Customer Reviews

Discover Bellydance: The Sensual Art of Bellydance (Boxed Set) [VHS]

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I DO NOT like exercise, I repeat I DO NOT LIKE EXERCISE!!!

But...I LOVED THIS SET!

I have become an ardent fan of bellydance in the last three months. The greatest appeal, for me, is the lack of complications to this exercise. No weights, mats, or any other special equipment is required. You can wear traditional fitness gear, or wear a dress, or wear nothing at all. It is movement and stretching that feels good all over!!!

The Bidasha twins have single-handedly (or double-handedly) changed my life. I feel very differently about my body (I'm severely overweight.) This art form makes me feel fit and beautiful and I am losing weight and building muscle tone.

I made the error of purchasing the videos seperately. Believe me you may as well purchase them all. However, my one complaint is regarding Mystic Dance which has less actual dancing and teaches more hand gestures and veil movements. Still, all of this adds to character and expression when you dance so it is still valuable.

For the most part, the pictures were very clear and audible and the movements were demonstrated in an understandable fashion. Occasionally, I thought the cameras focussed more on the dancers' upper body and faces when I really needed to see the whole body, but this was really rare.

I also reccommend Bellydance Fitness for Beginners if you feel silly purchasing a Bellydance instructional tape. These are quick and uncomplicated thirty minute workouts that give you energy and tone you up. Believe it, if you hate exercise, this is the workout for you!

I got this video series to tone up. I had abdominal surgery several months ago, and the scars were making me feel as "un"sensual as possible. AND -- I'll fess up -- I'm not a toothpick girl with a flat tummy or a tiny rear end. I'm a regular gal who looks nice in a size 8. I was a little nervous about trying something that required my pale, scarred middle to be out in the open.

After practicing the series every day for 4 weeks, I lot 4 inches off my tummy, and 3 inches off my rear. My clothes fit better, and I look forward to practicing every day. I hate to exercise, by the way... but I really like this series. The dancing distracts you from the actual exercise you're getting.

Veena and Neena look like real, honest-to-god women, with a little bit of lower-tummy padding, and a just right amount on their upper ams and hips. They aren't frail little toothpick women like you often see on t.v. shows [cue Callista] or typical workout videos. That they were proud of their curves was a huge inspiration for me to bare my tummy too.

Someone mentioned the "voice over" instructions being impersonal. I can only say that I am practically deaf, wearing a hearing aid, and a cochlear implant, and I was able to clearly understand everything being said without using closed captioning.

I found the videos to be both challenging and fun. Each video has its own costumes and choreography; you won't be bored by repetitiveness between the 3 videos. I recommend it, even if the music is slightly cheesy.

This is a wonderful set for someone completely new to bellydancing!! I bought this set after being exposed to arabic dancing from arabic friends so the first one was pretty easy for me. The difference, though, is when I dance with my friends we did not just focus on one move at a time, we just danced away. In the second tape the chest moves and hip moves really toned me up because you do strictly those moves a few minutes at a time. I love them!! On my sides where I used to be able to pinch fat has disappeared!! I am so happy. The third tape is killer on the arms!! The turns, though, are too much for me. Even with spotting I get very dizzy so I just skip that part but I can do the turns in the choreographed dance. The voice-over did not bother me, and neither did their "frozen" smiles on their faces like it did some others. They really do break down the moves and teach you beginners belly dance!! I must say, now, though, I use Suzanna DelVecchio's tapes for advanced instruction since I would say I am an advanced dancer. But those Sensual Tapes really helped me polish and tone to be able to get more advanced!! I love the way belly dance makes me feel so sensual and sexy!!

The Veena & Neena videos are an excellent tool for beginners seeking to learn basic steps and isolation of the body. I have been and avid enthusiast for over 10 years but did not start my actual instruction until recently, as I had trouble finding instructors.

Until I was able to find an instructor, I purchased the Basic and Beyond Basic videos. Not only are the videos professionally and beautifully done, the twins break the steps down in a way that they are easy to understand and execute.

Once I had started taking classes, I found myself being well ahead! Many of the moves the instuctor taught, I already knew how to do, and did them well!!! The videos are not intended to replace actual instruction, but they are a great for learning fundamental movements and an excellent supplement to dance classes.

Many instructors' styles and teaching methods are different, so if you take a class AFTER studying the videos, do not expect that you will learn ALL the exact same moves. The basic moves and arm positions are similar and build on each other but are not done the exact same way by an instructor. Also keep in mind that the moves that you learn in the videos may have different names when being taught in an actual class (For example an "undulation" taught by Veena & Neena may be called a "camel" by your instructor).

I would recommend taking notes or writing down the names of each movement before actually trying the moves and don't move on to the routine or the next video until you fully understand and can execute the moves. I would also recommend to those that do better with live instruction to take a few classes first and then purchase the videos.

Once you have a better understanding of the moves and have learned technique, choreography and receive a critique from your intsructor, practice what you learn from the class, then practice with the videos. The videos will enoforce what you learn in class and will help you learn moves that you may not learn in class that you could add to your personalized routines.

