice along dance program to improve your dancing, BUT, for an intermediate dancer, this DVD lacks the main technique to drum solo dancing and that rhythm technique is an important element that goes hand in hand with movements.  For the intermediate dancer, it’s a follow along torso focused kind of practice DVD.  The format is great – it has nice music, great editing and staging making it a professional production.
This video is available through Cheeky Girls Productions

Zil Ratings: 3 zills

Pop, Lock, & Shimmies with Sadie and Kaya

This DVD is similarly named but has a totally different perspectives of the pop, lock, and shimmy title.

This DVD starts with an introduction that explains the difference of a pop versus a lock and the definition of a shimmy; it’s very educational on the background of the pops and locks.

It continues with teaching you moves on upper body isolation, pelvic isolation, horizontal hip isolations, vertical hip isolations, vertical single hip isolations, downs shimmies, and even more… It teaches you each move from breathing to muscle articulation then does a section of drills to practice those steps just taught. The drills include the variations of these steps with the pops then the locks and then another drill section with shimmy’s and layers of movements.

A very well explained and easy to follow DVD for every level. A beginner can learn a lot from it; an intermediate dancer can achieve a lot on her performance skills practicing along with this DVD; an advanced dancer can get lots of practice from it.

Sadie and Kaya explain every single move the body makes when doing a hip twist, a walkman drop and they repeat the explanation enough times so you are consciously able to do the step and get the coordination of the mind and body. It’s like going to a Sadie and Kaya seminar where you’re the only student and they are explaining what you’re feeling along with the steps and movements.

This DVD has an excellent format, great music, and the title is very appropriate for it.
This video is available through IAMED

Zil Ratings: 4 zills

So what’s with the title dilemma? who deserves the crown for the first pop, lock, and shimmy DVD, or who did the best one? After dancing along several times to each DVD, what matters most to answer the question who did it right – the appropriate title to the appropriate production: Sadie and Kayas DVD on pops, locks, and shimmies really is about pops, locks and shimmies. Michelle Joyce’s DVD did come out first and is a great DVD but with the wrong title.