In search of Cuban hips

Ah, the hip/butt area, the body part most women grow up learning to hate; too big, too flat, too round, too badonka, too wobbly, puckered, out of portion with the rest of ones body, etcetera ad naseum. But then came JLo; she popularized a full, round back end much the same way Brooke Shields did for furry eyebrows. I think that’s because JLo is Latin, and the Latin community celebrates a real women’s shape, instead of Angelo icons like Twiggy and Kate Moss.

Cuban hips, then, are an extension of this female friendly attitude about shape; a lovely, hip gyration that shows off this area. If done correctly it looks rather like a sideways figure eight; or you can think of it as one hip disappearing, then the other. Here are a number of pros doing a variety of dances all using the Cuban hip motion in all its ballroom glory:



Fabulous. But also extreme. I can do it. But alas, that final twist at the end hurts my knees. My teacher, Melissa, says I may be able to do it someday, but I’m thinking if it hurts my knees now it will always do so. Joints do not “get strong” as do muscles. I was bemoaning my sad story to Gary, who had some good advice. He’s noticed that in the venues we dance no one does it this extreme. So I watched. And he was right. Also, he said, are we not club dancers? And wouldn’t a more clubbish rendition of the Cuban hips work better for us? Hummmmm. I visited my favorite place, you tube. Here is a more “club” version of Cuban hips:



They are indeed using the Cuban hip movement, but it is softer. I got happier seeing this style; I can do it! Without hurting my knees! As I watched the clip a second time I realized the woman was doing other kinds of hip movements along with the Cuban, so I did some research. Lo and behold, there are many many kinds of hip movements from different dance styles. Here is one called the hip roll from belly dancing. I’m thinking this woman has no internal organs; her middle is filled with rubber or something, wow.



Here’s a hip drop, also from belly dancing:



This example is from my favorite WCS female dancer Tessa Cunningham doing a hip “bump”:



Another hip motion, this one from hip hop:



Another hip hop style called “popping”, or snake hips; Gary has posted an old video of a guy doing snake hip awhile back, this one is more modern:



Here’s a cool style called boogie hips: instead of your hip going back like in the Cuban motion, it goes forward. Yeah, it’s 70’s loud and proud, but ignore the costumes and watch the hips:



From the jazz world:



And finally, a little Cuban, a little hip hop, a little jazz all stirred up into a wonderful hippy mixture:



Fun, huh? Interestingly enough, I would have never done any of this research had I not had trouble with the Cuban hip motion. Maybe someday I’ll be able to get that knee wrenching twist at the end. But in the meantime there’s a host of hip movements I can do from all over the world. I may even take some lessons in some other dance styles, like jazz. Maybe belly dancing. I like those jingle bells.

The human body is a marvelous thing, capable of all kinds of movement. If something doesn’t work, another will. And that pretty much rocks.

Swishy swish swish.