Customer Reviews

Bellydance Show Basics for Beginners

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can only marvel at the vast amount of information, priceless to a dancer; a full three hours!
This dvd does not teach belly dance but rather how to put together a tasteful, entertaining show for a public venue, or a special guest perhaps in your own living room. Rich in information including costuming tips, how to put together a costume with just what is in your closet, accessorizing, applying dance make up, enhancing your face with color in order to create drama under stage lighting.
I recommend this dvd to those with a background of at least basic belly dance foundation who are ready to entertain family, friends, or a public gathering.
Included are the following elements needed to perform your own belly dance show beginning with this sequence:

Entrance-Several varieties of traveling steps-toe ball heel, shuffle step, practice steps and choreography.
Veil- entering veiled, removing the veil, veil manipulation, a practice and veil choreography. How to discard the veil by twisting it tightly into almost a rope, retrieving the veil gracefully and dancing into it.
Party- the happy beat to get your audience motivated once you have removed your veil, it is time to
entertain, use hip drops, chest lifts, traveling steps

Ciftitelli- the sensual segment of your show, all your sultry moves, done tastefully to captivate your audience; again with a practice mini choreography that is fun and alluring.
Drum solo- the earthy accents that define what the hips of a belly dancer can do, small tight moves with little traveling steps bring taste and even more mystery, a few hand claps to get the audience involved.

Finale- a short graceful choreography to end the show, with veil and just enough music left over to keep the audience wanting more.

This program includes excellent tips on entertaining for a special guest, such as a birthday honoree, or a public group, also audience participation, common ethics in dance, eye contact, so much more!
There is a section with voice cues which guide you into the choreography as if you were right there being instructed by the beautiful Tanna Valentine. The "music only" section is great once you have all the moves engrained in the brain. A mini-class in how to play finger cymbals to add variety to your show, with basic elements of floor work to mesmerize your audience; the classic beauty of true belly dance.
This program is carefully put together, I cannot think of anything left out; there are all the elements needed for a show, guidelines at your hands.
Tanna's costumes are beautiful, the backdrop is breathtaking with beautiful rich flowing fabrics that set you in the mood for belly dancing. She connects directly with her audience without undue jargon and eased into her program with knowledge, drawing you in curiously. I took this course from beginning to end without stopping.
Here is the structure with all the elements to prepare you for a great show, brought to you by professionals with experience and success! What are you waiting for?

This is a fantastic instructional DVD, not for learning the basics of bellydancing, but by giving you the building blocks to create your own show. This information is hard to get, and here it is all in one 180 minute DVD. Tanna Valentine is a gorgeous and graceful award-winning dancer, and on this DVD teaches an American Cabaret Style routine, with very simple but eye-catching choreography. There is nothing technically demanding in the dances, and Tanna breaks down each step and gives you plenty of practice time.

The Dance
Entrance: On making a serene and graceful first impression, where to focus if you are nervous, etc.
Veil Dance: Shows the endless possibilities in a simple piece of cloth!
Party Song: This is a fun dance and the place where you can get audience participation, especially is there is a guest of honor. Tanna shows you the many ways to get them to dance with you, and also how to get them to go back to their seat when you want them to!
Ciftitelli: This is the slow and sensual number, and Tanna points out the many things you have to consider before doing any floor work in this section.
Drum Solo: This is the hardest part of the dance, as it takes a lot of control and energy.
Finale: This is how to pick up your veil and make a lovely and memorable exit. If you've studied the lessons on this DVD well, they won't forget you!

The How-To of Everything Else
Cymbals: What to buy, how to put them on, how to play them.
Costumes: Tanna has a sumptuous array of costumes in her collection, but for those just starting out, or maybe dancing in only one show, she tells you how to get the best effects for the least amount of money. She even goes in her closet and shows how everyday skirts and tops can be transformed into costumes.
Make-up: This is a great demo of how to apply stage make-up. Dancers need more make-up because the movement makes it harder for the audience to see your facial expression, and Tanna demonstrates the application on her friend Mary.
Staging: Public and private venues, and what to look out for and how to adapt your choreography to the area you'll be dancing in.

The Music
The music Tanna uses is wonderful and with traditional instrumentation. It is all on the CD Bellydance New York - with Amir Naoum. This is a terrific CD for dancing or just listening, and perfect to have everything you need for your show on 1 disc.

This DVD is a must for beginners who are setting their sights higher and want to know more about bellydancing, anyone putting their own show on for the first time, and even seasoned dancers might learn a tip or two from Tanna!

Tanna is beautiful and she wears some gorgeous costumes as she demonstrates, teaches and perfoms. She gives tips on costuming, make-up, and performing in different venues. The veil instruction alone is worth the purchase price! This DVD is a must for the beginner that wishes to perform. Unless you are a super-quick visual learner, you will need some basic moves before this video. Tanna is clear and easy to follow. The best part is that you can purchase or download the music that goes with
the choregraphy you will learn! I loved the music!

