Search - You Can Bellydance! Absolute Beginner Belly Dance on DVD

Great starter!

Lisa C. Wade | USA | 03/09/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Being fairly new to bellydance I was greatly helped by this DVD. Neon demonstrates basic moves and strings them together into two very nice dances. Nothing too flashy here: just good info. Why didn't I give it five stars? Not being formally trained in bellydance, I had a hard time watching Neon's knees to see which leg was bent and which was straight. She's wearing flare-leg pants and heels which makes it a bit difficult to determine the exact bending-straightening action so necessery to the moves. I eventually figured it out and enjoy Neon's style tremendously!"

Love Neon's dance ability, don't enjoy her teaching style

Lena, LMT | Nassau, NY | 11/05/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Menu options:
Dance 1 - very easy, slow music style, slow movements
Step-by-step (instruction only) Learn & practice (instruction & practicing routine as you learn) & Practice (routine only 12+ times)
Dance 2 - drum solo, more energy, more interesting, faster beat
step-by-step (instruction only) Learn & practice (instruction & practicing routine as you learn) & Practice (routine only 12+ times)
Performance - Neon showing her skill
Music - text on what music you hear so you can buy it if enjoy it

Neon is a beautiful dancer.... she's more fluid then most, she almost moves like she is a snake & awesome head balance ability as well.
With that, I found her older dance instruction dvds very cold with no backgrounds & no music. I also found it advanced compared to Jillina, Neena & Veena, Dolphina, Rania, Jenna, Suhaila, Rachel Brice, etc. etc. Yes, I have a large collection.
With this one, I was hoping she'd have more instruction & still have you try the new move several times like a workout before moving on. No, this is more like learning a dance routine & she barely spends time on any move before moving on.
The cold stark white background is boring & the lack of music during instruction is killer. Now I know why her old ones had graphics of how to move, she tells you a few things, but nowhere near enough for beginners. She shows you 1/4 speed 2x about & then 3x in normal speed as she counts out loud 1-8 like dancers learn. The pace is slow & easy, you would burn more calories walking probably.
I tried playing a belly dance cd I got with my "art of drum solo" belly dance dvd to help with the monotony, but it still didn't help.
If you want to learn with more repetition, try the belly dance twins best, Rania (though she's REALLY stiff), Suhaila (though she's a bit too challenging for most beginners in terms of athleticism) or the "ultimate bellydance fitness" which shows you in 1/2 speed & then normal speed which is how I learn best.
This is best for beginners who want to learn an easy routine & who have an idea how to do the basic moves.

You can see a preview of her style on youtube under "you can belly dance" & "Dance Today Bellydance" (which looks 100x more lively/fun then this one) or her name for many clips of her."

Not realistic for true beginners

C. Tracy | 10/30/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I had no experience with bellydance before I purchased this DVD. However, while it is a neat concept (the dance is broken down, the pieces practiced, and then put together,) this product is not realistic for a true beginner.

1) The light skinned instructor wears white clothing against a white background. Her moves, while slow to be instructional, did not stand out enough for me to copy them effectively.

2) The instructor wears long, baggy pants, so it isn't possible to see how her leg is positioned. I can see the tips of her toes, but I can't even tell if she is wearing heels or if she is just flexing her foot.

3) The dances are pretty boring. Not that I expected to do much the first time, but I actually got this video for exercise and muscle toning and the dances are so boring and minimal that my heart rate doesn't even go up."