Whether you want to publicise opening your shop, have a family occasion to celebrate,
a festival to draw people to or simply want to have some fun,
the Shimmy Sisters can make that event one to remember!

We have years of experience dancing for associations, private parties large and small for the young and old. We have done a substantial amount of dancing at care homes around the region and demonstrations for schools and at oudoor festivals during the summer

There's nothing quite like the spectacle of bellydancers to draw a crowd and help you publicise your event!

Click here to view footage of us dancing during the opening ceremony for the Sutton Christmas Lights 2009

We can either offer a variety of options and tailor each booking for you or choose from one of the options below:


CHEEKY CAMELS
2-3 dancers - 20 minute set in full costume - £75
*** melt into a different world with our lovely Eastern + Western music ***

HAREM HONEYS
3 dancers minimum for a 30 minute set in full oriental costume
including a selection from silk veil/cane/feather boa dances - £120
*** be wowed by our colourful Cairo costumes and moves ***

THE SULTAN’S DELIGHT
4 dancers or more for either 2x20 minute sets with props and costume change
- OR -
1x20 minute demonstration and 30 minutes “join in and learn some bellydance moves and grooves”
in full bellydance regalia - £150 - £170
*** get up and clap along – let’s have some fun! ***

"Hi Semera,
Just wanted to say that I have had so MANY positive comments from my friends about your performance
at my party on 12 June in Banstead. You were a real hit with everyone, so thank you all very much!"



Dances
We create a set specifically for your event - this can range from one or two dances for an outdoor event where a demonstration
of Egyptian dancing is required to a 40 minute set with a break and costume changes.
We tend to combine group dances with duets for longer sets - we can perform solos but generally prefer to dance as a group.
Our music ranges from classical Arab to catchy pop tunes - tell us who your audience is and we'll select the dances that are
likely to go down the best.
Most of the Shimmy Sisters also do either bollywood or flamenco dance so if you'd like a taster of these styles then just ask!


Costumes and props
If you want us to do a costume change then we can add that in - we have a range of flowing floaty two pieces,
slinky lycra numbers, galabeyas and designer cabaret dresses for evening parties
- we choose the outfit to fit the set and have co-ordinated in the past for special bookings such as pink for charity events or red for St Valentine's day.
We have some dances with sticks and veils, a dance for veils and flamenco skirts and a saucy number with a feather boa!



- our "Dance of the 7 veils" is very pretty if you have a space large enough for us all to perform it together!
We can bring along costumes to show you and talk about if you want more of a taster of Egyptian dance -
something we have done for associations, schools and meetings in the past.

We can bring along and lend out a number of props such as hip scarves, feather boas, veils and finger cymbals
which go down well if the audience is likely to want to join in!


Availability
Some of the Shimmies also work full time so if you want us in number, evenings and weekends are the best time to request.
There is a good chance a couple of us could do daytime bookings subject to timing and transport constraints and we try to be
flexible and meet your preferred time if at all possible - dancing may be our first love, but our second job!

Contact us for a quote
See our contact page for details of how to get in touch and find out how very reasonable our rates are!
We might be able to dance a short set free for a charity but are of course very grateful for a contribution to cover expenses!

click on the care homes image below for information specific to this type of audience

A selection of the events & places the Shimmy Sisters have danced at:

wedding anniversaries birthday parties for adults and children Age Concern Alzheimer's Society Arabesque
Arthritis Care Asda - supporting Breast Cancer week Breathe Easy Brixton hafla Caravan Club Carpet shop in Wimbledon
Carshalton Library Chegworth residential home Croydon Mela and the Croydon Festival since 2005 Dana's Walk to the Stars
Downs Cottage nursing home Epsom Club Granfers Greenacres Retirement home Griffiths Close
Hackbridge Carnaval and Parade Harem afternoon Imagine Arts Festival International Women's Day
Leighton House residential home Macmillan Cancer Nurses Marie Curie fundraising
Mitcham Carnaval Move-It Persian Circle Yalda celebrations Pollards Hill Community Centre Ridgemont carehome
Rosebery school Roundshaw Family Day Royal Marsden Hospital summer fete Salvation Army Saqarah SCOLA
Servite St Christopher's School St Nicholas Centre, Sutton St Helier festival St Valentine's night Shenehom Housing Assoc
Sunrise carehome Sutton library Sutton housing Sutton's Take Part Take Pride Sutton Women's Group
Townswomen’s Guild of Wallington Venture Scouts
Walton Heath Residential Home Wells Centre, Epsom West Ewell ladies group Whitehall in Cheam

Contact Kathi by email or ring Semera on 07891 799 249, Bernadette on 07967 974 119
#1 - Isn't bellydancing just a bit tarty and for a male audience? #2 - Where did you learn and where can I learn bellydancing?
#3 - Where do you get your costumes - or do you have to make them? #4 - Is your dancing suitable for children to watch?
#5 - Where should you look?! I think I'd feel embarrassed to look at another woman's body!
#6 - You're coming to dance for us and we're going to join in! What should we wear?

