Review: Arabian Spices – A tribal fusion choreography by Sahira

Review: Arabian Spices – A tribal fusion choreography by Sahira

A fantastic tribal fusion instructional DVD - highly recommended. Overall rating: 5 stars. Format NTSC DVD.

The music is Arabian Spices by DJ Kambo. This choreography DVD is suitable for intermediate to advanced dancers - base moves are not broken down which might be challenging for newer dancers. The piece is 4 1/2 minutes long. The running time of the DVD is 80 minutes.

Sahira breaks the choreography into eleven combinations. Combinations include: Modified prayer; Soho combo; Modified bolero walk; urban tribal combo; Onda combo and Propeller turn. The instruction is very well organized. Each combination is demonstrated and broken down slowly into its component parts. The combinations are then repeated at tempo. The structure makes it very easy to learn the choreography. At the end of each grouping, she leads a review of the combination, to ensure you won't forget what you have already learned. After teaching the combinations, the video offers two practice sessions to review and drill them. The first practice session is an instructional review where Sahira talks you through the full choreography, the second drills the choreography to music.

The difficulty of the combinations varies. Some are reasonably simple and should be comfortable for an advanced beginner who has already learned the elementary moves such as hip lifts and circles. Others are at a somewhat more challenging intermediate level. So a buyer won't outgrow this video right away.

Sahira teaches in a choli, leggings and a tassel belt making it easy to see every movement. Her teaching is relaxed, clear and approachable. She explains each combination very well and gives some background on where it came from.

The production quality is excellent. The sound quality is clear, and it's always easy to hear Sahira’s explanations. The image is well lit and sharply in focus. The DVD is filmed with Sahira facing into a mirror so that you learn the movements from behind as you would in class. The menus, chaptering and navigation are excellent.

The DVD ends with a performance by the Urban Gypsy troupe – Sahira, Zymirrah and Julie. The DVD is worth every penny for this performance alone. Stunning! A really mesmerising performance! It really encapsulates the spirit of the tribal movement for me.

This choreography has been extremely well received by the dance community and there are a numbr of clips on Youtube showing dancers performing it.

Shimmy - don't walk - to purchase this one for your collection!

You can find out more or find links to purchase this DVD through Sahira’s website: Sahira

(I've never met Sahira and I receive nothing for this review.)

Urban Tribal performance:
Urban Tribal Performance of Arabian Spices

Sahira and Kiki in Taiwan - Impromptu ATS BD show