Search - Egyptian Bellydancing for Beginners on DVD

40 Minute Beginner Belydance workout w/fluid dancer not for

Lena, LMT | Nassau, NY | 01/13/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Hilary Thacker is from the UK & has of course, a UK accent. This dvd was produced in a tent at a restaurant w/tapestries against the wall & floor & simple urns on either side. Hilary is dressed in a jet black beaded top & skirt & which is a bad choice, you cannot see her knees. She calls shimmies wobbles mostly. The production is low, I agree I have to put the volume up to hear her over the music & still have to strain to make her out. The music is always playing & it is wonderful Middle Eastern choices. This helps make the dvd more fun, at one oint, you can hardly hear it & I got bored REAL fast. Each section show a nice b&w photo of a belly dancer. There are no chapter choices. Extras are trailers of her performances (some are very fluid, some stiff), text origions of belly dancing, vintage belly dancing photos,
Hilary's style of teaching is to the point, she does it slow a few times & builds it up & then you practice with her a good amount of time, about the same as any other dance fitness workout dvd. I commend her on doing that, although her delivery & choice of words are lacking & extreme newbies might get lost with her. Those, like me, who think going 1/2 speed is the most important, will be able to follow pretty easily. The lack of warnings about poor muscle use, etc. like the Neena & Veena - bellytwins, Suhaila, Neon, Jillina, Jenna, etc. do is wrong.
Moves she goes over: hip circle, horizontal figure 8s, hip drops, Egyptian walk, hip bumps, hip & shoulder shimmies, hip twist, fluid hands/arms, snake arms, hands & camel walk. The last 10 min is a lot of veil work. Dancing around it, behind the head, in front, butterfly arms, everything most other teach & then some.
I'd say having the music playing throughout was a huge help, her patience & doing everything many times is great, but the sound was off, her teaching could be better.

Her website is hilarysbazaar com says: Her intermediate has a number of exciting variations of the beautiful Baladi folk style and how to dance with a stick & includes class scenes. The advanced has Hilary explores four rhythms, first with as a drum solo & then set to music & there is also some beginners finger cymbal instruction."