Customer Reviews

Instructional Bellydance With Jillina - Level 1

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

And I have seen quite a few. I have been bellydancing for two years and have taken classes with a variety of live instructors, seen bellydancing live a number of times, danced in student shows, and done several of the videos on the market (Neena and Veena, Rania, etc). Jillina's instructional video is terrific, although I'm not sure how easy it would be for beginners. For a road-warrior who needs to take her dance practice into a hotel room, it's been great.

Jillina's workout is separated into several parts. There is a technique section, where you really practice individual moves. I found this section almost as good as a classroom teaching environment. Then, you learn combinations. The combinations are drilled in, both without and with the music. The combinations are creative, challenging, and yet repeated enough that even I could learn them.

Finally, the combinations with variations are taught in a complete choreography. Jillina has a great sense of musicality, as the rhythms and trills of the music are perfectly matched by the moves. This really made the choreography sink in and "make sense" to me. I also enjoyed putting together a full dance piece.

Jillina also includes a video of her performing this choreography for a live audience. It was so beautiful, it took my breath away. Yet, as you watch it, you also recognize the very same moves that you learned in her video. It's extremely inspiring.

The title of this DVD is shockingly misleading. This is NOT for the beginner!! One of the most important things in bellydancing is that you keep the correct posture at all times so that you do not injure your lower back and Jillina doesn't really mention that and it's THE FIRST thing you'll learn in a class. Please don't make the mistake of buying this as an instructional video if you are just starting out. All Jillina is doing on this DVD is teaching you some nice looking choreography without any in depth explanations how to. There is NOT enough instruction or drilling. I love Jillina, she's a beautiful dancer...so don't get me wrong on that score. This is simply not good instruction for a beginner. At all. If you are looking for instruction similar to a class, go on the net and find Halyma or Amira (Amira is sometimes available on Amazon). Trust me on this. I've only been able to afford a few classes so far and DVDs are my main source of instruction at the moment. I am a complete beginner. I will use this DVD later on for fun and to get a feel for how to put moves together, but save your money for something else if you are looking for pure instruction.

Update 12/19/2011: Someone commented on my review to say that nowhere does this DVD say it is for Beginners. The commenter is correct. It doesn't say beginner anywhere on the DVD... ANYMORE. This DVD has been renamed since I wrote my review (in 2005!!) to reflect more accurately what you are getting. I do, however, stand by my original statement that there is not enough detailed instruction on this DVD. Lots of people have only DVDs to learn from...even calling it "Level 1" suggests something lower level than what you are actually getting. Get a different DVD if you are a beginner and just starting out. Once you lay down some groundwork, then get this for the lovely piece of choreography Jillina teaches.

I absolutely love this DVD! It was exactly what I was looking for! A few years back, I was lucky enough to find a Belly Dance and fell in love with the dance form. Unfortunately, live got in the way, and I was no longer able to attend the class. Since then, I have been trying desperately to find instructional videos that came close to the classroom setting and didn't simply repeat a hip drop on to infinity or try to make the dance more of a "fitness routine", and this is it!

This DVD is broken down into 5 segments:

1. Stretching-a brief stretch of a few major muscle groups. Jillina does recommend a good warm-up of at least 20 minutes prior to stretching and dancing.

2. Technique-an introduction into each of the individual moves with an excellent breakdown of each movement. Each move is only repeated a few times, so you may want to rewind and repeat if you feel you need more time to absorb the movement.

3. Combinations-This section along with the next section is what really makes the DVD work it's weight in gold! Jillina take the individual movements from the Technique section and combines them into short sequences. She walks you through each step and breaks it down without music. After each breakdown section, she includes a segment with music in which you can repeat the combination a number of times (of course, with her vocal instructions included!). The music here is a little bit more pop Arabic music (Hakim, Warda, etc.) rather than more traditional belly dance music, but it is upbeat and fun to dance to.

4. Choreography-This section takes each of the combinations, with a few variations, and combines them into a choreographed dance! Each combination is reviewed with the additional variations. After each review, you have a chance to perform the choreographed dance with Jillina. The choreographed dance starts from the beginning after each reviewed combination so that you are able really learn the dance from beginning to end! This is exactly how you would learn a new dance in a classroom setting!

5. Performance-And finally, you can see Jillina perform the full choreographed dance in costume in front of a live audience. She also performs two additional short numbers (one similar to the dance that you will learn, and another to a drum solo).

The only qualm I have about the DVD is that I wish it would have more tracks broken out in the Technique and Combinations section so that you can easily skip back to repeat a section without having to rewind.

In short:
1. Excellent instruction and breakdown of movements.
2. Fun combinations that you can really learn to dance, rather that repeat the same movement on to infinity.
3. You learn a fully choreographed dance.
4. As another review said, the camera angle is wonderful (Jillina faces a mirror with her back to the camera so that you can see both front and back. Also, you don't have to think about which direction you really need to move!).

5. Fun music!

This DVD was so much fun that I had to go out and by Level 2 and 3 right away! I can't wait to try them!

As an Asian decent with no Arab blood in my veins, I admit I cannot tell what's traditional from what's not. Plus, I'm a complete beginner to bellydance, and I don't know if Jillina's dance is authentic or not. But still I think I can give a fair (?) review of this DVD.

This is a very well structured, easy-to-follow guide for the beginners. Jillina first shows a choreography that she's going to teach in this lesson, and starts from streching, moves on to "techniques" demonstartions, where you'll learn each and every technique used in the choreography. Jillina explains into details of the movement, one by one.
Then, "breakdown" of the choreography comes next. I do like the way Jillina does this part, because the camera follows her move from her back (with a mirror image in the backdrop), making it possible for the viewers to follow her instinctively. Do you see what I mean? If you are a person like me who have difficulty in translating "her foot to the left on my TV" to "my right foot", this "view from the back" is extremely helpful in reducing this kind of confusion and stress.
Then, after the breakdown, she puts them all into a choreographed dance with music, again with the camera shooting from her back.

