Customer Reviews

The Body Language of Bellydance - Movement Catalog Series

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A twirl of the wrist, a tilt of the head. A lifted gaze, a softly extended arm... Such are the elements of body language that can take you from movement to meaning, from dexterity to expressivity. With the lovely Neon you can become a proud goddess, a humble slave girl, a flirty princess, or a girl in a dream. But always, you will be a dancer - one who knows the secret to making your dance sheer poetry in motion. Just draw from this 'catalog' of poses, gestures, accents and movement strings to enhance and deepen even the simplest dance.

This DVD is so beautiful you can just watch it a few hundred times. I'm very familiar with Neon's many videos and have been reviewing them for many years. Because she specializes in beginner instruction, you don't often get to see her full dance repertoire. But on this DVD you see how nuanced her dancing can be.

The preview and product description are completely explanatory. Neon sets the right expectation by pointing out this is not an instructional video but a catalog and demo. All the same, it would have been so nice to deepen the explanation - and go a bit slower. Like some of the newer videos from World Dance New York, it has a rushed feel, going from one move to the next without a pause to assimilate. Perhaps some separators between movement collections would have worked, but I can also see that this would have disturbed the flow. Still, all it needed to go from demo to instruction is a little slowing down. That said, just watching many times will lead to internalizing this beautiful language - a language that is, after all, a stylized and dancer's version of everyday human communication.

The elements and phrases Neon shows you, arranged in themes, as you can see from the description, are melting and liquid. You can't look at them and not want to produce them yourself. Watching this lovely demonstration I find myself amazed at how a tiny nuance like an upturned palm or a flick of the fingers can completely change the message given the same move. It makes you wonder, not just at Neon's mastery of a dancer's language but get how much more eloquent than words body language can be.

I would unhesitatingly say that every belly dancer should see this and then go ahead and explore these movements in her very own way.

This magnificent open level program is all about the embellishments for belly dance. A must have reference tool for the belly dancer.

This is a wonderful collection of expressive arm gestures, turns, hand movement; all the little non verbal phrases that captivate an audience, so richly done! Working with this 90 minute program is so enjoyable and has brought awareness to the subtle nuances that make huge impacts in dance.

Neon is not only beautiful and very graceful, but her work is superb and sophisticated. Her instructional videos are perfectly organized or "catalogued" to facilitate learning. This concept is useful especially when referring back to specific material.

The Body Language of Belly Dance Movement Catalogue consists of:

Body language phrases by themes: magic/ritual, spiritual experience, majesty, divinity, drama flirtation, compassion, dream and inspiration.

Arm trajectories- parallel arms and circles, inward outward exchanging use of the palms.

Trajectories into phrases-this is a very extensive section for the arms, hands using spirals, circles and exchanges position of the palms.

Enhancing expressivity-this section utilizes accents and angles for the face, head. In addition, rotation of wrists, finger ripples, chest movement along with 3 step turns, paddle and pivot turns.

Sample body language "choreographies" Neon takes the movement into mini choreographies to convey messages of magic, and a beautiful sampler of "odalisque". Easy to follow along as the movement flow is well organized.

Performances: 2 fabulous performances, one solo by Neon
Program music only is a wonderful feature.

"The Body Language of Belly Dance" is a wonderful exploration of non-verbal communication through dance, and though made for belly dancers, this instructional DVD could be advantageous for choreographers and performers of many genres.

Neon knows how to express herself exquisitely through dance, and also verbally, as she explains throughout this well written 90 minute DVD how to tell a story with gestures. Neon also has a mellow, melodic voice that is easy to listen to, with her attractive Russian accent. The instruction is photographed against a plain blue background, making every movement easy to see.

Neon starts with a Body Language dictionary, and then moves on to "Arm Trajectories," and "Accents and Angles," going into more detail and incorporating the whole body in these movements that tell a story. The final performances are terrific: The first, "In Love with a Time Bomb," Neon dances with Angelys and Jenna Ray, and then finishes with a dazzling solo, "Odalisque." Neon is a marvel. A stunning beauty, a modern Scheherazade, who can tell 1001 tales with the flick of a wrist or a graceful step.

Do you envy Neon's style, grace and expressiveness? Her secrets are revealed in this DVD! Take your dance to aother level by learning expression. This is yet another DVD from World Dance New York that is on my list of videos to get if you want to do video learning (and who doesn't? It is convenient and you can start, stop, and work at your own pace!)to your routine. With this DVD you will learn that it is the entire body integrated that gives real meaning and expressiveness to belly dance, and you will learn HOW to do it! So let's see what that body has to say!