| | |  | DANCE PERFORMANCES | Home » » Secrets of the Stage Volume 3: A Performance Course for Belly Dancers by Michelle Joyce | | | | | | | Description: | | Topics Covered: DANCING TO LIVE MUSIC - Dancers these days just don t seem to have as many opportunities to dance to live music and are out of their comfort zone when performing with a band. In this section we interview both dancers and musicians to get practical advice about preparation, etiquette, and survival techniques. CREATIVITY AND INSPIRATION - In this section we interview dancers about how they fill their creative wells and continue to stay motivated to create new dances. Concrete exercises and habits are suggested while potential blockages and bad habits are discussed. YOUR PROFESSIONAL IMAGE - Belly dance photographer Michael Baxter gives is advice about how to get great photos. Professional beauty consultant and belly dancer, Adriana, gives us a make-up lesson. *BONUS* SURVIVAL ARABIC FOR DANCERS Leyla Lanty gives us a micro Arabic lesson. You will be able to identify several of the commonly used words in Arabic songs. FEATURED DANCERS - Nanna Candelaria, Sandra, Amira Ariana, Sabriye Tekbilek, Zari, Shoshanna, Adriana, Bahaia, Luna, FEATURED MUSICIANS - Kaweh, Tim Bolling, Doug Adamz, Al 'Azifoon, Flowers of the Nile, Mary Ellen Donald FEATURED EXPERTS - Michael Baxter (photography), Leyla Lanty (Arabic) ABOUT THE SERIES "...information that every performer and instructor should have." What makes a captivating dancer? A captivating dancer knows how to draw in the audience and takes them on an emotional journey with every movement and expression. A captivating dancer shows us a different way of listening to the music without overpowering it and teaches us that there is beauty in even the simplest movements. A captivating dancer knows how to build drama and set up those wow moments. Unfortunately, most dancers simply focus on the mechanics of their movements and don't train themselves in the art of performing. Many dancers mistakenly think that performance skills cannot be learned and feel frustrated that it does not come naturally. Having sharp isolations and cute combinations are a result of training your muscles, but incorporating stage presence, emotion and musical awareness into your dance require training of a totally different kind. The exercises in this DVD are uniquely designed to help you become a better performer and to push your dance presentation to the next level. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Michelle Joyce | | Director:
| Michelle Joyce | | Format:
| NTSC | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Cheeky Girls Productions | | Run Time:
| 85 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| December 15, 2008 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 9 reviews |
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| $17.99 | New | | | $17.99 | New | | | $19.39 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | New | | | $19.99 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | New | | | $19.99 | New | | | $59.97 | New | |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 9 customer reviews )
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14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Here is a clipNov 30, 2008
By SRF
"srf"
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2J10CP354OXLB
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
More of the BestDec 24, 2008
By Nadira Jamal of the Improvisation Toolkit
The goal of The Secrets of the Stage series is to fill in the gap between what you learn in class and the skills you need to be a successful performer, and that's exactly what you get. Volume 3 is my favorite to date.
I'm a big fan of the format as well: interviews with musicians and dancers overlaid over videos of their performances. It's not a play-by-play commentary of the performance you're watching, but it does give some context to what you're hearing, and who is speaking to you.
The section on dancing to live music was very good. It had a nice mix of practical tips (don't feel obligated to hit every note and accent, pay attention to the band members, etc.) and more inspirational ones (let go and accept uncertainty). I especially enjoyed the interviews with the musicians, and was glad that not only were they represented, but that several of them were interviewed.
The section on creativity was interesting and inspirational, but not as practical. I think it's value is to get you thinking about creativity and conscious of the idea that it's something you have to cultivate, rather than to give you a to-do list of things to try. (Although I second Michelle's recommendation for the book The Artist's Way.)
The segment on photo shoots was interesting, but somewhat short. Photographer Michael Baxter gave a series of tips, mostly on how to prepare for your shoot, plus a couple on how to get your photos to turn out well (face the light source, etc.) It's definitely valuable, but I would have liked to see a lot more, ideally including posing tips, etc.
Next, there was a step-by-step demonstration of stage makeup application. This covered a full theatrical face, including a very theatrical contoured eye look that I've always been curious about. I found this very helpful, but, like most makeup artists, the narrator used a little too much jargon. (How deep a color should a midtone be? I understand what "high mica content" means, but how can we tell when we're getting one when we are looking for products to buy?)
