Customer Reviews

Tribal Fusion Bellydance with Sharon Kihara

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sharon Kihara has a presence all her own. She's deliciously cool, a pleasure to look at and seemingly effortlessly elegant. On her first instructional video, she takes you through a yoga warm up, short muscle isolation drills, and four stylish combinations that reverberate with shimmies.

The warm up
There are two parts to this. The first is a variant of the yoga sun salutation. It includes the triangle and warrior poses. The second part has you doing some "straddle squats". Next is a section that warms up and drills the glutes, muscles that belly dancers use to power their hip work, making movements sharper and more controlled. In this little drill, Sharon gets herself into a split position, tough to achieve for most people. She even does a ¾ shimmy in this position. To get the abs stronger, Sharon goes on to do some crunches and works the obliques. This drill ends with a yoga pose for the back relief to counter the pressure you may have felt during the crunches. Then there's a bit of an arms drill which takes you through shoulder diamonds, shimmies and snake arms. The chest drill followed by the torso drill has the usual stuff you'll find on belly dance videos, but more briefly. The torso drill demonstrates the sharpness of Sharon's undulations. There's an even tinier section quickly taking you through the vertical figure eights and small pelvic circle or "ami". If you haven't been doing any drills, this may be a nice beginning. If, like me, you have, it's more like a demo than a drill. A little more time is spent on hip ups and downs and shimmies. All of this is done to Indian-flavored music. Surprisingly, there are no safety tips and not many posture reminders. That tempts me to lop off a point, but considering it's not aimed at beginners, I'm inclined to let it go.

Combinations
American Tribal Style or ATS parentage shows in the four combinations Sharon takes up. It would have been nice if she'd have shown the combination first and then went on to explain it. For each combo, she tells you what has to be done, and then shows you the whole piece. There's no dance-along or practice built in. Again, I'm tempted to take a point off for that. Every other tribal instructional video I have (and that would be about 15 of my 87 video collection of belly dance videos) does take you through some practice. The combinations are full of rather nice shimmies, very graceful arm moves and style and attitude. Sharon is such a pleasure to watch that I don't think she deserves any points off. Especially when the video is entirely affordable. The combinations finally are danced at one go in a choreography to Bollywood's Chaiyya Chaiyya.

The entire instruction is in Sharon's voiceover. Chapters broken down and easy to get to. I'd recommend actually watching the "bonus feature" first. It's an interview (except there's no one interviewing her) of Sharon and she tells you a bit about the video.

I wouldn't recommend this video for an absolute beginner. And for others who've been dancing already, I'd say do explore the entire lot available now. Some do offer better warm ups, others definitely have stronger and longer drills, and some have more combinations. I do a lot of drills and yoga, and so this nowhere near makes me sweat. If you're like me though, you'll just be delighted to include it in your collection and will love working with a new set of combinations to add to your repertoire. If ten new tribal fusion instructional videos were to be released this month, I'm very afraid I'd buy the lot.

As I said, right at the beginning, no matter what else you get out of this video, you'll get the pleasure of watching this lovely dancer.

I am a fan of the Bellydance Superstars so I was looking forward to this Sharon Kihara video. Unfortunately, I don't recommend it for the following reasons:
1) Her outfit covers her legs so that you can't see what her legs are doing during the movements! Also she was facing a mirror but her image was so far away I couldn't see her reflection.
2) I do not feel she tried to connect with me as an learner. The voiceovers and the fact that she did not look into the camera contributed to this impression.
3) She is a beautiful woman but seemed overly concerned with her appearance. For example, she always moved her hair into position before moving into a new position. Sometimes her hair obscured what her abs were doing. Also after movements, she stopped to pose and smile at herself in the mirror. seemed to spend a lot of time smiling at herself in the mirror.
4) This is NOT for beginners to bellydance. Very few cautions were given during the yoga sequence. Very little repetition of the movements.
What I ENJOYED:
1) The set was visually appealing.
2) Sharon is a beautiful and graceful dancer. Cool tatoos.
3) Sharon has a very pleasant, well modulated voice.
4) Her interview at the end of the DVD was very personal and interesting.
If you are looking for how-to-do the tribal movements and practice drills I recommend Bellydance Yoga Conditioning with Ariellah. Also a good value is Bellydance Basics and Beyond with Jenna for learning general bellydance movements.

Among Tribal Fusion DVD's, this one is a definite keeper! The DVD is well organized in a way that makes sense and keeps things flowing well. Plus, Sharon is gorgeous to watch! The music and set are nice as well.

