Bellydancers

YAY!

I love it love it love it!

At the moment I live far away from my instructor... Have to travel alot, so DVD's is the only way out (and lol maybe emails from my instructor...)

What DVD you use?

I use Jillina's Art of Bellidance, which I enjoy alot because she gives proper dance routine, having comleted which, you are supposed to be able to master 1 choreographed dance, not just some movements!

I use the Neena and Veena DVD's which are useless for learning to dance, but are great for building up most used muscules in belly dance... I totally detest the fact that they give mat excersizes for working on abs though, as if belly dance does not offer sufficient dance moves to work on abs! (After 2 months of belly dance 2 times a week(16 classes) at a dance school "6-pack" started shaping up WITHOUT any silly mat excersices!!!)

Anyways Neena and Veena I use also to relax and and get in the mood and work on smooth and 'polished' movements, sort of learning to control muscules.

Also I use Neon DVD, which is like encyclopeadia of belly dance moves, I do not particulary like that she is turning every move into a "dance step" But her DVD is irreplacible if you want to know HOW each move works!

All the above mentioned combined plus trying to improvise to rythmic music and find inspiration in watching belly dance championships over and over again, and in stitching coins on my work out top constitutes my routine!



Cant wait to hear from you!

Love,
deornie

Geez Macrina! This is soooo nice to finally discuss belly dance with someone!

My instructor sends me emails, but well, she has participated in championships, and also does ballroom dancing (BTW her scenic name is Amira (means princess) ) so being a professional dancer she is quite unfamiliar with the amateur struggles... LOL In the beginning I had to watch the same piece over and over again to figure out HOW technically it is done. Or if im in class or working with a DVD if the instructor is not with her back to me I used to struggle to get which way to go left or right! LOL but that's just me. (That's why I like Jillina's DVD cos she has a mirror behind her back!)

Thanks for telling me about other DVDs! When I get to England I will look for new DVDs cos at the moment ordering from internet is out of reach LOL. Gonna read up more on Amira and Ayshe.

I also have Rania, but her routine also reminds me more of fitness classes then real dance just like the twins where you have to repeat certain move 10 times to the left and 10 times to the right LOL.

And as for me I am not too fond of her performances, I like her drum solos, but what I severely dislike about her style is her stiff arms!

A real professional must have great control over arms, and be able to, say, make sharp accents with the hips, while arms must be smooth and soft like waves. My instructor always says that this way a dance is like a melody where hips do the rythms and arms, say a more lyrical theme or vice versa.

I love Neon's arms as for the rest I think she lacks certain grace, and her face is like a dolls face, when a dancer's face must also be part of a dance. As i said I use Neon as a 'reference material' on technique. It is impossible to really learn to dance with 'instant belly dancer' for a beginner, but as you get advanced it comes in handy!

I myself have some back issues, so belly dance surely helps... The main trick in Belly dance is isolations, so say if you are doing hip bounces your chest and head must be still, that's y i like to put smth on my head like a spindle of Cd's! LOL That helps greatly to hold back straight and head isolated, even if i'm doing chest lifts.

As for hips circles... I think Neon's DVD has it as far as I remember.

There are 2 main hip circles, one of them with head and upper body still and legs fairly close together and just isolated hip movement-side-front-side-back(or vice versa).

Second hip circle you do with legs further apart and this is a much larger circle and as you try to move hips as far left/front/right/back as possible the upper body will balance leaning in the opposite direction. The mistake i made while learning on my own I thought that upper body movement must be eggagerated, but i got corrected, and learned that upper body should be relaxed and naturraly follow the movent of hips. Even if you try to hold it still while your hips do such a big circle it will lean anyways. I suppose leaning a big way might be some artistic touch, like say a more emotional accent, but i was tought it should be natural and balanced, not like a windmill LOL.

Hope that helps!