The video ends with a bonus section by Leyla Lanty that includes a few Arabic words and phrases that are commonly heard in belly dance music. The goal is to give the dancer an inkling of the meaning of a song. She'd introduce the word, variations on it, and give some background on the kinds of contexts it'd be used in. This section was fascinating and very useful, but a few of the items (like long and short vowel sounds) didn't really contribute towards that goal, so I would have preferred some more relevant content in it's place. I'd like to see this as a recurring segment in future volumes: maybe 3 or 4 more words on each disk?
All in all, the video has a great mix of practical tips and inspiration for any dancer who performs (or wants to perform), whether professionally or just in their living room.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A Must for Every Professional Belly DancerFeb 03, 2009
By Deborah Kananghinis
"Alia"
I think this whole series is a must for every Professional Belly Dancer, or for students intending to perform on a professional basis. It won't teach you how to belly dance, but gives you insight to how to make yourself a better dancer by revealing interviews with performers critiquing their dance as they present their performances, as well as make-up tips; how to get the best from a professional photo shoot; and a few handy phrases in Arabic to further enhance a song you wish to dance to, by understanding the gist of the song. This DVD is a reference tool only; and not for entertainment or if you are seeking a tutorial on belly dance technique.
 A must for any performerOct 01, 2011
By E. L. White
"member of the 3AM Zill Brigade"
Production Quality
The production quality was great. Sound was clear, the video was good, the DVD menu was attractive and easy to use. The case is a thin, cardboard like case which saves on space and weight. Because the video uses clips from various performance situations including private gigs some have slightly more of a "home video" feel, but the quality is still very good and I hardly noticed. The dancers speaker were loud enough and their voice was very clear. The background sound from the video being shown was turned down enough to allow the speaker to be heard while still being able to hear the music being danced to so that the viewer could follow along with the dance while listening to the speaker. Some of the dance scenes are from staged shows on By Dancers For Dancers and included the full dance scene, so you get to see some clips from those performance DVDs. I also really liked seeing video of the dancers performing at gigs. I felt like this was a really great inside look at how a professional dancer behaves at a gig. There were some at restaurants and some at private functions including birthday parties, weddings and corporate events.
Topics Overview
The topics covered in the videos were many which can be found on various websites, so I think a lot of dancers will be quick to write this series off because they can read about it online for free. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the discussions even though I have read countless articles on the topics covered. I still felt like I learned something and was left with lots to think about. For me, seeing the dancer in the situation being discussed and hearing her insider tips were really thought provoking. I heard some things I feel like I needed to hear on how to be professional. The show isn't always about the dancer or about fulfilling her needs to feel talented, beautiful and appreciated. Being a pro is hard work and if you want to be successful you have to think of your audience first and you cannot assume everyone is out to insult and disrespect you as an artist, they just want to have some fun and that's your job. Although this was always something I knew about in the back of my head, watching these videos really instilled this in me.
DANCING TO LIVE MUSIC
This mostly covered how to deal with the element of improvised music and not knowing what to expect as compared to canned music. Although I felt this was helpful because it's the element most dancers fret over the most, I would have liked to hear more on other topics of dealing with live music for those who are past being afraid to dance to improvised music. There were some other tips given, but I felt there could have been more.
CREATIVITY AND INSPIRATION
There was one dancer in particular (who's name I do not know) that discussed getting enough "input" and "output" to keep the creativity flowing and I felt this was really well done.
YOUR PROFESSIONAL IMAGE
Michael Baxter gave some very good advice and considering he is one of the best bellydance photographers in the field I felt like this section was gold! Adriana's section was good, but I felt like it was kind of a quick explanation of how to do one single look. I wasn't a big fan of the look she chose which was rather colorful and may not look good on everyone. I would have liked to see something that would be more universal that almost any dancer could do. But she did give some bits of advice that made me think. For example, her suggestion to use cream to powder foundation aka cake makeup made me stop and think. However, she didn't give any suggestions on how to find or choose this type of foundation so I felt like I didn't know how to apply the advice.
*BONUS* SURVIVAL ARABIC FOR DANCERS
I think the best thing about this section was being able to hear the words pronounced. A lot of these I already knew and was familiar with from hearing them in music a lot, so for me it wasn't much new material. But for someone who doesn't know the most used words in Arabic music this would be really helpful.
Overall I felt like there was enough information here to make me happy. Some sections felt weak, but I still think there is a lot of good information here.
Helpful, informativeMar 02, 2009
By Naaga
After I watch a DVd, I notice what,"sticks". There was a lot in this one. The makeup section shows how to do professional stage makeup, and I LOVED the arabic tutorial at the end. The section on creativity was fantastic, with several really down to earth things said that stuck with me ( one dancer said that you need ,"input" as well as ,"output")...the live dancing section was a hair too lengthy, but also super informative. Another great DVD from Michelle.
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