Customer Reviews

Shiva Rea - Yoga Trance Dance

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I ordered this DVD accidentally...when ordering creative core abs. When it arrived and I watched it, I was somewhat intimidated because, at age 60, I could not imagine myself dancing in such an uninhibited manner. So this DVD has sat on my shelf for several months. In the meantime, I was learning Chinese Soaring Crane Qigong and learning how to feel QI move through my body.

This morning I decided to give Trance Dance a try just before giving away the DVD. I was astounded. As the drums started beating, something inside me 'broke loose'...something that I have not felt in 40 years! I began moving in ways that I never thought I could! I felt my hips undulate with an intensity I would not have believed possible...and I wasn't following Shiva Rea's moves! I was doing this with my eyes closed just listening to the music!

Because I have moderately severe pulmonary fibrosis, I checked my HR several times. It never went above 100 yet I was hot, perspiring, and enjoying every minute! After 15 minutes, I was too relaxed to continue! I will now use it as my warm-up for strength yoga..when I want to have internal heat!

If this old body can move so freely, what can a young body do with this music. I had forgotten how fun it is to move so fluidly!

This is another one given in the yoga matrix style. I have only done the "prana yoga only" option so far, and I loved it. It is a lot like the prana section in Yoga Shakti, but 41 minutes long. You do stuff like go into cobra doing figure eights with your chest, in cat do circles with your chest, in bridge do free-form movements with your hips and hands. (There is a lot more, but it is hard to explain adequately.) You are told to explore and do what feels good. It makes me happy, like a kindergardener doing modern dance. I have no doubt that it will help me to avoid injury during traditional yoga practices, as well as get some different kinds of muscle tone.

The dance part I have only watched so far. I don't know much about traditional "trance dance", so I can't critique the reiewer who said this didn't work well on a DVD. But I can say that as an avid dancer, who cares? You may not hit a true "trance" state, but I love the idea of dancing around, pretending to play the drums that are all around you. (There is other imagery in the variety of dance meditations she presents). This DVD is a perfect way to get into dance for those who are shy, because you learn that dancing is about how you feel.

Anyway, I am super happy I bought this DVD. It is different, but that is what makes it good. I am officially a Shiva Rea groupie. Her style is great (as it was in Yoga Shakti): soothing, smart, present, not overdone.

BTW, per her website, this is only one of the three videos she is coming out with in upcoming months. Another will be more traditional yoga, like Yoga Shakti, and the other about the mental and other aspects of yoga.

What a beautful way to teach moving meditation! Believe me, there is nothing better to reduce stress than running around in circles waving your arms! The only ones who will feel silly are those who let themselves be self conscious! Quite a cardio workout this is too. I found myself using segments from Yoga Shakti and this DVD by combining them together in one workout ~ and oh lord is it a workout! Much like Yoga Shakti, this DVD has preselected workouts that range from slow, gentle and "meditative" to "high energy", "Trance Dance Only" and "Prana Yoga". As well as the wonderful "Matrix" that gives us the option of choosing any or all of the individual sequences.

I was quite impressed with Prana Yoga, there were some poses and ideas presented by Shiva in this section that I have not tried before and they are giving me a much more flexible back and tighter abs! The "Twisting Kriya" section really does put me in a trance and the "Infinite Movement Meditation" is perhaps my favorite ~ calming, cooling and restorative as well as a balm for the soul.

The photography, the scenery and the outfits are phenomenal, the dancers look like ordinary people, not models, although I did recognize music artist Joel Virgel among them! Kudos to you again Shiva for all you have done!