The workout portion begins with a yoga warm up and then Sharon takes us through a series of isolation drills (glutes, abs, back, shoulders, etc.). I didn't time it, but I think the workout lasted about 45 minutes. I found it very helpful to use a yoga mat for about half of the workout.
I like this workout because it definitely works up a sweat and gets you breathing, but it's not so hard that it becomes frustrating. I'm not in great shape and I could do it, though it took some effort! These are the drills you want to do in order to build up the muscle memory that will enable you to perform the luscious tribal fusion bellydance moves that are so popular these days!
After the workout, Sharon teaches four dance combinations. Then the four combinations are put together into a really nice tribal fusion style dance.

Sharon teaches while standing next to a mirror, making it easy to see what her body is doing. Her outfit is not distracting. She demonstrates the moves while a voiceover (Sharon's voice) explains them. This DVD seems to have a lot of thought and planning behind it. It omits the negative elements (such as distracting costumes, bad sets or annoying music) that ruin the quality of some other dance and workout DVD's.
Finally, Sharon performs the same dance she teaches in the DVD, only she adds her own style and grace. It's a lovely performance.
There is a bonus interview with Sharon and some "credits" where she thanks the people who have inspired her and helped her along her dance journey.

I really like this DVD and it is now part of my weekly rotation. Good quality DVD, well worth the purchase. Highly recommended!

I was so disappointed after all the 4 & 5 star reviews! I hope serious dancers read this. I am writing from the perspective of a professional dance teacher ... your milage may vary.

The good?
Ms. Kihara is lovely, a competent teacher, and has superb style. The combinations she presents are varied and represent the best of modern tribal fusion. Her material is first-rate.

The bad?
As a learning tool, this video was a terrible disappointment. It was produced a bit like MTV. Sexy camera angles and quick cuts to new angles. Sadly ... this is exactly what I DON'T want if I am trying to learn a dance. Every time I got used to the camera angle they would switch to another angle. The moment I re-oriented my brain to "that" angle ... cut to a different angle.

A few minutes of this cut, cut, switch, switch and I couldn't even tell right from left anymore ... much less learn the combinations she was trying to teach.

The Pretty?
In this DVD you purchase Sharon's pretty, packaged, image ... but nothing of real value if you want to learn the actual dance combinations.

I feel sad about my $$ wasted on this. Sad about Ms. Kihara's talents wasted. The combinations are wonderful and i really wanted to learn them ... sadly this DVD is more for "fans" than dancers. This would have been a 5 star instructional video if they had shot from ONE camera angle and showed the dancer's full body. Alas.

This is the dvd I've been waiting for! She has it broken down into several warm ups, then different body parts broken down into sections. Then she goes over combos that create a killer choreography at the end.

Sharon is one of the best teachers! Great DVD and great price!

This is a great DVD for those entering the tribal fusion bellydance genre.

The drills are a great way to learn the moves as well as being a good workout on their own. The choreography is easy to learn as it is broken down into combinations. Parts of it are a challenge but with repetition they are managable. Sharon's beautiful performance of the choreography demonstrates what can be achieved with discipline and passion.

This DVD does not go over and over the moves like some others but if you use the reverse button on your remote, you can repeat them as often as you like.

I'm glad I bought it and have been using the abs workout to improve my core strength.

I bought this video because they didn't have the one I thought I wanted. What luck. This is a wonderful DVD. I have quite a bit of belly dance experience, but this DVD really sharpened my isolations and taught me which muscles to use for each move. I finally "get" how to layer now that I am using the correct muscle groups.
I like the way she teaches. The music is good, and subtle. Her instruction is clear and concise; she explains which muscle groups to use when. The choreo at the end is fun and has variety.
You start out with yoga. Just a few sun salutations. No pretzels required.
Then you do some exercises. These have really helped me, especially the exercises to power your shimmies.
Then there is a section on isolations. This is not a comprehensive run down of all isolations. Beginners will eventually need another DVD to fill in the blanks. The moves she teaches are explained well. I would have liked her to drill some moves longer, but that would have made the DVD much longer. (I bought another DVD for drills, and I find they get boring. I use this DVD regularly because it isn't boring.)
The choreo uses all the isolations and blends it into a nice little dance. I enjoyed this choreo, and found it useful for my own dancing. After explaining the sections and practicing them she puts it all together in a dance which you do a few times. Finally she dances the choreo in costume and adds her own personal flair.
I like this DVD. I now own several, but this is my favorite. Good for cleaning up my isolations. Good for building stamina. Good for building strength and control. Good for beginners (though you will eventually need another DVD to learn the rest of the basic moves.) Good for intermediates who want to build strength for cleaner movements and endurance.
I use this DVD 2-3 times a week, and I have been for the past 2 months.
Edit -- I have now bought copies for a couple of friends as gifts, because that was the only way they would return my copy. This is a great DVD.

