Search - Bellydance: East Coast Tribal - Basics, Combinations & Strength Workout DVD on DVD

Finally an instructional videos for fusion genres!

UrbanLotus | NY, NY USA | 10/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This instructional dvd is for tribal FUSION bellydance which incorporates influences from other genres of dance, such as hip hop and modern dance. Although it shares many features with American Tribal Style (ATS) bellydance, do not expect to find it here. What you will find are really unique and skillful movements along with a killer strength training workout.
Tribal Fusion involves a lot of technique and skill and is very muscle-oriented. Sera effectively teaches new and interesting combinations that you can use along with your own bellydance style. The instruction is clear, the moves are awesome, and the work-out is great.
This is the future of bellydance."

Good workout for isolations, hip work....

TJ Currey | Snoqualmie, WA USA | 10/26/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Coming from a Gypsy Caravan background with ATS mixed in, the dancing in this DVD is different than what I am used to. The basic moves are the same, however, and Sera does a brilliant job at warming up the body and forcing the hips and the thighs to work - frankly, the 30-minute warm up is enough to do me in - ha! Asthetically, it would have been nice for the other three girls to smile as much as Sera did - but then again, I can't say I'm much of a smiler when I am working out as hard as I was. ;-)

It's a good workout DVD for those who don't want to run the same belly dance DVDs over and over again. I would recommend it"

Excellent teaching, and a versatile video.

atisheh | New York, New York | 08/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I finally worked through this video after owning it for a while, and I was stunned at how excellent it is. There are a few flaws (which I'll get to later), but those aside, it's a superb video.

First things first. This is not a beginner's DVD. Sera neither gives the kind of explanations of basic movements a beginner would want, nor does she present all the basics of bellydance. No way. It is, however, a great DVD for intermediate dancers. Sera goes over some basic movements (especially in the warmup), but in such a way as to help you increase your flexibility and power.

The 20-minute warmup and the 10-minute drill section get you doing some basic stretches, focusing on your isolations, and quite importantly, working on powering moves from particular muscles. The dancers mirror your movements (so when she calls "left," they actually move to their right) which I prefer. Sera is extremely thorough about calling out which muscle to use for a move, and always managed to remind me as soon as I forgot. I *was* worried about the neck stretch, since she moves the head all the way back, and some moves also seemed quite hard on the knees, so I modified them. In the choreography Sera is careful to point out which sections are knee-unfriendly, and sometimes offers a modification, but this is not the case in the workout. She does, however, tell you when certain moves are difficult for beginners, so you don't get discouraged.

I would say that, considering how cheap the DVD is, the warmup is worth the price alone. I know I'm going to use this (with some extra stretching) as an introduction to other bellydance videos.

Next comes a demonstration of the combinations to be learned, and then very detailed instructions for each of six movement combinations. I had watched the video before, but only by doing it could I see what a brilliant teacher Sera is. She has that uncanny ability to know *just* when you're relaxing a certain muscle, or doing a movement lazily, or forgetting about your posture, and to give a perfectly-timed reminder.

On the other hand, the combos themselves are challenging and, to my eye, beautiful. It's not hard to get the basics of each, but to do them right, with the correct arm movements, good timing, and perfect form, is hard. This is a major strength of the DVD: you can grow into it a little. Both the warmup and the dance instruction are basically doable for an advanced beginner/intermediate, but they have enough layering and little details that you have a reason to go back and do the video again.

As you can probably tell by the length of this review, I am impressed! I do want to say though that it's not the right DVD for you if you just want to pop something in the player and shake your hips around. Some of the muscular movements can be quite strenuous. You need to pay attention to the instructions, you need to listen to your body to avoid injury, and you may even need to pause it and practice a movement slowly and carefully on your own. And you need to stretch thoroughly at the end. But this is what makes it so good."

Add a little East Coast Flavor to you dance by mastering "st

Bella Vida | Los Angeles, Ca. | 11/02/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am not a huge fan of the super urban, breakdancesque style of East Coast Tribal bellydance, but I love this DVD! First of all, it has a fantastic, thorough warm-up, stretch, and isolation segment. This 20min segment is very well put together. The movements really flow, and you really get a great stretch while tuning into the muscles you will need for dancing. I have been doing this segment daily whether I continue with this DVD, do another, or attend dance class. Next you get 10 mins of hip work drills. This portion really gives you a leg work out. Then you get to see the choreography that you will be learning demonstrated in costume by the Solstice Dance Ensemble. Again, if you are a traditionalist, you will probably not like this very funky, urban style. But if you are always looking for new expressions of the Bellydance artform, you will. The longest segment of this DVD follows. This is a detailed breakdown of the six combinations used in the choreography. Sera does an outstanding job teaching these moves. Her technique is the reverse of many other instructors. Rather than start with small, very muscular, segmented moves and moving to flowing undulations, she begins with large over exagerated moves and then reigns them in to very controlled movements. Her technique really works. This segment is 45 mins. so if you do the entire video, incuding the choreoghraphy demo, you get 1 hr 25 mins of wokout time, a great value if you dance to stay fit. Finally, the DVD is organized quite well. It has logical, easy to use menus, good graphics, sound, a visual effects, and is attractively packaged."