Om Shanti

I own and frequently use Shiva Rea's Yoga Shakti - it's the most challenging Yoga DVD I've found to date, so it stands at the forefront of my collection. I enjoy what I'll call Shiva's "academically creative" approach to yoga in general, so I was pleased when I saw advertisements for her new Yoga Trance Dance, and pre-ordered it. The DVD is high-quality; well filmed, and her unique "yoga matrix" is as cool a selling feature as ever, since it allows you to design your own routine. The contents of the DVD are not what I expected, however. I had anticipated more of a creative blending of traditional yoga poses into dance - looser interpretations of the poses set to rythym. However, the DVD is structured such that yoga segments are completely separate from dance segments, and although you can alternate the segments to your heart's content in the matrix, you cannot integrate them. The yoga segments are less structured than your standard fare yoga DVD, but don't offer particularly innovative poses, and are short and few (you can't assemble much more than 30 minutes worth of yoga on this DVD). They're neat enough, but if it's yoga you want to do, you're better off buying a different DVD (try Shiva's Yoga Shakti, which also has the Yoga matrix and offers a multitude of variations on traditional poses, set to well-selected music, and offers the option of elimiating the "instruction" soundtrack and allowing you to practice to music alone). The "Trance Dance" segments are less useful than the yoga. The advertised "free form dance" is TRULY free form dance; the only guidance the DVD offers is footage of people in free-flowing clothing running in circles and waving their arms at White Sands National Monument (which is spectacular), while Shiva's [very soothing] voice encourages you to do the same. The idea of free movement and spontaneous creativity is a great one, and if you're a person who feels silly engaging in it without encouragement, even in the privacy of your own home, you might rate this DVD much higher than I do. However, I'm inclined to suggest that if your proclivity lies in this direction, you should purchase one of Shiva's music compilation CDs, and dance to it on your own. You'll probably feel much more spontaneously creative and less like you're aping the movements of the people on screen (and won't have a visual reminder of how silly you might look in what you're doing!). Bottom Line: a good idea and well-constructed DVD, but not a go-to or essential addition to a yoga collection.

In Indian stories, Shiva Nataraj is the Cosmic Dancer and the original Yogi. In Shiva Rea's Yoga Trance Dance, the two rivers of yoga and dance reunite in combination of Yoga asana and pranayama as a preparation to enter into spontaneous dance and movement. In live Trance Dance events, the leader leads dancers through breath and movement (prana yoga activation) into ecstatic dance (movement meditation) and then into meditation and relaxation.

In this DVD, Shiva works to capture some of the magic of these events. Filmed in White Sands National Park, the visual impact is amazing, an further evolution of the Yoga Shakti series (also by Shiva Rea). The DVD is comprised of 17 mini-sequences, and the Yoga Matrix allows you to combine them into sequence, or you can use a preset sequence. The soundtrack is made of some previously released tracks and some newly written ones, including music from Dum Dum Project, Drala, and KDZ. You can watch each sequence with or without Shiva's instruction.

As a product, the DVD is certainly a great representation of the potential of Yoga Trance dance; however, it is difficult to represent the energy of a trance dance in a pre-planned format such as a DVD. For those who want to experience the energy of trance dance, this DVD is an amazing introduction: visually arresting, sonically charged, and undeniably powerful. Shiva's instruction is beautiful (and classically her), and the dancers are wonderfully real.

This DVD is a true joy to watch, and a wonderful way to experience the joy of Yoga and Dance. Bom Bom Shankara!

Personally, this dvd is one of the few that motivates me to wake up early in the morning and get my body movin. I love the infinite white sands and blue sky setting... it is so beautiful, relaxing to the eyes and you just feel like one with nature in your own home. The spontaneity of the trance dance makes you comfortable because you feel like there is no right or wrong... you just focus on moving and having fun. It doesn't feel like work. It feels very liberating. I truly love it and am so happy that I purchased this dvd! (and I've purchased so many in my lifetime and this is truly one of a kind!) Thanks Shiva!

This was my second purchase of a Shiva Rea dvd - she has got to have the most amazing voice - it is so soothing and she makes you move to the music - it is an action filled yoga program that makes yoga alot of fun - I have been using this and the Yoga Shakti for variety - and it's done in the beautiful White Sands (makes me want to go back). You will sweat to this program - one very good thing about this one versus the Yoga Shakti - these are programs that are roughly half an hour to fourty minutes which makes it easy to do on a busy day.

In this well-produced DVD, Shiva Rea guides the viewer from early warmup vinyasa-like exercises towards ever more trancy, chaotic release movements. I can understand why a DVD like this was bound to be produced by somebody; someone somewhere who enjoys both yoga and trance dancing would try combining the two... and in this case it turns out to be (appropriately named) Shiva. However, I have mixed feelings about this DVD, and the approach itself.

The DVD is set in a sand dune desert, with a group of well-muscled good-looking young people following proscribed exercises. Unfortunately, the yoga-like dynamic postures in the beginning of the DVD were way too brief. While I like dynamic "flow"-like movements, I like to get into them - giving the body time to "get it"; instead, Rea transitions from one movement to the next without giving the viewer a real chance to enjoy what is going on.

