Customer Reviews

Bellydance! Fast Moves

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The good: Beginner dancers will learn a very easy choreography to build up their confidence. Moves taught are done slowly, and are not layered. Atea encourages putting them together in free-form. It's great to see other dancers perform solos at the beginning and end of the tape. Atea is older, and a little stiff, but for beginners, it does show that a wide variety of ages and body styles can dance. One learns shoulder shimmies, hip shimmies, as well, in a basic format so one can build on them.

The bad: I would have liked to have seen this a bit longer (I think the instruction and routine slides in at just under 30 minutes). Atea does look stiff when she talks, and it is an older tape. It is a bit dated, but the moves are not.

Nothing that is dangerous, like the backbends on Neena and Veena tapes, is taught, and this is really a great, solid tape for beginner dancers, ones who need to practice at home to gain confidence, dancers with limited mobility who want something relaxed to work with, or a good time to really drill.

This is for beginners, and never tries to market itself higher than that.

This is exactly like being in bellydance class. Very easy to follow. It's fun and can be used to practice steps from class.

I was a little disappointed in this video. Although still very good instructional-wise, the depth of instruction was not as comprehensive as Magical Motion. I agree with Rom's view that the instructional portion was just under 40 min while the rest of the DVD is taken up with performance examples and talking. However, the choreography at the end fits nicely with "Beledi 1-1" from "Rhythm of the Dance" by Solace...a good track to practice shimmies and other fast movements. My recommendation is to watch the video all the way through, then skip over the performances and go right to the instruction. On a side note: for those put off by the costumes and make-up, keep in mind that this was made sometime in the mid-to-late 80s. Look past the gaudiness and see the dancing,

So sorry about the title. I seldom write reviews. It is really because the video is so bad that I feel I have to jump out to warn the future victims.

I have been learning bellydancing for 2 years and own more than 50 bellydance DVDs and VHSs. Atea's "Magical Motion" and "Slow Moves" and "Fast Moves" - my most recent purchase, are the worst.

I don't know how old Atea was when she shot this video. She looks like in her 70s in this video and in "Slow Moves". She looks a little "younger" - in her 50s in "Magical Motion". So imagine for yourself... I would have given "Slow Moves" and "Fast Moves" 0-star if I could.

Her dance was not gracious at all, very rigid, like a mummy. The dance moves are very ugly. I cannot call it dance at all.

To be frank, even this video was free, I would not want to have it or even watch it. But instead, I paid $20, a total of $60 together with Atea's other 2 videos, all thanks to the good reviews from this site.

At the beginning, I hesitated to buy them, because there were extremely good reviews and extremely bad reviews. Now I could guess who have posted the good reviews.

I hope those who posted the good reviews should be responsible for bellydance community - they shouldn't gain profit on others' loss by misleading us.

So for anyone who is contemplating on buying this video, please take some time to do a thorough research, ask others in the bellydance community who have actually seen the video and who are not members of Atea's group.

Once again Atea breaks it down for the layman. Easy to understand instructional video has brief partial review from Bellydance: Magical Motions, then expands into more challenging movements. There is a more energetic atmosphere, and it's lots of fun to train with. New ideas with good instruction will lead you further in your education, and exhibits a lively and beautiful dance. This video does have choreography but it is purely to help you learn the moves, and it does just that. All in all, I was happy with it.

A very good instructional for anyone interested in belly dance. Tha moves are clearly explained and shown, and the choreography is challenging yet not frustrating for a beginner, and just plain fun for an advanced dancer. Should be on every dancer's shelf.

Magical Motion Fast moves is the perfect way to learn the quicker aspects of Middle Eastern dance. The instructions are clearly given, easy to follow and the moves are expertly demonstrated by Atea and her fellow dancers. Even though this video was shot "back in the day" and the fashions, hair and make up look dated, it is still a must have for all beginning belly dance enthusiasts. Good, solid instruction never goes out of style.

Atea's "Bellydance! Fast moves" is a fantastic DVD to teach beginners the basics and help advanced dancers brush up on their skills. The instruction is well-paced, easy to understand and with the use of different instructors you can see how a motion can look when done with variations. I really liked the warm, encouraging tone of the production and everyone looked like they were having a good time. The costumes were gorgeous and the performance segments with the big-name dancers were fascinating to watch. I've seen many instructional videos and by far this is the best one out there. I'm so glad it's in DVD now, so I can review and re-watch segments with ease. I also got the "Bellydance! Slow Moves" and it is a perfect companion to this DVD. With both, I was up and dancing in no time! Keep up the good work! :)

Beautiful costumes, Excellent and inspiring solo performances and Atea's fun and easy to follow instruction make "Bellydance! Fast Moves" a must have! Kathryn Missildine