These videos are an excellent buy and I highly recommend them to anyone who wants to learn or is already taking belly dance!!!

All three of these tapes are just excellent. The first one, 'Basic Dance,' teaches you the basics, 'Beyond Basic Dance' is a little more advanced, and the final tape, 'Mystic Dance,' goes beyond and offers veil instruction. Each tape starts with a great warmup and then isolates upper and lower body movements, demonstrates some steps and then leads the student into a choreographed dance routine with two practice sessions before the twins come out and do the final dance in full costume and to tempo. The production quality is excellent. The camerawork is great. If the twins are showing steps, the camera isn't focusing on their abs or breasts, like some other tapes do. Neena and Veena are also costumed appropriately in leggings and tank tops so you can see what they're doing as they show you the moves. Only at the end do they change into costume for the final dance routine. I own several other tapes by other dancers, and I think this series shows how to do the movements and dance steps most clearly. If I were told I could only keep one bellydance instructional series and to throw out the rest, I'd keep Neena and Veena.

Sensual Art of Bellydance is an amazing set if you want to get a decent work out and learn bellydancing. The instructor's voice is calm, not shouting, and the steps are easy to follow and that's coming from someone with two left feet.

I don't keep up with exercise very well, but I've been working out to tape one for a year now. I feel as if I have mastered it so I have just moved on to the second tape. Both tapes have been challenging and fun. Also I'm losing weight, and hey that's always a bonus :)

But the best thing of all is how you feel during and after. The elegance that is associated with bellydance can lift anyone's self image... and this is coming from someone with a very large "image" ;)

I got these beacause I have always wanted to learn to bellydance.I got the first set of workout tapes and loved them but wanted something that concentrated a little more on teaching dance moves. I love these. They are easy to follow. All the moves are broken down in a way so that you have no trouble learning them. The sets are great and costumes at the start and the end are great. By the end of the tape you put all you have learned together and you are actually doing a choreographed routine! It is great! I felt beautiful and sensual doing these moves. You feel so feminine and womanly. Your body really feels it but it is worked so that you feel good while you do it. It doesn't seem like exercise, just fun! And it is worth it to see the looks on people's faces when they ask you how you are keeping in shape and you say "Oh, I've been bellydancing..." My husband tells everyone about it. And my four year old daughter loves to shake with me! She insists on putting on a skirt and following along. It is a nice change from lacing up your nikes and sweating your butt off jumping around, while you wonder when you'll be done. You really lose track of time beacause it is so much fun! My daughter and I really reccomend these tapes!

I bought five belly dance movies, the Art of Ancient oriental dance(1&2) and the boxed set for Sensual art of Bellydance. I first recieved the ancient art and had a hard time following, I also hurt some of my muscles.

The other night I did the first of the sensual art movies and loved it. The instructions were easy to follow, they followed through the steps many times. The went from slow, to a little more up to speed and finally to tempo. They were informative and easy for me to do. I loved it. The only let down I had was sometimes when they were explaining the movements the camera would be focused on the actresses belly instead of her whole body, so it was hard to know just exacly what to do. I am glad I purchased this set, because I have the other ones handy for when I get a little better.

May be the best you can get short of classes.

I live in an area that up until a few months ago had no middle eastern dance instructors within less than a 1 hour radius. Since I didn't have a car, I couldn't take the weekly classes one hour away or more. I had only taken one, four hour workshop and had a few lessons from my friend and her mother previous to getting this set. Veena and Neena really helped me out. The warm-ups were relaxing and easy and once you got to learning the moves each one was shown briefly so you could see what you were going to learn, then broken down, then repeated at an increasing pace. I found that the voice over made it easier to concentrate than having them talk to you directly, as specialy because there were two of them and switching around would have been distracting. At the end of each tape you are taught a simple choreography which is first broken down, then rehearsed at it's normal pace with the music, and lastly Veena and Neena perform it in costume. I liked the music, which I don't think sounded like porn music or whatever that other person said. It sounded middle eastern, and the tempo of the music always matched what was going on and set a pace for you. Overall I thought the videos were not too short or too long and easy to learn with practice.

A few months later I was pulled up to dance with dancer Suspira at the Marakesh. After her show she came to my table and complimented me, and even seemed amazed that most of what I learned was through videos! When I began classes a few months after that, my teacher was also impressed and I found that the moves being taught in class were easy to learn because I already knew the basics and was already loose and flexible, which is difficult for most beginners because they are not used to moving that way. This set is a good jump start, but if you want to go anywhere with bellydance make sure to take classes.

What a marvellous box set and certainly a must for aspiring bellydancers out there. I have only recently started taking bellydancing classes and I have found these videos very helpful in practicing what I have learnt during class. Neena and Veena's gorgeous smiles, fluid movements and beautiful figures are inspirational.

Despite what other reviewers have suggested, the use of a voice over, rather than Neena and Veena speaking (they just smile gracefully) is not off-putting at all. I am far too busy concentrating on the movements to find it at all disconcerting. In fact, I think it works far better than if they were to personally talk the student through the steps.

I do hope Neena and Veena produce a video for more advanced students soon!