Customer Reviews

Bellydance for Core Fitness - A Belly Dance Workout

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I pre-ordered this DVD, so naturally I did not have a review to fall back on. I expected to see an energizing, fast-paced routine, a DVD I could put in my drive and get some sweat - after all that's what a workout is! The description made me believe that the excercises will be targeted at specific areas in the body. Eg, if you want to work on your abs, do crunches, etc.

I was more than surprised when upon receiving the DVD on the back cover I saw that the total run was 170 min (almost TWO HOURS AND A HALF!). This already looked unusual for a workout. Once I ran the DVD I understood why.

The DVD comprises of two main parts, Tutorial and Workout. The Tutorial is more than 1.5 straight hours long!

When you play the Tutorial, you see Ayshe alone at first (she is later joined by two of her students). She's probably past her middle ages but an amazing dancer with an impressive technique. Ayshe speaks directly to the camera and explains everything in great detail, which gives you the feeling you're right there with her in the studio. The studio itself is nothing too fancy but the lights are great and everything can be seen very clearly.

Ayshe starts by reviewing the body posture. This is by far the longest and most comprehensive review of the body posture I have ever seen. Ayshe takes her time explaining which body posture is correct and why; how it should feel and how it shouldn't. It's good to remember that Ayshe has a degree in this field, so she is INDEED an expert. There are also pictures shown of the spinal column and the pertinent muscles used. This is truly amazing! Suddenly all becomes clear AND logical. [A lot of teachers can show you how stuff is done but they can't explain why it works]. To put a disclaimer here though, let me say I am licensed as a massage therapist and a part of the training is taking 100 hours of more hours of anatomy and physiology, thus I was aware of the body structures she addressed. In relation to this I do not think she mentioned a very important part of the body posture - keep your shoulders down! Horizontally it's clear where they go but trying your best to do it right, one can bring her shoulders closer to the ears which would compromise the levator scapula and the infraspinatus and lead to stress in the shoulders. So, your chest up and shoulders down. :-)

Ayshe continues with a few excercises to help strenghten the muscles. The issue of safety is addressed at ALL times. Ayshe, aided by her students, shows slowly and meticulously, giving plenty of repetition but don't expect sweating. The tutorial includes more excercises which teach how to fully isolate particular muscles and work on these only. The Psoas is paid a lot of attention in particular. I have to remark here that by the way Ayshe explains it, it looks like the psoas is an anterior (of the front) muscle just like Rectus Abdominis or the obliques but it isn't. At least I got this impression. The excercise she shows is very effective - if done right.

Her whole program actually is like that - you have to listen carefully to her explanations and take your time soaking in the information and exploring. I found using a mirror a very good way to take advantage of her "don't do that" tips. Also, seeing three different body types works great. At the end Ayshe demonstrates pelvic locks/thrusts which are very funny to look at but I can't think of a better way to strenghten the muscles of your lower abs.

The Workout: Ayshe demonstrates a warmup, dance combinations and a full dance followed by a cooldown. As a basis she uses the steps and excercises demonstrated in the Tutorial. This is great because this gives you an opportunity to focus only on isolations first, then to incorporate them all together in a string - in a whole dance.

Do not expect endless shimmies. You will be disappointed. If you need a "buckets of sweat" DVD, try the other one with Ayshe and Blanca - Ultimate workout. THAT one is really vigorous and truly a "workout". This DVD trains precision and safety of movement, thus is quite dissected and you could say, slow.

YOU MAY NOT LIKE THIS DVD IF:

1. You don't care for anatomy or kinesiology.
You don't need to understand how an engine works inside to be able to drive a car. To say figuratively, there are a lot of explanations about the "engine" of the body to utilize its "performance".
2. You want to go down to business without listening to too much explanation.
Ayshe does a lot of speaking. The tuturial, the bigger part of the DVD, feels more like a lecture at times.
3. If you don't have a lasting interest in bellydance or movement anyways.

This DVD is recommended to eveyone else, especially those who:
1. Have a lasting interest in isolations and dance in general.
2. Rely on videos to learn bellydance
3. Experience back pain, while dancing or otherwise.
4. Would like to learn more about the body mechanisms

This DVD is really difference and truly one of a kind. It taught me more about body posture and the mechanism of body isolations than all of my other over 15 DVDs together.

Practical tips: If you're working for a real "drill", you may want to check the Ultimate workout (directed by Jehan)
Sadie has a wonderful Drum Solo DVD and the first part of it is a section with excercises for muscle strenght. Her pelvic locks are absolutely fabulous - the right workout to go with after Ayshe's explanations.

To sum it up - a must-have in every 'serious' bellydancer's collection!

