Customer Reviews

Bellydance Fitness for Weight Loss featuring Rania: Hip Drop Hip Hop [VHS]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I bought this set before I read the reviews here. I am a personal trainer/fitness instructor, and I thought these workouts were well written, well-produced, and well executed. One of the most difficult things to do as an instructor is break down a new dance style without stopping the workout. Rania did an amazing job of starting techniques slowly, repeating them, layering them, then speeding them up to tempo. After watching the performances at the end, I realised why she left the more strenuous or potentially dangerous moves out of the fitness programs. I was really impressed with the whole set.

When I read through the reviews I noticed that most of the negative reviews came from people proclaiming to be belly dancers. I was a jazz dancer before becoming a fitness professional. There is a big difference between teaching dance for fitness than for teaching dance as an art form. When teaching for fitness, you have to use only the moves that are effective in terms of fitness, safe, and ones that target a range of muscles groups for a well-rounded workout. If you are expecting to learn to really dance, buy a dance instruction tape. If you want to work out safely and effectively using bellydance moves, this set is first class. Congratulations to Rania.

I just finished doing this workout for the sixth time and my face is that beet red color pale skin gets after exercise. That is how I know it was a good workout, not to mention I am hot and tired and feeling that pleasant rush one gets after exercise.
Anyway, this video starts with a warm up that I like because I can tell that even the warm up will tone my muscles. It includes hip circles, snake arms, and hip drops, all moves that I can feel in my muscles after doing them. Normally I hop around a bit as I am getting a workout DVD to the right place and skip the boring warm up but I do this one because it feels beneficial.
The workout consists of a series of short dance combinations that are taught slowly and then quickly. Each one is layered on top of the next until you end up doing 5 different combinations in a row. The moves are easy to learn -not frustrating at all- I learned them the first time I did this video. I can still hear in my head "step together step touch drop drop drop."
This is a workout video and a good one for a beginner, not an instruction video so I have not taken a star off for bouncy non belly dance form or for facial expression. The reason I took a star off is because it was a little shorter and less intense than I wanted. When all five combinations are put together, you only get to do it three times before Rania says it is time for cool down. I have to get my remote and go back a bunch of times to get the workout that matches my energy level.
All in all though I enjoy this as a short workout video

If you're not familiar with the Bellydancer Rania and her Bellydance Fitness for Weight Loss series, she is an AFAA certified Fitness Instructor and internationally renowned bellydancer. Her four part workout series fuses bellydance moves with a variety of different Western musical rhythms in her belief that bellydance can be done to any kind of music. With soundtracks not always coming off as authentic sounding as one may like, you'll have to use your imagination a bit when you hear the `Disneyesque' and sometimes cartoonish sounding strains of Hip Hop, Salsa, and R & B. The Bellydance Fitness for Weight Loss series are a set of fun workouts and a great way to interject life into a dull and stale workout routine.

Before beginning each workout it's important to keep in mind what these are -- workouts. Although you will learn some bellydance, as all of the routines are nearly completely comprised of bellydance moves, don't expect to buy this DVD and have it be your one-stop shopping for instruction and workout. They haven't made anything like that yet. The pacing required for instruction is way too slow to get your heart rate up for a cardiovascular or fat burning workout. Rania does a very good job of creating routines with moves using similar muscle groups, starting with a slower tempo to teach the move and then returning quickly to full tempo, layering all the movements together to create an interesting routine. Lots of repetition will give you plenty of great bellydance practice.

Each one of the four follows a similar format and vary only in specific content and theme. Hip Drop Hip Hop sports not exactly street style Hip Hop sounds here, but if you work your imagination a bit, it's urban dance-esque in feel. This workout is a bellydance routine set to 80's style hip hop instrumental music. The Bonus section has Rania's Wings of Isis dance as well as one other from "Bellydance Divas" and the Arms, Chest, and Back workout from "Bellydance Fitness for Weight Loss: Daily Quickies...5 Ten Minute Workouts."

