Search - Instant Bellydancer 1: A Crash Course in Belly Dance on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 3/14/2023...

Pretty detailed explanation for the ladies to learn Belly Dancing!

How do I string these movements together????

HeartofAvalon | Denver, CO USA | 12/20/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Are you just beginning to bellydance or are you at the place where you are trying to string some moves together into a cohesive "thing?" This is a good DVD to show you how. This breaks down all of the basics, with great alignment and technique to get you started, and also helps you actually "dance." There is a difference between learning the moves and "dancing." This DVD helps. Neon is a energetic, fluid, natural dancer, and helps us (me?) to believe we can be one too. It is a good basic DVD to get you going with bellydance, and a good "checkup" as well when you are feeling stagnant with your skills."

Contradictory

Eden Russell | Provincetown, MA United States | 06/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I purchased the DVD I expected it to be a little different. It has its ups and downs. It's a nice DVD for a complete beginner but it's still lacking in some ways.

PROS of DVD / What to expect from it:
1. Neon teaches some basic moves, her instructions are clear and you can actually see her muscles working (she's very muscular).
2. There are traectories and pointers, a wonderful way to learn the concept of the moves.
3. Everything could be seen very well.
4. Neon is a very graceful dancer and she's very fluid in an inspiring kind of way.
5. A great extract from Neon's performance DVD Stellar Body.

CONS of this DVD / what NOT to expect from it:
1. Title is misleading. It will NOT make you instantly a bellydancer. It shows you a bunch of moves to try out on your own and an idea how they are done gracefully but that's it. It does not give you a sense of completion (it didn't happen with me anyways). There is no choreography included, just a couple of combinations which are nice but far away from qualifying you as a bellydancer.
2. It lacks a certain inspiring atmosphere; I saw other people complained about too. Neon's clothes are very close to the body and you can see every contraction or twist. However, I can understand how that could be a disappointment to anyone who expects hip scarves, fanning skirts or harem pants. The music background she uses is in a matching rhythm but I would have prefered more Mid-Eastern tunes. In other words, the setting lacks some authentic quality to it.
3. There is no warmup at all. I would expect that a complete novice at bellydancing should be given a few suggestions how to prepare for dancing. (I don't care for those long head-tilting-toe-lifting types of warmup but a few words would have been nice).
4. I haven't bought DVD lvl 2 and I'm sure more's shown there but I was stunned to see that Neon would teach full body undulations but nothing about hip drops/ hip bumps! In other words, what she teaches is thematically correct the way it's organized but probably not sequence-correct.

If you enjoy dancing or want to learn to master a few moves at home, this would be a wonderful DVD for your collection. However, if you have lasting interest in learning bellydance, be prepared to spend more money on another set of instructions as well. When I ordered DVD I ordered in addition The Heartbeat of Bellydance, also available on amazon.com. It turned out to be a very good idea even though there is a gap in the levels taught. Only one DVD would have never been sufficient.

"

Great teacher

Paloma, dancer | San Diego, CA | 11/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Neon is a phenomenal teacher.  Her strength is in how she breaks down the belly dance movements and shows how they are interconnected.  I am a fan of Neon's instruction and here is why. I was challenged when it came to comprehending where the movement comes from and what it consists of.  I could watch a dancer do her "signature" move 100 times but I couldn't tell what she was doing.  My teachers taught me many dance moves with exotic names such as camel, snake, fish, arabian horse, maya, omi, hiproll, so I worked on these moves like they had no relation to each other. But they all ARE related, and I wish I'd known this from the start because it's much easier to learn and understand when you know this. Neon teaches you to group the movments according to what body parts are involved and what directions they move. Neon's two "Instant Belly Dancer" DVDs have taught me how to analyze the building blocks of each move and how to detect these building blocks even in the moves and combinations that i'm still trying to get.  Now that was worth $15!   I'm embarrassed to tell you how long it took me to get "undulation" or "camel" in class.  I couldn't believe it when I saw Neon teach an undulation by saying "draw a vertical circle forward with your chest" and then "relax your hips and your body will follow and will result in an undulation."  It just took someone who really understands the mechanics of the movement to explain this, and to unlock the understanding inside you. Even when you undulate just the lower body like in Egyptian dance, your chest still does this circle only it's very small, but when a teacher starts by teaching you to keep the undulation below your chest, it's much harder to visualize it. Another thing I learned from Neon is to complete every move. Visualizing them as 3 dimensional figures helped me find the "missing pieces" where I left the movement unfinished because I didn't think of it as a FULL circle, or a FULL figure 8, or a shape like a bowl.  Neon's technique is very sharp and her movement is accurate.  You can see everything perfectly.  Lastly I want to say that whenever I see a real talented video or a new dance style or an awesome instructor, like Neon or Rachel Brice, or Jillina, you will also see a lot of envy and personal attack directed toward them.  People, if these DVDs are too difficult for you or their dance style is not your favorite, put these DVDs on the shelf and take some more classes before using them. Attacking talented people only reflects badly on you."