Anyone up for a challenge? I am currently being taught a cheeky little Egyptian number at class, and one of the shimmies we are doing is an Egyptian shimmy that is very much driven by the knees rather than the hips.

Get into your dance posture - feet hip width apart, pelvis tucked to neutral, ribs lifted.
You start off slowly bending each knee in time and build up the speed so that the knees are going backward and forward ever so slightly. Your legs need to be fairly straight but NOT locked at the knee - that is the way to knee injury hell! As you speed up the shimmy, you'll feel it in your butt, your hips, your belly, and sometimes as far up your body as your face.

So if anyone fancies a challenge how about trying this - from a slow start to full speed (whatever full speed is for you) and maintain it for as long as you can - one minute at full speed, two minutes at full speed, three minutes etc....build up to a full five minutes of shimmy! Put on some middle eastern music and shimmy it. Try layering some graceful arms if you're really up for a challenge but the focus is the shimmy.

I'll be trying this tonight - I'll let you know how I get on.

Edited to add: Disclaimer, I am not a teacher, just a student myself, and if you feel any hurty pain you should stop! Don't push through the pain just to do some silly challenge, because pain is your body's way of saying something is wrong.