Customer Reviews

Bellydance - The Art of the Drum Solo

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I agree with all of the previous reviews except not as harshly.
There could be more menu options, the extra stuff is great. The camerawork was nice & still for the most part, only a few unneeded camera angles & focused shots on her stomach, which is better then most other DVDs with crazy camerawork.

The workout itself is 70 min long which is almsot twice as long as other ones. The drummer teaches for 10 seconds saying the beat then bplaying, then she teaches the technique slowly with great detail to posture & positioning w/o him playing, then normal speed 1-2x with him playing.
I loved her persona, she seemed like a normal instructor, no fake smiling, she just concentrates on teaching & demonstrating.

After she shows each move slowly for 40 min, she then repeats them again in combinations w/o music slowly, then again with music to put them all together in routine, repeating several moves together. There are so many different combinations & moves put together I was impressed.
She didn't always start at the very beginning all over again every single time which was great, she would repeat 2 combinations at a time, then 4-5 combinations every so often so you wouldn't get bored repeating over & over. If wanted to always start at the beginning, you can always follow along with her performance option.

I got quite a workout & could not finish the entire DVD all at once. My obliques & abs were burning after.

I really liked how this tape broke down some of the rhythms in middle eastern music. As a belly dance student, I had always been afraid of the drum solo, but this tape makes it seem really easy and fun. I also agree with the reviewer who stated that the movements are not specifically suited to the rhythms. However, Sonia does do a good job of breaking down the movements for the solo performance. To me, her voice is confident, yet gentle and she does not have that intimidating, irritating "diva" presence. I think beginning students will appreciate her persona.

The bonus CD is good for practicing the movements. It does not include the music to the choreography presented on the tape, but it presents good music. Overall, I enjoyed this tape and would highly recommend it for beginning students. I hope the producers will make a tape for intermediate and advanced dancers soon, and I'd like to see more of the teachers who were working with Sonia on the footage in Cairo. They were excellent and sexy!

I'm subtracting two stars because you can't learn the technique and choreograph if the camera is focusing on the stomach and constantly changing angles. Where's the feet?!?!? Good technique and choreograph that is suitable for intermediate. Nothing too out-of-the-box. Sonia is very mellow and not enthusiastic in front of the camera. Some may find her boring and others may like her shy presence because it shows that you don't have to be extremely bubbly to dance. Good bonus CD.

Due to the title and description, I honestly wasn't sure if I was buying a bellydance or drumming DVD. I'm interested in both, so it was no big deal. I was pleased to see that it's both. Master drummer Issam teaches and helps us understand the different bellydance drum rhythms and accomplished dancer and Bellydance Superstar Sonia shows us which bellydance movements work for each one.

As an intermediate level dancer, I found it challenging as both a workout and a practice tool. The more I practice it, the more I like it. You need to set aside the time and have the energy to get through about an hour of dancing! As a bellydance lesson, I find Sonia to be an excellent teacher. Without her glamorous superstar persona, she looks about 17 years old in workout gear and a ponytail. After a great warm-up that includes some great balancing exercises, Sonia breaks down each movement and practices it with music before moving on to the choreography toward the end. Issam names, breaks down and explains each drumbeat. A review of each movement is included in the choreography.

Yes, the moves are "basic," but it never hurts to practice and perfect basic moves no matter how many years you've been dancing. The challenge lies in learning how to match your movements to the music. For instance, not every drum beat calls for shimmies and hip bumps - we learn that turns and walks are more appropriate for some of the faster beats. This DVD will help you not only with your drum solos but with all of your choreography because you're going to find these drumbeats in all bellydance music. If you don't like this DVD, you may not have an interest in learning both sides, or perhaps you want to be given a choreography instead of creating your own. While Sonia presents a sample choreography, the point is that you need to take what you learned to your own improvisation, a skill that every dancer needs to develop. The DVD is just an example of what you can put together. When you watch Sonia dance after doing this DVD, you'll notice that she uses all of the moves she teaches here in her own drum solos. There's a performance on the DVD that you can watch, and I've noticed that she uses these moves in the other performance DVD's I own. The moves being taught are "basic" because they are an important foundation in building drum solo choreography.

I also enjoyed the bonus section, "Sonia and Issam Go To Cairo" where we see them shopping for drums and costumes and Sonia taking lessons from great Egyptian dancers. We get a glimpse into their personalities and the importance of communication between dancer and drummer. Sonia tests hip scarves and talks about how she doesn't care for one of the instructor's overtly sexual style and won't adapt it to her own, and the segment is peppered with humor.

The bonus music CD contains great music by Issam, but I think it omits the song used on the DVD, which would have been helpful. It's still a good buy for the price and a valuable addition to your library.

I've found that I got so much more out of all of the videos and DVD's I own after I started taking professional classes. If you prefer to learn on your own, at least try to take a few classes to get the most out of your home library.

To learn more about the history of bellydance and Sonia and the Bellydance Superstars' role in educating the public about this art form, check out the "American Bellydancer" DVD.

I bought this DVD looking for some fresh choreography / combinations to use with drum solos; both for routines and improvising in restaurant performances. I have to agree with one of the other reviewers - Sonia's on-camera personality is lifeless and not at all motivating. Most of the technique is beginner-level; they could have added some layering or ideas to spice it up for the intermediate / advanced dancer.