A more serious concern is that this DVD, at least in my mind, negates the very essence of trance dancing. Trance (especially hard core styles such as goa trance) is about letting go, about allowing the (personal and group) energy to take over. It is about surrendering to the ecstasy of the body in its connection to the transcendent. In contrast, the DVD is composed of 5 minute segments that jerk you out of the trance just as you were about to enter it. Programmatic, lecture-style approach to trance dancing as featured in this DVD may in fact represent the very antithesis of trance. Consistent with this, the 'demonstrators' in the DVD appeared to be much more concerned with looking good than with enjoying the dance.

This is not a bad DVD. Rather, imo, it is kind of missing the point. In other words, when doing yoga, do yoga. When trance dancing, allow the dance to take over without any regard for form, time, place or skill.

I wasn't sure about buying this DVD because of the dance part but after I saw the previews on the web I pre-ordered it right away, it just looked too good. Everything about this DVD is stunning : the music , the cinematography ,the location (white sands), Shiva's Instruction and much more.
If you like the prana yoga segment on "Yoga Shakti" then you will probably like this too because except the free form dance segments there are also prana yoga segments which are absolutely fun and creative, she makes traditional yoga poses more dancey and fluid so you never really hold a pose ,you move through it , so it's good for the days you don't feel like holding poses or do a rigid yoga practice.Even though I don't usually feel comfortable dancing in front of the TV (or at all) ,Shiva has a way of just grabbing you into it plus the amazing music gets you in the mood.The DVD has 6 preprogrammed practices ranging from 29 minutes to 41 minutes being the longest , most of the practices are mixes of free form dance, prana yoga and movement meditation but there's also a "prana yoga only" practice and a "trance dance only" practice.The "Yoga Matrix" lets you choose from 15 segments that you can play the order you want.
If you want a different way of practicing yoga , this is it!
I can't wait for her next DVD's to be released.

This yoga dvd is unique. If you are looking for something different, something to change your perspective, or something to free your body, this is a good choice.

Who is it good for? I have been doing yoga for 5 years now, mostly practicing by dvd or audio instruction and I didn't find it to be too difficult. I also love dancing. You certainly do not need to have any dance experience to be able to handle this dvd. As far as yoga goes, I imagine it would be fine for beginners who have some experience with yoga, just because it could make you more comfortable with the movements. However, the movements shouldn't be impossible for anyone who hasn't done yoga before (in this case I would certainly suggest just watching it before actually doing it). Advanced practioners may not like it if they are rigid in a specific style or form of yoga. If any person, particularly a yoga practioner, is looking for a different way of doing things this is a good choice. As far as dancing goes- if you don't like dancing at all, I suspect you may get annoyed with this dvd.

Why is this a good choice? As I said, I have been doing yoga for about five years now and I hit a point where I was feeling unhappy with the rigidity of yoga poses as taught under dvd instruction. I wanted something that would give me more flow from pose to pose. My body was craving that. When my body was supposed to continue opening, it was locking from the rigidity. All the movements in this dvd allow your own body to free form release and move, by not always following exactly what the instructor is doing. At first it feels ackward, especially in the dance sections, but eventually your body releases that tension that usually causes all movements to lock. The ackwardness is because our bodies are continuously being taught to lock and hold positions without actually feeling what our own body requires. I think it is a good addition to any person's life, but you have to be open minded. You may feel silly at times if you are not used to dancing. I suggest you actually just take your eyes off the dvd screen at that point because watching the people dance on the dvd screen will likely make you feel silly. The point is not to dance like them. The point is to dance how your body feels you should. You will feel silly for awile until your body actually releases and then you will see the point. Let go. This dvd is about letting go of tension, of all those locking actions that seperate you from the universe. Let go. Surrender. That is what yoga is about and if you understand that, you will understand the freeing movements of this dvd.

Negatives? The filming is sometimes focusing in the wrong place. I think the filmwork is too fancy at times and it becomes a distraction that makes it difficult to follow what is going on. I find it difficult to entirely see what movements Shiva is doing at times because of the filming. As far as instruction goes, when first getting into some of these movements, it is a little difficult to figure out. It might be nice for Shiva to offer an additional section with tips and instruction on the poses, in order for people to get the most out of them.

Overall the positives outweigh the negatives and I think it is good for the days you are feeling locked up, lacking energy, have excess tension, or just want to do something different.

If you are rigid, do not like free flowing movements, hate dance, or only like predictible yoga postures, I do not suggest this dvd. You probably could use it, but you will hate it in the process.