Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Blanca - Sensual Belly Dance DVD





Mini review:

A lovely experienced beginner to intermediate plus DVD which is 120 minutes long. I had avoided this one for a while due to it's title - fearing that it was yet another 'amateur, dance a sexy dance for your boyfriend' DVD. On the contrary - this focuses how how to be 'in' your body and to move with grace and ease. The dancing and teaching is high quality. It has a breakdown of the movement vocabulary followed by a 40 minute 'sensual belly dance' flow designed to drill movements then a step by step break down and demonstration of a modern american style choreography with a slight 'new age flavour'. The flow can also be used with just music - no voice over. This is a well thought out DVD. The camera work is excellent. There are sections that focus on refining the upper body and lower body movements, one that tells the 'story' of the choreography, one that looks at sensual movements. Music is fully credited. Two performances are included. Great value for money - excellent for refining your approach to taxim. (Don't let the slight new age flavour of the choreography put you off - it is really only evident in the 'story' section. I have a very low tolerance for such things and I didn't find it at all irritating. Having said that, this may not be the best DVD for the modern Egyptian purist who is not interested in other styles!) Highly recommended. Great for teachers too - lots of ideas for drills and choreographic elements. Another great production from World Dance New York!

1 comment:

Denise said...

Thanks for the review - it looks like a good DVD! What DVDs would you recommend for the sort of dance we're doing in your classes?

PS Totally with you about the new agey stuff! :)