The fact that men photographed Shimmy, rather than women, is a shortcoming, which is quickly apparent. What would happen if women photographed American-style football running backs dashing through defensive lines? Suppose (because they thought the men were "cute") the female filmmakers only photographed the halfbacks from the waist up? We would miss all their straight-arms, hip swiveling, and fancy footwork that make such runs so thrilling.

Similarly, while watching the belly dancers on Shimmy, we very often get a close-up shot of jiggling bosom, while the narrator describes actions occurring somewhere below. As I am a male from a Western culture, I know it is difficult for many of us to understand that the focus of the Eastern art of belly dancing is (wait for it) the BELLY! Of course, the belly sits within the hipbone, the hipbone connects to the thighbone, the thighbone connects to the shinbone, and the shinbone connects to the foot bone. A belly dancer generates her lovely hypnotic motions by that linkage. It is also, where the student needs to pay attention. Predictably, the male photographers often focused their cameras on cleavage, when what we really needed was a wide shot of the hip swiveling and footwork that made their belly dance movements so mesmerizing.

Aside from the above, the sets, dance, music, and costume design are marvelous. The set designer came up with imaginative contrasting industrial sites, with depth, scale, and motion, from fire, snow, or flowing water. Then there is the choreography, which can take a novice from complete ignorance, to the point where one can at least appreciate what good belly dancing looks like, and why. Even the music is positively hypnotic.

The costume designer went through a lot of trouble to accommodate the wide range of body types, and still managed to come up with exotic and attractive, matching outfits for practice, and splendid matching outfits for performance, except for poor Gillian. The same halter bra everyone else wore would not contain her out-sized bosom, which made her the photographer's favorite subject.

Overall, it is well worth watching, except that it is also quite habit-forming.

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A unique HD belly dancing series that focuses on the sensual side of getting in shape. Thousands of women are trading in their running shoes for sequined scarves and shaking their hips in the growing fitness trend of belly dancing.

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Shimmy

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