This is a good DVD for BEGINNERS. I realize that is what the title says,but even if you have been dancing for a while, you want to learn new techniques for peforming.That is why I bought this. I have been dancing a while now and even though I'm intermediate, I bought this thinking that it might teach me something new. It is a good DVD if you are majorly sweating your first performance,or if you want to put on a show for someone. But if you are not new to the dance it won't teach you much that you don't already know.
If you are a beginner, BUY THIS. It is a good DVD. If you are an intermediate and have never performed before BUY THIS. It will help you understand the structure of a show. If you have performed more than once,and have taken for more than three years from a good teacher,it will probably be stuff you already know. So be a doll and pass it on to the new kid in class who is freaking out because she is performing for the first time.

The thing I really like about this DVD is that you actually get to learn a dance...with some DVD's you just learn moves but it never seems like you're dancing. This one is all about dancing. It's not a bellydance workout if that's what you're looking for. You get to learn a beautiful choreographed dance. I like all the menu options too...you can just go over the movement review or the choreographed dance and with voice and music or just music. There are so many tips about dancing as well to learn from.

I have personally met Tanna who is a warm and very down to earth person. And she comes across the same way on this DVD. Not only are her instructions clear and concise but she also includes tips and some personal experiences (both good and not so good) that she has encountered. I am very interested what it would take to produce a personal performance and Tanna provides many of the answers. She also rounds out an entire show by breaking down each component/segment for a full 20-30 minute show featuring only you as the sole performer. What music to select and how to keep control of your audience while keeping them interested and engaged. The dvd is jam packed with information about set design, taking command of the stage, make-up, costuming, etc. and would recommend this DVD. It is definitely worth the money spent.

This DVD is very good and worth every penny. Tanna Valentine is a very good instructor and each segment contains useful information, regardless of your dance level. The makeup section is fabulous. Highly recommended!

I'm watching Belly Dance Show for Beginnres with Tanna Valentine. This video is such a little gem. Now I was lucky enough to study with Sabrina and Amira Jamal, both of whom taught me the 5-part routine and how to do either a restaurant show or a bellygram. But often, I think this information is hard to come by. It's full of tips like how to recover from veil mishaps, cute things to do for photo-ops if you have a special guest, veil wraps, even makeup tips. It goes through each part of the American Cabaret routine and then has extras on floorwork, makeup, costumes, staging, and so forth. Each little section is packed with information, the sort of thing we would have spent entire classes on in Amira Jamal's class. These World Dance New York videos are always packed with information, so that you can work with them for a long time, revisiting. I do that with my Ranya Renee Baladi video. I would say it's probably a nice complement to Secrets of the Stage.

The only change I would have made to this video? I would have filmed it with a "fake" party guests, in a party situation - either a pseudo restaurant or a living room set up. Because it would have been nice to be able to demonstrate some of the situations she's talking about, particularly the audience participation section.

I totally agree with her comments on ciftelli/taqsim section. Those movements - the snake arms, belly rolls, and hand articulations - are what people think of when they think of bellydancers. Contrary to popular belief, it's not boring - it's what people have been waiting for. I really liked how she described that.

The only thing I find a little odd is that it's very much taught at a beginner level, especially the technique (ex: breaking down snake arms), but by the time most people are ready to dance professionally, they should have already learned their technique. So it's almost like the video has two audiences. I'm mostly skipping the technique sections and just watching the concept sections. Not that the technique sections don't contain a lot of interesting information too (I watched a few), but they also break down snake arms and describe an arabesque. So, I don't think that if you need to learn snake arms, you should think that if you do this video, you can now go out and get a restaurant gig. This video is just a taste, just a preview, of the kinds of things a professional needs to know. But it's good, you know, because this information doesn't necessarily get out there. We're so lucky in Boston to have so many teachers that have had long professional careers, but that isn't true everywhere.

This is the key of how to put it all together! This dvd is beautiful and of much value. If you like bellydance but need to know what it is all about this is where you will find it. Its not the moves that are important here, but something much more, how to make it flow and improve your knowledge of bellydance. Highly recommended! There is also a great cd that has great music that played on the dvd.Bellydance New York - with Amir Naoum
Amir Naoum Chehade;Elias Sarkar (Artist)

Been covered for the most part.......it's a great DVD. It covers the details of how to put together a traditional cabaret bellydance show/ performance for fun or for a real venue. It's alot of fun, while also being very interesting and informative. I love that Tanna really gives the viewer lots of visual ideas from your costumes, make-up, to the actual dance performance piece. This is a must for your bellydance DVD collection.