As much as I love Sharon Kihara, I hadn't planned to buy this one based on some of the negative comments in other reviews. I ended up with it anyway because the store didn't have the one I wanted, and I am so glad that I did.

First, I love Sharon's friendly, easygoing style. She's also better than most about offering tips and safety cautions in the yoga segment - which is absolutely invigorating. I've owned and used Rachel Brice's Tribal Fusion - Yoga Isolations & Drills for Bellydance for several years and it's been my favorite up until now. However, if I do anything longer than the fifteen minute workout, I feel tired. After doing Sharon's yoga workout for the past week, I've consistently felt energized and invigorated - even when I was tired to begin with. The difference may be that Rachel's drills might be just a few seconds too long for my physical condition. In both the yoga and drills segments, I find it much easier to complete every single drill in Sharon's workout. For those in better physical shape, this may not be pushing it enough but for me, it's perfect. I feel that I'm getting a great workout along with having gotten a good stretch. I'm working toward getting back into dancing after an injury and I also felt significant improvement in my hip work after just doing the workout a few times - which makes me question whether I was not taught properly when I was taking classes. I believe that this is also due to Sharon's choice of verbal cues - or maybe my instructor was not doing a very good job. Her use of "upper abs" and "upper(or)lower back" instead of terms like "tuck under" have made a huge difference in the way that my brain talks to my muscles. She also really focuses on using the obliques, something my instructor rarely did - if ever - and this has been incredibly helpful as well. The Suhaila Salimpour booty dance thing has also helped more than I would have imagined. I've done traditional gluteal squeezes for years and wasn't sure whether there would be a difference in simply changing the posture they're done in. There is. First, it's a lot harder! and sitting in straddle position makes you far more conscious of which muscles you are using. If I keep my hands on my thighs, I find that I am using all the muscles Sharon says not to use! I find it easier to focus on the correct muscles if I place my hands just above my butt. This is a phenomenal workout and I feel like I'm going to be back in shape in no time. I completely agree with Sharon in that it is critical to our development as dancers to build strength in the muscles we use for dance.

While I'll always love Rachel's workout, I was disappointed upon purchasing it that she does not teach any combinations. Sharon's are fun and very easy for an intermediate dancer to pick up. I'm not sure about beginners, but based on my own experience I would guess that this is one of the better tribal instructional dvd's for those at that level. I own and have tried around a dozen bellydance instructional DVD's including Instructional Bellydance With Jillina: Level 1, 2, & 3, a few of Dolphina's and Veena and Neena's DVD's and several from World Dance New York. I've seen very few that are suitable for beginners.

Sharon teaches in front of a mirror so that we can see both front and back, but there are also closeups of her face where she is speaking directly to the student. This contributes to her friendly style but in a few places, we're unable to see both aspects. This is the fault of the person doing the filming, not the instructor, and is only slightly annoying.

Sharon's workout has bumped Rachel's down to number two in my favorites, but I plan to use both of them together. I do love the way that Rachel broke hers down into 15, 20 and 45 minute workouts and wish that Sharon would have done that with hers. However, both DVD's have chapters and it's very easy to skip around to create a workout that suits your schedule and using both together will build your strength and develop your skills.

I really like this DVD. It has fun choreography and it is an actual full dance. The only down side is that she just goes straight thought the choreography, instead of breaking it down as if you were in a class. However, I understand that it takes a long time to break it down and the DVD has only so much time, so as long as you have a remote to rewind, your good. It is great for a person like me that is very familiar with yoga and has already been trained in other forms of belly dance and is looking for tribal technique. I would not recommend this for somebody who is already very familiar with tribal belly dance.

I was so excited to open my Amazon box when I got home yesterday. I have been to one of Sharon's workshops and this DVD makes me feel like I'm getting a personal one on one with her. The streatchin segment helps you to become more flexable and it was a treat to learn one of her dances. You rock Sharon Kihara!!!