Search - Bellydance One-on-One: Complete Combinations & Choreography on DVD

Excellent choreography!

Eden Russell | Provincetown, MA United States | 03/28/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I believe this DVD is made as a sequel to Virginia's first DVD "Introduction to Bellydance Technique". As the title suggests, it features a complete choreography broken down in segments.

Virginia in a attractive brunette probably in her late thirties or early forties. She has a pleasant demeanor and a technique I'd give a limb to have. Her facial expression while dancing reminded me of Nourhan Sharif. This actually is no considence as Virginia has studied under the great Yousry Sharif.

I do not have the first DVD but obviously Virginia presumes you already have it as she calls out moves and combinations she does not show. And intermediate dancer would not have a problem with these though. I'm at intermediate/advanced level and did not see anything too challenging technique-wise.

Virginia instructs in a small room which is very brightly lit, so you can see everything. The quality of production is quite good as well. The instuctor wears a nice top, a hipscarf and long black parts which however are cut at the front, so you can see the knees! She immediately gets down to business (no warm-up shown). Virginia then breaks down all 9 combinations. After showing each segment, she dances through it with music before proceeding to the next part.

The combinations are quite good and most of them are universal. These go with the music very very well which is great but unfortunately not always seen in performances. There is little repetition in them - and the overall dance appears diverse while giving the audience the opportunity to enjoy some of the best moves. I love one of Virginia's last combinations, shimmy, hip twists and 90 degree turn 4 times (like 12, 3, 6, 9 hours on the clock).

After the instruction Virginia performs the whole dance in full costume (what a great costume by the way!). It shows some slight variations as well here and there.

There is a bonus drum solo performance with Virginia. It made my jaw drop. Virginia DOES have a killer technique! Her shimmies are fabulous and she does amazing accents with hops and hands to the drumming. Her dancing is absolutely flawless, a great example how a woman with a bit of a belly and hips can become the best of performers.

This DVD is a real must-have in every serious student of bellydance. I warmly recommend it also to cabaret dancers who need new, fresh ideas. I haven't seen elsewhere a lot of her combinations and her style and drum solo performance are so inspiring.

Then having said this, why didn't I give it 5 stars? My only complaint here is the lenght of the DVD: only 40 min, 33 of these spent teaching. Virginia demonstrates the combinations just once before showing them with music. I'm already going advanced and while none of what she showed was technically too challenging, I was having difficulties memorizing the sequence to begin with. Second, you only get to see the choreography from one angle which can be confusing with the weight changes she uses all the time. I think that for the price, they could have spent a couple more minutes on each combination to show it again, more slowly, or from a different side.

My advice: if you are still not comfortable with the basic moves, do wait before you get this DVD. However, if you are at least at intermediate level and are interested in a different and inspiring chreography, make sure to check out Virginia. :)"

Not easy to dance to

Ellena Garcia | Orange County, CA | 09/07/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I was so disappointed with this dance video! It is so confusing and not fun at all. She will say in the video now go to your right and she is going left and I don't know which way to go. When she says dance to the left she is going to the right. They should have done this video in front of a mirror. Big disappointment."