Customer Reviews

Belly Dancing with Mara III: Advanced Techniques [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the third in a series of videos produced by Scottish Winters Productions, Inc. Our instructor, Mara, uses the same movements learned in the two previous videos but adds enhancements and tells us how to put the movements together. The format consists of 3 sections of 4 movements each. After each section, there is a dance segment and Mara emphasizes that each of these dance segments is improvised just to demonstrate how you can create a routine even with only a few moves to work with (one of the strong points of this video series).

As she demonstrates the moves to music, Mara uses a "voice over" telling us which steps she is using and giving hints to remember (e.g., "remember to isolate your lower body"). At the end of the video, Mara performs in costume, once again demonstrating a beautiful, free-flowing dance with a limited vocabulary of movements.

This video is recommended for any beginner who is ready to progress past basic movements since it is helpful to dancers who aren't quite sure how to put movements together. It would also be good for a more advanced dancer who can use the video as a practice aid.

The title leads you to believe that advanced techniques will be taught. I saw nothing on the video that I considered advanced technique. I think labeling this video "advanced" is misleading. I'm sure the video could be helpful for beginners, but as an intermediate/advanced dancer, I found nothing in the video that I did not learn in my beginner classes.

This is an OK video (overall). Mara is a good instructor and explains the movements clearly. The only problem I had with this video is that the tape is too short and I think it's a bit pricy for the length of the video.

Mara spends only a small amount of time for each movement, this makes it a little harder to follow, because I had to keep rewinding the tape. If only she spent more time on each of the moves (I'd say five minutes or so), instead of what seems like 1 minute or less for each move and if she would have spent more time explaining how to do the more difficult movements, then I'd definitely give this a higher rating.

This video is great to teach the basic moves of bellydance. The instructor, Mara, breaks down the moves very well, and puts them together into separate sections of basic choreography. As a beginner, I found this video very easy to follow. Although Mara does not spend too much time on one specific move, the speed at which she teaches keeps the video from turning dull. This is a simple video that beginning dancers can watch.