1 - Isn't bellydancing just a bit tarty and for a male audience?
Egyptian dancing, also known as Raqs Sharqi and Oriental Dancing, is an ancient art form having its roots in ancient fertility ceremonies and is becoming increasingly popular in the UK among ladies (and some men!) of all ages and sizes. It was traditionally taught to girls from an early age – perhaps as young as 3 years old - by their mothers, aunts, grandmothers and so on. When the women got together, they would just get up and dance to entertain each other and share their joy in the dance. There was no place for men either as participators or as spectators – all that came later!

Bellydance involves muscle control and isolation along with good posture and an attractive stage personality - no wonder it takes years to master! It's not only a highly artistic and individual dance form, but lends itself to group dance where the importance of contact with the audience makes it enjoyable to watch and clapping along is welcomed. Egyptian dancing promotes suppleness and flexibility, it tones the hip, back and tummy muscles and increases confidence and well-being – it’s also great fun to watch or join in with as we hope you’ll agree! We always dance in appropriate attire for our audience and tend to find our audience relaxes straight away when they see just how family-oriented and approachable we are!

2 - Where did you learn and where can I learn bellydancing?
After meeting up at Melissa Abraham's classes we've been lucky enough to learn with some of the great names either in public workshops or private lessons: Our favourite teachers include Randa, Yasmina of Cairo, Yousry Sharif, Aida Noor, Beata and Horacio, Aziza, Zaza Hassan, Serena Ramzy Jillina and Razia.

We complement these workshops with classes by nationally-acclaimed local teachers Charlotte Desorgher and Beatrice Curtis in particular and homegrown talents such as Jo Wise and Anne White along with a variety of master teachers flying in for Egyptian dance events such as Fantasia and recently the Bellydance Congress.

If you are interested in starting to learn bellydance, why not see if your local adult education centre offers a course of Arabic/Eastern/Exotic/Oriental/Egyptian/Turkish or Belly dancing - some of the many names for similar dance styles. If you are local to Sutton check out SCOLA where we all met, Melissa who is based in Croydon can't come with more recommendations from us! Your local gym may also run a class that you don't have to be a member of to join. Bellydance is becoming increasingly popular and there are now many teachers of varying quality and style around.


3 - Where do you get your costumes - or do you have to make them?
A mixture of the two. There are huge resources on the web these days but Bernadette, Kathi and Semera are the ones in particular who make our sewing machines sing - see the Glitz & Glamour pages for their tips on where to buy and hints on how to make a costume.
Many of us spend time customising our costumes with sequins and jewels and a couple of us have even started making jewellery to match!
We like to express our creativity as much with our sewing needles as with our hips and welcome ideas and suggestions for costumes and sources.


L - Kathi covered a hip belt with silk left over from shortening her veil to fit and R - ongoing work on a new outfit!


4 - Is your dancing suitable for children to watch?
Yes! very much so! Little girls are always mesmerised by our colourful (yes! we do wear some pink!!) costumes, silken veils and tinkling hip belts. We entertain for children's parties and have found even teenage boys surprisingly willing to get up and bop around. We have a variety of dances from structured veil and stick dances set to some of the great classics of Egyptian music to modern pop artists like Shakira which kids like to bop to. We aim our dancing at a family audience and take our art seriously - we never do all-male parties and have always had positive feedback about our manner and appearance.


5 - Where should you look?! I think I'd feel embarrassed to look at another woman's body!
This is a good question! Some people have had experiences of bellydancers in a restaurant with jiggling flesh much nearer than they are comfortable with (we know we have!!). The Shimmy Sisters dance as a group not as restaurant-style soloists so if we have the room to dance as a unit we move together more like a shoal of fish than a predatory shark! People tend to follow the group movement, so will focus on the group as a whole rather than on an individual and it's surprising how often people are looking at our smiles! If we want to draw attention to a specific movement, we look towards it and the audience's gaze will tend to follow. We don't do lengthy drum solos concentrating fiercely on one area of the body, we do pretty dances with elegant gestures, make effective floor patterns and draw your attention to the music by interpreting it with our dance - you are unlikely to want to focus on bodies unless you choose to and if we expose our bellies it's because however imperfect they may be, we are comfortable with them - so don't be scared to look, and please clap along - we're here to entertain you!


6 - You're coming to dance for us and we're going to join in! What should we wear?
You may have seen bellydancers from the Gulf or Turkey who wear high heels whilst bellydancing, however this isn't something we do and we would advise that
either you dance barefoot or wear dance shoes with a low or no heel (soft smooth leather sole no tread, so trainers are a no-go).
Dancing in socks or tights can be dangerous on some flooring, most of us wear soft leather slipperettes with or without a tiny heel if anything at all!

We often loan out hip belts, such as those the ladies below are wearing, to get the full feel of having something tight on your hips. We suggest you might wear something that is loose around the tummy - trousers or a skirt that has a waistline that can be rolled down over the hips or yoga/pilates/dance style-clothing if the event is suitable for that. Having your mid-drift on show is definitely an optional extra!

 
Got a question for us? Click to email us or ring Semera on 07891 799 249