Search - Belly Dancing Fitness on DVD

Good pace, relaxed, fun teaching

Lena, LMT | Nassau, NY | 04/02/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the 2nd DVD I tried from Amira though I have like 30 other bellydance dvds & this is the 1st of her series. Her series goes as follows: Vol 1: Bellydance your way to fitness, 2: Belly... your way to energy 3: Belly... your way to your soul 4: Belly... your way to your soul mate 5: Belly... your way to a feminine total body work out.
There is only 1 option on the menu, though the 45 min dvd is split into chapters.
This starts with a brief vague history on bellydance & how it's a good workout while Amira dances for 3 min.
She dances like a good latin dancer, not structured like the good bellydancers like Neon or Neena & Veena, the bellydance twins, but she helps you to relax & just get into it w/o thinking too much. She's not the best dancer, a bit sloppy, but she's not too bad.
The set is a wood floor with colorful scarves hanging from the celing & pillows under them. There are 5 backup dancers, all young except one who looks to be in her late 30s in blue skirts/bra tops with bead hip scarves. Eastern music w/fast good beat plays throughout.
Amira seems very nice, perfect aerobics instructor feel to her teaching, no breaks, going slow at first & then normal speed soon after, teaching as she goes, so it doesn't get too slow/boring. She counts a little, but mostly calls out what to do next & reminders about keeping muscles tight & not rolling spine & how to keep your balance best. She lets you practice a nice amount of time as she thinks the average person's muscles would fatigue.
Section 1: Preparation - breathe, relax, balance, focus
Segment 2: Wrist circles, shoulder rolls, snake arms, butterfly arms, cobra arms, shimmy shoulders
Segment 3: Upper body - chest lifts & drops, V chest, waist side to side, rib cage fwd & back, torso circles, chest circles, camal
Segment 4: hip shimmies, pelvic shimmies, hip circle, hips lifts & drops
Segment 5: Basic walk - fwd, back w/hip lifts & drops
Segment 6: her teaching 2x of 1 part of a basic routine, 1x of next segment of the routine, then all of a sudden no teaching & them dancing around.

This is a nice addition when you already own a few dvds & need another perspective of another teacher who's more relaxed & want the class feel though she doesn't stop too often to explain to let you get bored. Take off 2 stars if you expect to learn to be more poised & perfect your moves.

There are video clips on her site at amirmor com"

Fun for a first-timer

Amanda | Montreal, Canada | 09/11/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great DVD if you want to learn to isolate muscle groups - belly dancing is really great for getting you to focus on moving individual parts of your body while trying to keep the rest relatively still. This is similar to the muscle isolations involved in aerobics, spinning, pilates and yoga, and also to the warm-ups I was taught as an acting student.
My only complaint is that this DVD moves very quickly from the basic moves into a full-scale dance routine. You haven't learned enough from the basics to really participate in the dance at first. You also need a bit of space to be able to step forward and backward and to do the whole dance routine along with the video. After a bit of practice and a bit more space this should resolve itself."

Amira Rocks!

firefly | The Woodlands, TX | 08/31/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After reading reviews on other Amira Mor DVDs, it is obvious that one will either love or hate her. I happen to be one of the former. As a novice to belly dancing, I found her to be the very opposite of intimidating - relaxed, open, friendly, with a genuine enjoyment for what she does. This DVD is divided into segments, which makes it easy to repeat or skip ahead. The steps are demonstrated and repeated - enough to learn from, not too much to become boring or overly repetitive. She offers words of encouragement at JUST the right times, and her student dancers are of all sizes and races, which makes one feel that, truly - anyone can learn this! Yes, she does have an accent (which again, you will either love or hate) but she makes very sure her words are clear and understood. The only issue I have with this DVD is towards the end, in the segment on walking - the outfit she and the other dancers are wearing partially covers the feet and ankles, so it is impossible to view just how the foot is to be posed. She describes the position in detail, but it would be reassuring to actually SEE the pose as well. The group dancing at the end is wonderful, with Amira letting her students dance freestyle, making the viewer feel as they could just join in. This is a wonderful DVD for the beginner or for anyone wanting a very low-impact workout."

Okay instruction, lame on routine at the end

Tara | Los Angeles, CA | 01/21/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I think this was an okay video to learn the basic steps of belly dancing, but it's seems rather cheaply made with a lame set and not the most beautiful costumes I've ever seen. It also didn't feel like much like a fitness video. I got more out of an overall body work out with the DVD "Discover Bellydance" with twins, Veena and Neena. Bidasha.

But back to "Belly Dancing Fitness": at the end of the video when you expect to pull all of the moves you've just learned together, you aren't really given clear instruction, which was disappointing because part of the fun of learning all of the steps is pulling them togther into a dance routine. I found myself scrambling around trying to follow what the dancers were doing which was not as fun.

And while it's nice to see Ms. Mor and her dancers perform at the end of the video, they suddenly just came out of nowhere dressed in more elaborate costumes that when they were instructing you and boom - your lesson was clearly over. Sure you can just dance around with them, which I did, but I'd have much rather they spent the time walking viewers through a rewarding routine they could immulate at home, rather than just swirling around lost at the end. It is an exotic art form after all."