Customer Reviews

Perfect Hips Belly Dance Workout: Abs, Hips, Butt & Thighs

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Length:: 1:27 Mins

Moves are broken down carefully and there are several 5-minute workout sessions that target different muscle groups. All the while you are learning real belly dance moves! A lot of fun and a great workout. Designed for exercisers who have not been exposed to belly dance. For experienced belly dancers, there are several other DVDs that are more difficult and work on choreography.

Oh my gosh my legs are on fire! I really felt the burn after doing the section on core conditioning.She is one very fit and talented dancer.
The things I liked about this DVD was
1)she explains the movements briefly, not over and over like some others I've seen/heard
2) the way its broken into segments so I can just click on the workout section I want to review
3)she is warm and calm, never shows any diva attitude, nice smile
4)Easy to follow
5)she instructs facing a mirror which is SO mush easier to follow along to, than having to reverse your movements because the teacher is facing YOU
6)the lighting and mirror/backdrop is not distracting at all-no funky computer generated backgrounds
7) the bonus performance at the end with the beautiful and talented Zaheea
8)she wears workout clothes that show what her body is doing, no skirts that cover up what her knees are doing
9) the camera angles show her whole body, not just shots of her face or specific body parts that happen to be moving
I only wish it was a tad longer with perhaps another different workout with a little more traveling. But still, its very good and you will get crisper isolations following this video continually. LOVED this DVD and I'm going to buy all the others she has out too. Michelle is truly a dancers dancer.

I bought this video because I had liked Michelle's other videos (Basic lesson and drum solo), however I was totally disappointed when I watched it. This video presents exactly the same material as in the other 2 but shortened! What a rip-off...I wish this had been mentioned, that's why I gave it only 2 stars. The material itself is quite good for serious learners of belly dance.

Let me start by saying the meat of this DVD is great! I have been belly dancing for about a year now, and purchased this DVD to add to my home workout rotation to supplement the classes I take. Even with that experience I still found the workout a good challenge. There's even a more 'advanced' section that includes shimmies. Michelle's breakdown section even put a few more things into better perspective for me, so that's another big plus.

These are the things that kept me from giving it a 5 star rating:

The warmup and cooldown are a bit lacking. The thing you need to watch out for is one of the first moves in the warmup is a rather aggressive stretch. If you haven't been dancing for a while or are fairly sedentary before you start using this DVD... Warm up a little bit even before the workout's warm up. Once you get beyond that first part, it is a decent warmup. The cooldown, I felt like 'why bother with putting it in there?' I just do my own stretching instead.

The overall production of the DVD. I really wish the menu were broken down even further than it was. On other DVDs I have, there is the main menu which has the sections, but they break each section down even further. This works better for those of us who pick out sections to focus on. Yes, that's a bit nitpicky I admit, but I think the production looks a lot more pro when its broken down like that.

Is it worth the money? Yes. I'll be including it in my DVD workout rotation. My thighs and hips definitely felt the burn. And, I can't stress this enough...anybody who is starting to work out or do any form of belly dancing, pay attention to your body and work within its limitations.

A really good workout - which is kinda rare in bellydance workout DVDs. Plus, it teaches real belly dance technique. Good for people just wanting some kind of different way to get fit, but a really good introduction and foundation for the dance.

well lets put it this way...im almost 50 yrs old...over weight and out of shape and i loved this tape. it was easy to follow, easy to master the moves, well explained and slow enough to follow. i give it 5 stars all the way across. if your already into this type of excersize and movement, it may not be energerized enough for You. But if your simply starting out and trying something new, this is the one! the only one thing is that perhaps the instructor fussed with her hair a little to much, maybe should have used a pony tail..laffs

I own A LOT of bellydance workout dvds but this one is one of the best. Although I'm not quite sure if I will ever have "perfect" hips, I am sure that this dvd will help me get back in shape quickly. Michelle Joyce has come up with a fun workout that not only covers basic bellydance movements but gets your heart rate going as well. The excercises may be a little challenging at first for someone who is totally out of shape but none of the moves are high impact so even the most devout couch potato can use this workout without fear of serious injury or heart attack! Michelle has a friendly personality and a warm, conversational approach to teaching that makes it a pleasure to follow along with her instructions and demonstrations. This is another winner from Michelle and Cheely Girls Productions. I can't wait to see what they come up with next!

This is a great beginners belly dance workout as well as a good introduction to basic moves. Michelle is warm, friendly, and encouraging but she does point out more than once that you really need to *work* to make the moves look effortless. Her positioning in front of the mirror is innovative and makes her easy to follow; sometimes, it really helps to see a move from two different angles to get a better idea of how it's done.

This DVD is broken into numerous segments, including a warm up, core conditioning, a breakdown of the moves (with time to practice each one), movement practice (very basic dances using the moves you've just learned), advanced practice, a cool down, and more. One of the things I actually like about this video is that during the segment called "Putting It All Together," Michelle doesn't cue. I think that this is a *good* thing because it feels more like dancing and less like an aerobics class. (This was one of my primary complaints about the belly dance DVDs developed specifically for workouts.)

Another great thing about Michelle is the way she breaks down explanations of moves. For example, with "Figure Eights" she explains that not only do you bend and straighten your knee to get the hip to circle, but you also need to really push out with your hip to get the move to look right. Her explanation of how to do snake arms is also the only one that's ever worked for me. I've taken a couple classes and they didn't help as much as her simple explanation. She always seemed to remind me to open my chest or tuck my pelvis or tighten my abs right when I was getting sloppy - obviously, she has some teaching experience! Best of all, she drills you nice and slow on the moves too - not only do the muscles burn, but they also learn.

There are a lot of moves on this DVD, more than I learned in the three weeks of classes I took (before moving here, where there are no local tribal instructors.) Speaking of tribal, the basics covered in this DVD are a great foundation for any belly dance form, from cabaret to ATS to tribal fusion. I'm very pleased with this purchase, and I'll be buying more of Michelle's DVDs.

I'm so glad I had some belly dancing experience, because I would have been lost without it. this dvd might be useful for an in shape belly dancer who wants to keep in shape. It is NOT an exercise tape for anyone who is out of shape.

The first problem is the set up. There's a lot of forwarding through stuff you don't need to watch more than once, or are too out of shape to do. You end up feeling bad for "skipping" things you physically. can. not. do.

The second problem is the "warm ups" A beginer is going to have a hard time getting into that cross legged position, and one stretch requires you to remain in a wide stanced squat for the better part of five minutes.

The "cool down" consists of her telling you that cool downs are important, but she doesn't actually walk you through any cool down stretches. Stretches can be vastly different depending on which muscles you worked.

Unless you already know your stuff, I wouldn't reccomend this. I'll suffer through it once a week, but only out of stubborness to get my money's worth (It's going to take awhile)

It is marketed as an exercise DVD but also has great instruction about belly dance technique. It has a lot of the same stuff as Michelle's Belly Dance Basics DVD but this one doesn't have a choreography and has several extended practice sessions that are better for working out. So, if you are just wanting a cool workout get this one.