The workouts are set in a studio and Rania is backed up by a small group of dancers in matching workout attire w/ hip scarves -- similar in look and feel of the Crunch workout series but without all those annoying logos. The back up dancer's bodies are all variations on different female body types with some being curvy and some skinny, and at least one should look how your body could look if it were in a little better, but not rock hard, shape.

Each of the four workouts has a warm up of roughly 5 minutes. 20 minutes is spent on each disc devoted to instruction and routines. All four finish with a cool down and stretch segment of approximately 5 minutes in length. My biggest complaint is that I wish workouts were longer in length. 30 minutes just isn't enough for me to keep the fat molecules at bay. I would rather the workout be an hour in length and I could always quit part way through on days I have only 30-40 minutes to workout. Also, studies show that the body does not even begin to burn fat until after 20-30 minutes of sustained cardiovascular activity.

Not a lot of explanation is given to the individual bellydance moves but nearly everything is done in half-time to start before moving up to full tempo. Rania's voiceover often gives pointers as to how the moves are done but one would need to either be a little bit familiar with bellydance, or have a dance friendly set of coordination skills. Nearly anyone could eventually pick up most of the bellydance being done on these DVDs with enough patience and practice. Even without doing the moves perfectly you'll still have fun and get a good workout. Only the beginner absolutely new to all forms of dance would be truly lost. Some of the names Rania gives to certain Bellydance moves are different than I've heard them called before but this is common in the dance world where dancers come up with a move and patent the only part people can't `steal' -- the name. Don't let this bother you; it happens in Bellydance, Hip Hop, Salsa, et all. The move is probably the same thing you learned in class just with a different name.

Probably the biggest complaints about Rania's DVDs are concerning her stiffness, often vacant look, and inability to sustain a heartfelt smile. The look and smile I just consider window dressing for a video; I'm certainly more concerned with her ability to dance and teach. As far as her stiffness goes, it does have one advantage here -- a slightly stiff body is actually easier for a beginner to follow because lots of extra movement is distracting to the beginner who is merely trying to get the essence of a move down pat. While it may irritate an intermediate to professional dancer to watch, the beginner will benefit, and although Rania is certainly not the most fluid of dancers, the routines in the bonus section will attest that some, but not all, of her stiffness comes from making the workout moves look simpler. This is, of course, a fitness video for beginners.

In all, each of the four workouts are fun and you'll learn a little bit of dance. I just wish they all were longer.

I have quite a collection of bellydance videos, owning all of Rania's workouts, all but one of Veena and Neena's, and two of Dolphina's (Intro to Bellydance and Warrior Goddess). I must say, as much as I practice each one of them, this one never seems to get old; I could do it everyday. Granted it's not traditional, flowing, bellydance, it's fun 100%. Besides, to any of those complaining about this workout being too rigid, consider this - you bought a Bellydance FITNESS DVD, not a Learn to Bellydance video.
And fitness you cetainly get: great warmup, awesome routine that leaves room for your own attitude to come through, and soothing cooldown. If nothing else, buy it for Rania's performance at the end - very powerful!

I get tired of the same old exercise videos, so this is a great break. Having never tried bellydancing, even if the video is not reflective of bellydance--who cares when the purpose of the video is to exercise!

Although they could show more of the actual leg movements and quit focusing on Rania's pasted on smile, the routine is easy to learn and a great break from everday workout videos. And most importantly, the 30 minutes goes extremely fast!

I do belly dance and found this video a fun workout and easy to follow. Easy to remember combinations. Good for a beginner. Rania is stiff and has a fake/glazed mannequin smile. She also fails to isolate for belly dance and tends to shake it for club dancing but I knew better than to follow. It was helpful and I really will buy other things from her because of that but I suggest to someone learning belly dance that they take a class first then start with Neena and Veena. Jillina is too advanced for a beginner and this one is just not proper technique. More for a fun workout. I will use it again and again.

I'll give this two stars for a few reasons. The set is nice; the music and voiceover aren't bad; the camera work is fine. Rania does a nice job of explaining how to do the steps. The backup dancers made me feel as though I was in a bellydance class. (For the record, they are all slim, but they DO display various body TYPES. They aren't all narrow-waisted with Victoria Secret hips.)