Bellydance videos seem to fit into one of two genres: instructional or performance. The instructional types can be further broken down into those videos that are fitness oriented and those that tend to focus more on bellydance technique. Generally, I prefer the latter as many of the fitness videos are simply routines that implore viewers to do their best to follow along. Often these fitness videos contain little, if any, information on how to do the movements. There is usually very little time spent on actual technique and movement breakdown. Instead, the instructors tend to err more on the side of producing a video that will have their watchers up and moving, even if they are not necessarily moving safely or with proper bellydance form.

Finally there's a bellydance "fitness" video that corrects this issue, providing a fun, sassy "follow along and dance" format while also including enough technical information to make the best instructional videos fear being sent to the bellydance swap pages. Ayshe, seeking to provide dancers with a way to improve their core abdominal strength, has created a DVD that offers viewers three distinct sections. The first includes all aspects of the typical fitness video (warm up, combinations, a dance section featuring the combos, and a cool down) combined with Ayshe's detailed voice-over description. This part of the video is a great bellydance workout as it is designed to specifically target key muscle groups important for technique such as the psoas and glutes. Each section of this "workout" portion could serve as a stand-alone exercise plan on its own, allowing viewers a nice variety of options all wrapped up into one DVD. For those seeking to simply follow along, the second section provides the same format without the narration. This part is in the standard fitness video style, allowing viewers to work at their own pace along with the video.

The third part of Ayshe' creation is, on its own, easily worth the price of the video. Here the instructor reveals her special talent of analyzing and clearly explaining the technical details of each movement. Ayshe spends a lot of time discussing the muscles that drive each move, presenting her information clearly and concisely. I was pleased that, although Ayshe certainly knows her human anatomy, I did not need a medical degree to understand her descriptions. And, in addition to all of this technical stuff, Ayshe shows several short drills with each movement and muscle group, a nice bonus for those of us who desire less to practice combinations to improve our dance and more to simply drill, drill, drill!

A particularly interesting aspect of this video was Ayshe's choice of movements. Rather than include the "standards" that many dancers know and love, Ayshe instead chose to highlight those moves that would improve core strength. Ayshe provides an interesting, diverse selection of movements, many of which are rare to find on instructional video. She even includes several folkloric steps, a nice and unexpected touch for a fitness offering.

I confess that I normally steer clear of bellydance fitness videos, but I can honestly say that I not only enjoyed Ayshe's work but will also actually use it regularly. This video is definitely worth a look and one I'd recommend for everyone's collection.

Great Abdominal Core Fitness Progam!

This is an excellent learning program. First, the tutorial is detailed, explaining how to identify and learn to use the psoas muscle, thus the inner core muscles used to engage the pelvis. Interestingly the psoas muscle is defined as relating to menstrual and reproductive health as well as the fear and shame of the reproductive cycle if not in proper state. A relaxed psoas is believed to quell fear of intense partum and strengthens the belief that belly dance was used to alleviate the pain associated with childbirth!

Included in this great program is an in depth explanation on the importance of posture in dance and other physical activities, strengthening and using core abdominal muscles, their relative positions in the pelvis and such.
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Learn beledi rhythm, 2- step versions, fun, Moroccan folk step, karsh, and arabic twist step. These are fun and easy to learn!
Easy follow along choreography with delightful music; workout with music only or music and narration. Ayshe and dancers are delightful!
Great warm up and also included is a cool down using floor work and yoga related poses.

I've been looking for a video that is both instructional and gives a workout. This one is great! I love the tutorials on all the different moves, and Ayshe does a great job explaining the movements in the instructional part of the video. This is really great for a beginner like me. I also thought the actual workout was great, I was breaking a sweat, but I wasn't about to drop dead at the end (which is great because very strenuous exercise tends to aggrivate migraines for me). I highly recommend this DVD for anyone wanting to get a fun workout.

I really enjoyed this video. It provides a very well thought out introduction on the mechanics of the movements. Although the intro is about an hour long it is worth watching. The meat of the video is an even paced choreography that is very easy to follow. I would recommend this video for people who are just starting to learn how to belly dance like myself and individuals who like an explanation of each movement.

O.k., so, I've been trying to teach myself bellydance. The thing is, there are a lot of fun DVD's out there where you can follow along, but, really, you have no idea what the heck you're doing.

For absolute beginners in Classical Egyptian Bellydance, Ayshe is the best teacher for specific technique of any of the World Dance teachers. The best. The best I have seen on any of my other bellydance DVD's from other companies.

I could not figure out which muscles to use when getting the hips to move up or down, which is pretty basic for bellydance. I have lots of pretty DVDs that have amazing choreography, and have no explanation. Ayshe helped me think about the movements, and figure out some of the basics.