I recommend this DVD to anybody who wants to have a real "step-by-step" instruction to this exotic art.

This video moves very fast. If you have never tried belly dancing before, I recommend something more like Veena and Neena Belly Dance for Beginners. Luckily I have taken some classes or I would have been so lost! I did like the way that you get to learn an actual dance, where she breaks down the combos. The music is good too. Overall this tape is best for dancers who are beginners but have some experience belly dancing.

Great DVD if you are: a) already a trained dancer in a Western style looking for something challenging b)in shape and able to pick up dance moves at phenomenal speed c) a belly dancer looking for a refresher in cabaret style d) in a belly dance class looking for something to help you practice

For the rest of us, I will agree with those reviewers who cautioned that this is not a DVD for beginners, no matter what the title says. Sure, if you have 2 hours a day, 7 days a week to devote to practice and are particularly patient, you could probaby master the moves, but there are much better (more comprehensive, better taught, cheaper) alternatives to what is being covered in this DVD.

Here are some of my complaints:

The instructions are very non specific ("release your hip", stand with your feet "inside your shoulders"-How much inside? Hip width? More? Are the legs almost closed? No way of knowing.)

Conflicting instructions. ("Don't move your shoulders" while her shoulders are snaking around all over the place)

Cross referencing to other dance types (Plie stretching? Making someone stand on the balls of their feet? How many people who buy this DVD course will be ballet trained?)

No focus. The moves are very briefly demonstrated and you are hurried from one to the next after a few seconds of practice. You will have to rewind constantly to get a closer look at her feet, arms, hips, and legs. This was probably the only way to fit everything in a DVD with limited time for each segment, but it's very irritating, and not helpful to someone who is new to the movements.

Camera and setting. Very, very distracting. The camera zooms in on her navel when it should be focusing on her legs.

Style. This is, very specifically, Egyptian Cabaret belly dancing-not the end all be all of belly dancing. For instance, Jillina is constantly asking that you do not bend your legs too much and keep them fair straight. This is not the case for most basic belly dance moves, the standard position is standing with the feet apart and the knees bent. She doesn't mention this, and demands most moves be done with straight legs. This is fine, but it's a highly specific way of dancing; and it should be made clear that not everyone does things this way.

Jillina is, without question, well versed in her field. This is why this DVD is getting 3 stars instead of one.
There's really not much else I can say that's positive about this DVD, except perhaps that the coreography uses the movements taught in the first part of the session in a way that's fun to follow-if you can get through the first half without being frustrated by bad instruction and awkward positions.

In short, this is fine for someone who already has-or is in the process of learning-the foundations of movement. If you are an absolute beginner and want to learn belly dance, there are better DVD's than this.

This is a good way for beginners to start. It teaches a few basic moves and 1 routine. I like watching Jillina perform but didn't get as much instruction as I was hoping for. I'm a beginner myself and was looking for more in way of technique and moves. I ended up having to buy a few more DVDs that provided a larger range of teaching.

While I love watching Jillina dance, I found it hard to follow along with her instruction as she is too fast. I watched it twice and did the techniques section twice, but did not attempt the combinations as I feel I need to master the basics before moving on. I thought that a beginner DVD would focus more on learning the basics and I don't think this DVD does. I bought it to supplement my weekly bellydance classes. Being a relatively quick learner, I bought it based on reviews and ignored others who said that it was not for beginners. I have to admit that they are right. This tape is much more suited to advanced beginners. I am sure that I will use this tape once I get more experience (have only had two classes), but for now I will be checking out other "Level 1" instructional DVDs and will report my findings.

I was very surprised at how pleased I was with this DVD. Unlike some others that I have tried (Dolphina for example), the moves were very easy to see because the excellent use of mirrors on the set. Her clothing was appropriate for the instructional sections (i.e., she wasn't wearing full skirts while teaching legwork), and the music is motivating. I also like the fact that she explains the right way to move, as well as illustrating what not to do.

A couple of the combinations were a little difficult at first, but I liked the way the choreography was put together. I would have to say that my only real gripe with this DVD is that there is very minimal warm-up/cool-down. Even so, if you're looking for good instruction AND learning a real dance (instead of just a few combinations for a workout), this is an excellent choice.

I have learned and taught the dance on this dvd. Its title is misleading. It is not instructional bellydance, it is professional choreography. This dvd is Level I in a series of 3 choreographies.

The problem with how this dvd is titled is that it does not indicate that it's a choreography, and may lead the buyer to think that it is basic instruction for someone with no prior experience in bellydance.

I have seen this dvd in Target with fitness tapes and I was surprised, because with five years of bellydance experience I knew it was not appropriate for the general audience of people wanting to explore bellydance at home. You cannot properly execute choreographed moves from a dvd with this level of instruction, without at least taking at least a series of basic bellydance classes.

Jillina does not go into a full warm-up on the dvd as the focus is on the combinations and choreography only. Because of the number of complex combinations before the choreographic segments and the absence of explanation of basic terms and movements, I believe that someone looking for a fitness video would be better off starting with a dvd that explains basic bellydance posture and movements, then take a class with a good instructor before trying this.

It is a good and challenging series for someone with six months or more continual training, and the next videos after the first give a student more to master after getting the first one down. This video was marketed to bellydancers on the Bellydance Superstars tour (which Jillina choregraphed) and on their website, but the interest in the dance has allowed avenues for it to get into the general market. Unfortunately it is not for beginners and many people may be frustrated when attempting this with no training.