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217 of 220 found the following review helpful:
 WOW - best bellydance instructional video I've seenDec 01, 2004
By Shannon B Davis
"Nepenthe"
And I have seen quite a few. I have been bellydancing for two years and have taken classes with a variety of live instructors, seen bellydancing live a number of times, danced in student shows, and done several of the videos on the market (Neena and Veena, Rania, etc). Jillina's instructional video is terrific, although I'm not sure how easy it would be for beginners. For a road-warrior who needs to take her dance practice into a hotel room, it's been great.
Jillina's workout is separated into several parts. There is a technique section, where you really practice individual moves. I found this section almost as good as a classroom teaching environment. Then, you learn combinations. The combinations are drilled in, both without and with the music. The combinations are creative, challenging, and yet repeated enough that even I could learn them.
Finally, the combinations with variations are taught in a complete choreography. Jillina has a great sense of musicality, as the rhythms and trills of the music are perfectly matched by the moves. This really made the choreography sink in and "make sense" to me. I also enjoyed putting together a full dance piece.
Jillina also includes a video of her performing this choreography for a live audience. It was so beautiful, it took my breath away. Yet, as you watch it, you also recognize the very same moves that you learned in her video. It's extremely inspiring.
66 of 70 found the following review helpful:
 Beginners bewareNov 29, 2005
By Bianca
The title of this DVD is shockingly misleading. This is NOT for the beginner!! One of the most important things in bellydancing is that you keep the correct posture at all times so that you do not injure your lower back and Jillina doesn't really mention that and it's THE FIRST thing you'll learn in a class. Please don't make the mistake of buying this as an instructional video if you are just starting out. All Jillina is doing on this DVD is teaching you some nice looking choreography without any in depth explanations how to. There is NOT enough instruction or drilling. I love Jillina, she's a beautiful dancer...so don't get me wrong on that score. This is simply not good instruction for a beginner. At all. If you are looking for instruction similar to a class, go on the net and find Halyma or Amira (Amira is sometimes available on Amazon). Trust me on this. I've only been able to afford a few classes so far and DVDs are my main source of instruction at the moment. I am a complete beginner. I will use this DVD later on for fun and to get a feel for how to put moves together, but save your money for something else if you are looking for pure instruction.
Update 12/19/2011: Someone commented on my review to say that nowhere does this DVD say it is for Beginners. The commenter is correct. It doesn't say beginner anywhere on the DVD... ANYMORE. This DVD has been renamed since I wrote my review (in 2005!!) to reflect more accurately what you are getting. I do, however, stand by my original statement that there is not enough detailed instruction on this DVD. Lots of people have only DVDs to learn from...even calling it "Level 1" suggests something lower level than what you are actually getting. Get a different DVD if you are a beginner and just starting out. Once you lay down some groundwork, then get this for the lovely piece of choreography Jillina teaches.
34 of 34 found the following review helpful:
So much fun, I had to buy Level 2 and 3 immediatly!Feb 15, 2004
I absolutely love this DVD! It was exactly what I was looking for! A few years back, I was lucky enough to find a Belly Dance and fell in love with the dance form. Unfortunately, live got in the way, and I was no longer able to attend the class. Since then, I have been trying desperately to find instructional videos that came close to the classroom setting and didn't simply repeat a hip drop on to infinity or try to make the dance more of a "fitness routine", and this is it!This DVD is broken down into 5 segments: 1. Stretching-a brief stretch of a few major muscle groups. Jillina does recommend a good warm-up of at least 20 minutes prior to stretching and dancing. 2. Technique-an introduction into each of the individual moves with an excellent breakdown of each movement. Each move is only repeated a few times, so you may want to rewind and repeat if you feel you need more time to absorb the movement. 3. Combinations-This section along with the next section is what really makes the DVD work it's weight in gold! Jillina take the individual movements from the Technique section and combines them into short sequences. She walks you through each step and breaks it down without music. After each breakdown section, she includes a segment with music in which you can repeat the combination a number of times (of course, with her vocal instructions included!). The music here is a little bit more pop Arabic music (Hakim, Warda, etc.) rather than more traditional belly dance music, but it is upbeat and fun to dance to. 4. Choreography-This section takes each of the combinations, with a few variations, and combines them into a choreographed dance! Each combination is reviewed with the additional variations. After each review, you have a chance to perform the choreographed dance with Jillina. The choreographed dance starts from the beginning after each reviewed combination so that you are able really learn the dance from beginning to end! This is exactly how you would learn a new dance in a classroom setting! 5. Performance-And finally, you can see Jillina perform the full choreographed dance in costume in front of a live audience. She also performs two additional short numbers (one similar to the dance that you will learn, and another to a drum solo). The only qualm I have about the DVD is that I wish it would have more tracks broken out in the Technique and Combinations section so that you can easily skip back to repeat a section without having to rewind. In short:
1. Excellent instruction and breakdown of movements.
2. Fun combinations that you can really learn to dance, rather that repeat the same movement on to infinity.
3. You learn a fully choreographed dance.
4. As another review said, the camera angle is wonderful (Jillina faces a mirror with her back to the camera so that you can see both front and back. Also, you don't have to think about which direction you really need to move!). 5. Fun music! This DVD was so much fun that I had to go out and by Level 2 and 3 right away! I can't wait to try them!
29 of 30 found the following review helpful:
Great, easy to follow instructionFeb 05, 2004
As an Asian decent with no Arab blood in my veins, I admit I cannot tell what's traditional from what's not. Plus, I'm a complete beginner to bellydance, and I don't know if Jillina's dance is authentic or not. But still I think I can give a fair (?) review of this DVD. This is a very well structured, easy-to-follow guide for the beginners. Jillina first shows a choreography that she's going to teach in this lesson, and starts from streching, moves on to "techniques" demonstartions, where you'll learn each and every technique used in the choreography. Jillina explains into details of the movement, one by one.
Then, "breakdown" of the choreography comes next. I do like the way Jillina does this part, because the camera follows her move from her back (with a mirror image in the backdrop), making it possible for the viewers to follow her instinctively. Do you see what I mean? If you are a person like me who have difficulty in translating "her foot to the left on my TV" to "my right foot", this "view from the back" is extremely helpful in reducing this kind of confusion and stress.
Then, after the breakdown, she puts them all into a choreographed dance with music, again with the camera shooting from her back. I recommend this DVD to anybody who wants to have a real "step-by-step" instruction to this exotic art.
15 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Not good for first time belly dancersAug 03, 2005
By Andalee
"Andalee Oriental Dance"
This video moves very fast. If you have never tried belly dancing before, I recommend something more like Veena and Neena Belly Dance for Beginners. Luckily I have taken some classes or I would have been so lost! I did like the way that you get to learn an actual dance, where she breaks down the combos. The music is good too. Overall this tape is best for dancers who are beginners but have some experience belly dancing.
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