I also noticed that since i started belly dance I feel more confident and more accepting my own body! It is a FEELING above all, even though many times when I dance i feel I move harmoniously but when I look in the mirror I get embarrassed to see that my dancing is far from perfection..LOL. But that feeling stays and the longer you dance the better it becomes. I feel graceful, I feel good in my own skin, I feel I can be attractive, healthy, alive, graceful and happy. I noticed that I even got more brave about the clothes I wear (I used to be very concervative) and now I enjoy wearing bracelets with bells, shawls and hip-chains...LOL, and that certain bravery even makes it easier for me to communicate with other people cos I feel deep inside that I am beautiful!

And well those who say that belly dance is like stripping know NOTHING about the ART of belly dance and the spirit of DIGNITY it gives a woman. My instructor always says that the main point is to feel and dance like a lady, like a queen, with dignity!

Bestest of luck and good night. Im off to bed for tonight, just pity it is not morning yet cos im in the mood for dancing!!!!

I've been belly dancing for 5 years now...it started out just a thing to get back into shape after so many surgeries...and became a true love of life for me.

It's great excersize, and awesoem aerobics, and you are right about feeling more feminine and graceful...

I have the same problem

What I suggest is going to a bra shop and purchasing one of the sports minimizers...

They're awfully snug if you aren't used to them...but it keeps 'em where they belong during those shoulder shimmies

Macrina said:

Deornie, which Neena & Veena DVD do you have? If I were to get one, which would you recommend? (Your statement that they help with "polish" is good -- I can always use more polish!)

Click to expand...

Hi Macrine

I am back

Of the twins I have is "Basic moves and Fat Burning" "Fat Burning" being to me the most useless as it mostly conists of hopping from one foot to another in Haligi (dunno how to spell that) style of belly dance, but for me it is way too intense, I can not cope with all that hopping, I prefer a workout where fast paced cardio is alternated with slower relaxing excersices. I felt really frustrated not to be able to keep up. This is one thing I do not like in their dvd's- repetetive moves, that remind of aerobics.... I use "Basic moves" though...

Also have "Arms, Abs, Buns,Hips, Thighs" of which I like arms, as for me arm work is important and also has to do with back and posture... as for the rest, they include floor excersices, whick i really really do not like, as I tend to exert my neck muscules alot whcich is followed by headache... Also those excersizes have very little to do with belly dancing to my mind...

A friend of mine is getting "Mystic Dance" by Twins, supposedly has smth to do with veil dancing, so I am quite curious to see what it is like...

I also want to get a new DVD, so been searching Amazon... really dunno what to get...

Does "Bellydance 101" teach the technique of basic moves or does Amira target choreography of a dance? I think for me it is more fun to try and do a dance than just isolated moves... So I am considering Jillina level 2... Just looks like its only available in USA...

Good luck with your search, let us know if you make up your mind to buy!

Also read a review for "Aruna's Dancer's arms" sounds nice, as it includes Middle eastern dance, Flamenco, Hindu and fitness arm workout, sounds interesting, cos I really would like to develop my arms and upper back, but it does not seem to be available at Amazon UK...

http://www.beyondbellydance.com/boutique.html
http://www.gildedserpent.com/art39/monet%20REVjenna.htm
Found this one now... Made by Jenna...Sounds good to me.... I try to read as many reviews as possible.

Hey Gals has anyone seen a performance by Jenna? Wondering if she is any good...

Hey thank you very much for your reviews!

I dunno if I personally would buy another twins DVD... The difference between say their DVDs and say Jillina's is that they teach you belly-dance like moves for fitness, when Jillina targets the dance! As for me I am not buying another "fitness" thing (also got Rania's) I prefer going over and over even most primitive dance routine than doing all that "10 times to the right and now10 times to the left".

I think this is the way I am choosing a DVD from now on if it targets fitness, or if it target dance. If I want fitness I buy some Denese Austen stuff...LOL

This is like choosing an instructor.

I have been to a preview lesson at a fitness school that taught belly dance and it was all about those countless repetitions to Shakira's music. Well maybe you learn to do some hip circles and snake arms, but no dancing!

Then I went to a dance school that also teaches ballroom and modern dancing, so they are targeting a dance, and this is what makes you feel feminine and graceful...