If you want to know, "Which muscles exactly, in which movement?" For that, you need Ayshe's tutorial. I've never seen anything like this on DVD anywhere, out of about 20 bellydance DVD's produced by several different manufacturers. Some of the other teachers are good, but they are not beat-it-over-the-head-and-repeat-with-pictures sort of teachers, which is what I needed to really 'get it'.

There is some grumbling about her being stiff: she is a typical attractive, female, slightly older East Coaster. If you listen to her carefully, you realize that she is comforting to listen to--I think some of the complaints may be a regional-difference thing.

The explanations Ayshe gives are really, really clear. She shows pictures of the muscle named, and then repeats the technique very slowly. She is not boring--she puts students in the right position, then shows the move from the front and side, then shows a picture of the muscle involved, shows how to do the move wrong, and then has you practice very very slowly.

It's important to start with this kind of technique so that you don't have to relearn how to bellydance. The technique is important for two reasons--avoidance of injury and being able to do all of the movements. Without isolating the movement of the hips into certain muscles in the glutes, you can't move the upper body properly, because the muscles that are supposed to be moving the upper body are moving the hips, instead.

If you really want to bellydance, and you are a beginner, this is it.

I'm 50, wanted to learn Belly Dancing SAFELY as well as for fun. I read the reviews and went in with my eyes open.

The Good Points:
Excellent advise on safe technique and the anatomy behind it.
Excellent advise on what you should be FEELING, not just how it should LOOK.
Very generous on how some dancers can use varying techniques for standard moves that are NOT wrong, but can lead to injury if you are not physically built the same way, so she shows you alternatives.
Excellent camera work.
Excellent dress code. You can clearly see their legs/feet position without clothing getting in the way.
Good warm up. Nice dance routine combining the elements of the tutorial. Nice cool down.
Excellent background music.
Excellent value if you haven't got a tutor, her dvd is very thorough.

The Down Side:
Not a great speaker. She is somewhat stilted, hesitant, faltering in her speech. In a long tutorial, this can be a problem. I had to watch the DVD several times before I did anything, because I found myself 'tuning out' and missing key factors. It was work to keep focused.
Time. You will probably need a lot of it, especially initially, to get a measure of the tutorial. I think you will have to be very honest about your limitations as far as how dedicated you will be to finding the time to study this dvd if you have a busy life-style.

To summerize:
I think it is worth taking the time and effort to apply this material. I know from experience that if you want to learn anything, from driving a car, to typing, etc, it's easy to 'grind in mistakes' and in exercise, you certainly don't want injuries through bad technique. I have decided to break the tutorial down into segments of one exercise at a time. Once I have grasped the move correctly, I will go onto the next one by following it on the dvd, whilst keeping up with the first move whenever I have a moment as I go about my day, just to keep the muscle memory ingrained. Example: Ten hip drops each side before I leave the bathroom, waiting for my coffee to brew, etc. When I've got most of the moves solid, I can follow along with the warm up and dance routines knowing I am doing them safely.

This is one of the best tutorials I have seen. I would take a half star off for Ayshe being too long-winded in explaining how to correctly perform the moves without injuring yourself. She is very detailed and obviously very knowledgable. You will learn how to execute the moves correctly and you won't find that in the majority of bellydance DVDs. If you do not have access to a live teacher, this is a must have for the lone learner. There are some good DVDs out there, but if you can only afford a few, this one is essential.

I have never written a review but feel compelled to write one for this DVD. I have a few bellydance dvds that are out in the market (Dolphinas, Neon bellydance for abs to name a few) This is the first one that goes in to specific detail as to where the movement comes from. I have tried to learn some traditional and basic belly dance moves from other dvd's but this one broke down the movement that I would say it can also be used as an intro to bellydance moves that originate from the hips and core region.

The tutorial is long and drawn out but you can fast forward when you feel you have heard enough.

The warm ups and work out its self is well put together and although it looks simple you really work target areas. Great DVD to have for beginners.

The dvd didn't get 5 stars because the technique portion may make you want to shoot yourself. Way too drawn out- she talks each detail of every move to death. Overkill to the point where you may have had the move at the demonstration... but once you have listened to all of her instruction, you now are just totally confused cuz she gives you a little too much to think about.
If you are a seasoned bellydancer- you will enjoy just going to straight to the workout. If you are a beginner- the technique tutorial is not very helpful, you may want to try this dvd after you have learned the moves from another source so you can avoid having to use the tutorial.
But at least, you do not have to endure the entire tutorial for instruction on a single move because she has each move on a menu where you can select an individual move and just review directions on that one move alone. So it is not totally painful.