| | |  | BELLY DANCE | Home » » » Belly Dance Crash Course | | | | | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Michelle Joyce | | Director:
| Michelle Joyce | | Format:
| NTSC | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Cheeky Girls Productions | | Run Time:
| 90 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| October 06, 2008 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 7 reviews |
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| $15.69 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | Used
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- Mint | | | $20.56 | New | | | $119.99 | New | |
| New | |
| $17.99 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | New | | | $17.99 | New | | | $20.56 | New | | | $119.99 | New | |
| Used | |
| $15.69 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | Used
- Mint | | | $15.95 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | Used
- Mint | | | $18.50 | Used
- Mint | | | $20.56 | Used
- Mint | |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 7 customer reviews )
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31 of 31 found the following review helpful:
 TailerSep 17, 2008
By M. J. Dance
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1WZ4XBJKEWV3W
9 of 11 found the following review helpful:
Learn and practice absolute basics and move on to combinaitonsNov 13, 2008
By Mala
It's become very difficult to review belly dance basics videos. When I began dancing four years ago, there were some that everyone strongly recommended. Today there are lots more and not only are they very good, they bring something unique to the learning process. In fact one of Michelle Joyce's own videos competes with this one!
No instructional video teaches you all of belly dancing. Typically, learning dancers who use videos have a big collection of them. So if someone were to ask me whether I'd recommend this (or any other new basics video) I'd first quiz them in great detail about lots of things. Like video collection so far, how in depth they want to get into belly dancing, whether they go to classes otherwise or not, etc.
So, who is this video for? Funny thing is, it depends on which half of To take the beginners' section first, I'd have to say that this really is a crash course. It's quick and gives you the absolute fundamentals. Hip bumps, pelvic tilts, circles, figure eights, and undulations are explained nicely. But what's really nice is the little drill section after each chunk. These are gentle and short enough for beginners to practice with - and an option for more knowledgeable beginners or intermediate dancers to use if they feel they don't want to work too hard on some days.
Many moves that others consider basic - the one-hip circle, chest circles, variations with side to side hips, hip downs - are not taken up here. That makes it ideal for someone who wants to learn a bit of "light" belly dancing and get on with it and take it to the dance floor. If you are the type who can't bear to miss out on a movement even at beginner stage (like me) you'll need more in depth instruction. I'm seriously thinking I will lend it to my brother in law who's tickled pink with belly dancing and wants to try it out. I don't see him concentrating hard and getting a maya right, but I definitely think he'd be able to shake it a bit with this short but safe instruction.
There are no combinations for beginners, and that's in order since the drills will be enough work in themselves for a while before moving on to the intermediate section.
I do think though that a warm up would have been good after the posture section. Or before for that matter.
There are no combinations for beginners, and that's in order since the drills will be enough work in themselves for a while before moving on to the intermediate section.
The section for intermediate dancers (or really advanced beginners) gets right into combinations and has you practicing faster versions of the movements taught in the beginners section. There are four combinations in all and these are very nice and usable. Modifable as well. Right from the start you can see that they fit different kinds of music, as Michelle changes tracks for fast and slow versions of the combos. The music, by the way, is really nice. Much of it is from Suhaila Salimpour's Shehrezad, which I have to get hold of. Thankfully, the combinations are not disappointingly short or anything, and each distinctly gets into separate types of movements. Nevertheless, you could combine them and mix bits of them all up to make your own choreography. I like the combinations a lot and experimented a bit just today, mixing them with some from Jillina's pop choreography video.
Combos in detail
The first combination goes best with a medium or fast tempo. It's full of hip drop, drop kick moves, a turn and a shimmy. It's not a difficult one on the face of it, but the challenge will be remembering when to drop kick, when to drop sit, drop and turn etc when you're moving fast and repeating the combo on both sides. The slow version is done to Keyboard Solo from Arabian Musicals Vol 2, Suhaila Salimpour. The fast version is done to Bongo Funk from Suhaila's Shehrezade.
The second combo is shorter but more challenging than the first one. It's the body wave combo and has some roll ups and roll downs done quickly to worry about. There's also a deep deep dip and a hair toss which you'll have to practice to get right but not practice that much as to hurt your back. Some safety tips here would have been in order. There is only a slow version of this combo and it's done to Arabian Gold from Suhaila's Shehrezade.
The third combo, the figure 8 combo, uses up eights, mayas, and a flat eight. It's a slow sexy sort of combo and it has two moves new to me (though I'm no one to go by). These are a pivot with an up eight and a bounce added to the trajectory of the flat eight. Slow to Keyboard Solo again and fast to a nice modern Turkish sounding piece that hasn't been named.
The hip circle combo has medium traveling circles, large hip circle with a dip, and snake arms. This one is rather short and maybe the easiest of the lot - except for the deep dip. Arabian Gold and Bongo Funk again.
So there we are. Another basics video for belly dancers. To sum up what I think this video has to offer: a quick get-down-to-dancing instruction on absolute fundamentals, gentle short drills food for beginners and doable for non beginners who want to take it easy, and - four great combinations to play with.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Fast becoming one of my favorite top dancersDec 06, 2008
By S. Pernsley
"Ameretat"
The previous reviews said it all. For someone like myself, I love the way she instructs and hope that I can go to a workshop. Keep them coming, Michelle.
 Michelle performs and explains perfectly well, but the cameraman.....Aug 17, 2011
By Alfred's choice
Pros: For experienced dancers or musicians, Michelle does a perfect job ! Indeed you can learn the basic techniques and beyond with this DVD !! Also, beautiful and relaxed music comes from the tape in the studio !
Cons: The cameraman apparently knows nothing about dance and rhythm and how onlookers are supposed to learn from the pictures he is shooting !! Or is it part of the strategy of Michelle or her producer to force dance-learners to buy tons of DVDs ? But my favorite guess is that, if you are unable to get the steps and techniques from this one here, chances are very high that you never will succeed to really learn bellydancing !!
great!!!!!!Dec 18, 2009
By J. morton
this is a VERY good step by step basic belly dance instruction video! i would recomended to friends and family.
See all 7 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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