At least I know if if I buy another fitness course it will not add to moves and combinations (the twins do not teach combinations on the DVD's I have) I can just as well go over and over Jillina's beginners section or neon's , or just do it on my own. What I want is to understand how the moves work and how to COMBINE them. Amazing what results give smart combining of most simple moves together with a right posture and beautiful arms.

Also think working on a feeling and rythm is important.

I would say you need to be familiar with basic moves, she just gives basic introduction to the moves, so it would be difficult to understand how some of them work, unless you have practiced them before. Also she gives combinations and sometimes uses moves that she has not explained(for example she includes turns, which she does not show how to do), assuming you are familiar with them already.

What I like about it is that it is dance oriented: 1st she gives basic moves, but if you really want to be good at them, you have to pause your DVD and practice on your own, which is ok with me.

Then she gives the 7 combinations, some of them are challenging for me, so if i dont feel comfortable with a combination I just change it to suit me.

Then she goes over variations, which are the 7 combinations with more moves added. After each variation you have togo to the beginning and do all the variations again so after say she shows variation 5 you gonna do variaons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Then she shows variation 6 and after that you do 1, 2,3 4 5 6. So it is nice "drilling" to be able to memorize all the moves and at the same time when you finish them all you will have learnt a dance.

I also like the music which has a nice beat and the dance is choreographed nicely to be rythmical and really get into beat, I am really enchanted with that, say if music goes "pam pam pam" you do 3 sharp hip slides "pam pam pam", lol. Hope you see what I mean.

So to come to conclusion, you need to know basic moves, like hip circles and hip bounces and a shimmy, also camel but nothing really supernatural. In her performas of the dance in costume she adds other moves and well but that one can do if she polished the core of the dance. Say a combination would be 2 hip bounces than a camel then snake arms step back and turn. If you dont want to you can keep to basic combinations and work on them till you are ok with them, and only later move to variations and stuff.

Well if you are up to a challenge get Jillina, especially if you have enough instructional material on basic moves!

Hope that helps.

I havent tried that one but just found a review:
http://www.gildedserpent.com/art38/monetAzarDVDreview.htm

Maybe it helps a bit

The hardest part for me was isolating the shoulders from the neck and ribs...patience goes a long way...after all you're teaching your body a completely different way to move...

If you're looking to strengthen muscles while you're learning to belly dance, i suggest pilates as well...they're an awesome muscle isolation technique as well...

And hang on for a fun ride

The arms are truly the final polish on any belly dance, if they aren't graceful, no matter how well executed any other move is...it will look horrible LOL...I'm such a deliberate person that getting my arms to "float" and "snake" was just....incredibly hard for me...

anyhow...

It's a blast!

Oh yes arms is something I really have no clue what to do with! LOL Well I just really want to be in control of them and at least keep them at a nice angle, well aligned and stuff, just my problem is that if I concentrate on the arms I forget everying else! So I am just trying to practice the following excersice: make hip circles or shimmies, but untill I get a certain rythm and go on "auto-pilote" and then add some softer movent of the arms, like say snake arms..it works until I say to myself "wow, that works!" then it all goes out of sync again...LOL

I am looking for another DVD for the same reason, also not to have to go over same stuff all the time, then i choose little bit of every dvd that i like and make up my own program to suit my mood.

I would not set a tarrget to master ALL the moves they teach, ecpecially Neon, as she targets to cover almost all the moves available! LOL I would say target to master SOME moves and try to combine them! Choose a song with nice rythm and try to imagine what moves would look nice with it... My instructor usually makes up a story connected with a song, especially if she does not understand the words. But she takes general mood of the song and makes a story what's it about, so it turns out to be a fun excersize to tell a story with belly dance moves, even with most simple moves. You can use armes as she says "to frame your portrait" or say glance your eyes from your hip to in front of you, if your hip does "bounce move" or smth like that.

I believe that a dance is a mood, a feeling above all and I am more interested combining the easier moves into a dance than just learning all the moves!

Do you gals think it is safe to order a DVD from a artist's website? I have done shopping on ebay and stuff, but dunno how that works with personal sites.... Payment via paypal, but I'm still wondering....