This video has a number of problems, however. Any one of these, or even a few, I could have overlooked. But there are simply too many little problems. To begin, I don't listen to hip hop and wouldn't know what it was if it bit me on the butt. I *do* listen to New Age music, and I liked this soundtrack...for the first 10 minutes. Then it became *very* repetitive. I am not a quick learner, but doing the same step over and over and over doesn't help me learn more quickly; I get frustrated and am ready to move on. (Veena and Neena's "Slim Down" video is made for my type of learner in mind.) Even so, by the end of this video -- and even the next day -- I had the routine utterly memorized. Boo-ring.

Further, as a bellydancer, Rania doesn't shine. She looks like an aerobics instructor doing a bellydance video. She has absolutely amazing abs, but her shoulders are all over the place when they shouldn't be. Her hand positioning is lousy. She doesn't move her head with her hips. And so on.

I'd let that slide, but my major gripe with this tape is that it is not much of a workout, let alone a "weight loss" workout. The moves are not intense enough to get my heart rate up. I am in fair shape -- I can walk 5 miles in an hour on an incline, but I'm not going to be running any mini-marathons soon. Even so, this tape left me barely warmed up.

I give this two stars because it may be beneficial for some people -- the very overweight or very inactive looking for a "starter" workout, those who really like a *lot* of repetition, those who are looking for a light workout to alternate with heavier days. That said, if you are in reasonably good shape, want to learn decent bellydance technique while getting a good workout, or find repetition monotonous, this is SO not the video for you. I have all of the Veena and Neena workout videos, and highly recommend all of them (although the "Fat Burner" is not low-impact). Go with "Slim Down" instead! (If you're here looking to add to your Veena and Neena collection, sorry.)

As for the dance at the end...Rania fails to display the degree of control and sensuality that Veena or Neena do. I don't care for Kathryn Ferguson's video for a number of reasons -- it's an instructional video, not a workout video, the costuming scares me, the set is terrible, the voice-over is hard to hear, and then there's her crazy-perm hair -- but when she dances, I sigh, and wish I could move like her. Watching Rania, I wished for two things -- her six-pack abs, and the blessed end of the twirling and twirling and twirling. As a final slam, my *husband* was unimpressed with the dance and didn't stay to see it finished out. I am glad I bought just this tape and didn't get the entire series -- I just bought Veena and Neena's "Sensual Dance" series instead. I can't get *less* of a workout doing their routines.

it's not really "hip hop" nor is it necessarily all about "hip drops" either! Don't get me wrong, one will DEFINITELY work up a sweat with this DVD. I just expected more of an actual hip hop sound (think of someone like Lauryn Hill) and more instruction on how to actually do the moves than was given. The workout itself was a weird combination of belly dance and pop dance moves which was not what I was expecting at all. I bought the DVD for the hip drops, not to learn how to dance!! And is it just me or does Rania become a tad bit annoying with all the fake smiling? Just curious... Overall though, I would still recommend this DVD to someone who's looking for a decent belly dance inspired workout. The performance segments at the end of the workshop are worth the price as well.

This is a fun and quick (less than 30 minutes) way to workout. I felt benefits immediately ... not to mention, I went down a pant size. Granted, I will probably never have the washboard abs of these women, but I do come away feeling a little sexier.

I bought the four disc set, and decided to review them separately.

This was the first one I chose to try out. So, I pried myself out of bed first thing in the morning and put this in. At first, it seemed just a little too easy, but by the end, I was just about done for. For someone who has at least a little experience with bellydance, the moves are simple to understand. Having not been able to really dance in several years, this reminded me just why I fell in love with it from the beginning. I worked all those muscles again, and it left me feeling sore the next day, but fantastic for the rest of that day.

I would not recommend this to anyone who doesn't know anything about bellydance, however. The moves, while not complicated, are mostly ill-suited to absolute beginners. I know I could not have made it through this workout if I tried this back when I started! I would have gotten frustrated and given up.

Otherwise, this is an incredibly fun workout from beginning to end.