While I liked the idea of the bonus CD, I'm not able to find the choreographed routine music on it...??? Perhaps it's spliced from several of the cuts on the CD, I'm not completely sure yet. I also liked how the drummer explained the rhythms and gave the dumbek pronunciation for each. Producers - take note - it's extremely annoying to put in all the work in learning a routine, and then not be able to find the music to which it should be performed!!! Please please give us title and artist, and if you're going to edit the piece, include it with the video.

I agree with other reviewers regarding the instructor's boring,lifeless image and basic moves. Here are my 2c:
Positives:
1. the combinations and choreography will be useful to beginners as a general belly dance training resource (NOT specifically as a drum solo tutorial)
2. Introduction to Middle Eastern Rhythms is a great idea.
3. Instruction is clear, comes across well on video.
Negatives:
1. Most of Sonia's combinations are not tied to the rhythm signatures of the drum rhythms.What is the purpose of offering particular combinations for particular rhtythms if the combinations don't reflect the individual features of the rhythms? They could have been created for Macareena. With a few exceptions, the combinations are just general BD combinations, not drum solo combinations.
2. From the menu you can get to "Merchandise" and "Also available", but there are no links to Warmup, Technique, Choreography, or individual rhythms inside the Technique. Looks like the marketing & sales depratments took over the dvd production entirely, so dance students have to shlep manually forwarding through chapters to get to choreography, technique and individual rhythms. To quote another reviewer, "producers take notice!"
3. The "Sonia and Issam go to Cairo" featurette is a valid bonus item, but it fails to make Sonia look more engaging, she acts like she is near asleep. She has nothing to say. It's boring to watch her try million hip scarves in her hotel room. You can find more colorful and creative tourist videos on the web. Issam talks a lot. Big time sales pitch here, including an artless attempt to present Sonia and other members of the "Belly Dance Superstars" travelling troupe as the actual superstars of their art form. Is this the self-image they cultivate in their company? Everybody in the performing arts world is a "star" but the term "superstar" implies at least name recognition and master performer-choreographer status, this is not the case with Sonia, even through I wish her success!

It's an okay beginner video. Some combinations are useful, others are too basic. My biggest complaint is that the dvdis intensely B O R I N G, I nearly fell asleep!!!!!.... Sonia is either very shy orstressed about reading off the tele-prompter, she doean't smile, looks away, looks tired, she seems to be "marking" the movements rather than actually performing them. What I mean is that there is no energy in her body when she teaches, she's limp, it's better in the performance secttion of the dvd (only slightly), but she still looks unhappy, like she is trying hard to remember what to do next. I don't get the movement when I don't see it performed the way it should look in a performance, and if I know the movement, I don't know how I can improve it because there is no challenge here. I LOVE drum solos, but this dvd is not for me. The Syrian drummer who accompanies Sonia is good, but I bought this dvd to practice dancing, not to enjoy the drumming.

Overall, I would highly recommend this video. Sonia is wonderful at breaking down the choreography and she has her own unique style of dancing to the drums. I love Issam, though for me, I prefer a slightly more technical approach to learning the drum rhythms. I think for a beginner, it might be more difficult to grasp the different rhythms just by *hearing* them alone. I like to include more specific information as to which beat carries the "doom" and which beat carries the "teck". In that regard, the dvd "The Heartbeat of Bellydance" by Jenna and Raquy explain the rhythms a little bit better, IMHO. Overall, it is a great video and I think it ranks up there among the best.

I like a lot this DVD. Sonia after a short warm up leads you step by step in a very nice, long choreography with a lot of interesting moves, combinations and accents. At the same time you are also taught about the different rithmes you can find in a drum solo, Hassan will explain them and play them for you. This makes a nice and instructive pause between the fast moves and shimmies. In the performance Sonia dances the same choreography enriched with more moves in the beginning and accompanying it with more complex and beautiful arms. You can easily follow it and reproduce it. There is also a very funny and interesting section on Sonia and Hassan visiting Cairo. There is a lot of humour and you learn a lot on buying the right drum or taking dance lessons. I liked a lot seeing Sonia taking lessons from famous egiptian teachers, you can even there catch some interesting moves and I cannot wait seeing Sonia dancing the new choreos she learnt there! It's the first time that an interesting bonus like this is offererd in a bellydance instructional DVD. This is the reason for the title of my review and if it were not enough you also get a CD with drum solos played by Hassan. Do I need to say more? Maybe one thing, the DVD is best suited for intermediate-advanced or very talented beginners. Have fun with this DVD!

This is an excellent and particularly beginner-friendly video. I didn't expect it to be so good and was pleasantly surprised. I sometimes enjoy using it like a drill as well! That's whenever I feel my hips have gone a bit rusty from sitting around too much. I won't repeat what other reviewers have already detailed, but I must second their appreciation of her straightforward, unforced and gentle approach. She's very feminine and although she doesn't seem to strongly relate to the video-viewer, you can't help liking her.

I was tempted to shave off a point for these reasons:
1. The Cairo footage is interesting, but only once. It has no replay value and an instructional DVD should have stuff you need again and again.
2. The menu'ing isn't done very well and you can't easily get to what you want,
3. There's a very stilted way of presenting the rhythms, as one revewer mentioned, using the same sentences and standing up to say one sentence, sitting down to say the next.
4. Sona seems very bouncy on some of the moves and I suspect that one could pick up the wrong habit. This is particularly on the lazy accent moves where she seems to lose a whole foot of height.
5. The exact music or tracks you could use are not on the cd.

But I didn't because
1. The video has a lot of content and a whole CD of music on top of that. So one can't quibble really, at this cost.
2. She doesn't bounce while actually executing the moves.

I would love to see another video from Sonia--something outside of the drum solo area.