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Alay'nya (Alaynya) Studio suggestions for practicing dance at home
Practicing at Home -- for Intermediates
This is your very own resource page for those times when you either just can't get to class --
or you want to rapidly accelerate your dance capabilities with at-home practice. Every CD or song
or DVD that we suggest here is something that we use ourselves. We're not being paid
for this; this our "gift to the universe" to share our "best-of-the-best" with you, with
honest (and gentle, and kind - where possible) evaluations and reviews.
If you are a dance teacher, or are in any way creating and/or promoting a DVD or CD,
we'll be happy to review it. Contact alaynya (at) alaynya (dot) com for mailing address,
and we'll let you know when we receive it from you. We DO NOT promise to review your product
on this page; we are focusing on the "best-of-the-best," and don't have time for anything that
doesn't make that cut. Also, we are not going to return materials sent for review. Whatever you
send becomes part of the studio library (or if it doesn't make the cut, gets given away). Just
so you know the rules of the game.
This means -- for those of you searching for recommendations -- if you see a DVD, or hear a CD, that
seems to be really "hot," but isn't recommended here -- read between the lines! It could mean that we
haven't gotten to it yet. (A quick email to us, or if you are promoting it, an email followed up by a
review copy, gets that cleared up real fast.) Alternatively, it could mean that the product is not
"worthy of review." We only have so much time, and we're not into panning the second-tier, just in
promoting up the best. (If you have a question, email ua, we'll give you an honest opinion -- or let you
if we haven't looked at / listened to something.)
Now that we have the ground rules established -- let's get started!
Click on the image above to go directly to Amazon and learn more about this DVD!
Suhaila Salimpour's Bellydance for Beginnerrs with Suhaila: Fitness Fusion Yoga.
A great way to start the day!
This really is a good workout; about 40 minutes. And it really is NOT for Beginners!
The people who will benefit the most from this DVD will already have some dance training,
and are in reasonably good shape, and who want to improve not only their flexibilty,
but the smoothness, the "liquidity," of their undulations - and get better control over their core muscles.
What I particularly like about working with this DVD is how Suhaila takes us into undulations
(both "normal" and "reverse") starting with the yoga cat/cow alternation.
A great way to improve our sense of how the undulations come about naturally and organically in our bodies!
Another Good Yoga / Basic Drills DVD
Click on the image above to go directly to Amazon and learn more about this DVD!
Rachel Brice's Tribal Fusion Belly Dance: Yoga, Isolations, and Drills: A Practice Companion with Rachel Brice.
A great way to start the day!
Rachel's DVD is really more suited for intermediate-to-advanced students than for pure beginners.
She does give instruction, and she does break each technique down beautifully, and guide you through
with pointers. She also repeats each move several times -- so there is not too much of a "cognitive"
challenge in following her. Still, this is not really the place to learn the technique --
it is more like having Rachel in for a private coaching session.
Rachel presents 15-, 30-, and 45-minute workout sessions. The 45-minute session started with a basic yoga
Salute to the Sun -- very basic, but well-grounded.
This was followed by pelvic and rib cage isolations, and very structured
body rolls (both going up and down). We followed with some final yoga stretches and relaxation
in the "corpse" pose. (During the latter, there were beautiful shots of moving clouds in time-compressed
video -- a lovely touch!)
Practicing with Rachel lets us experience how she structures isolations -- a
nd this is important if you're trying to replicate her style.
Rachel includes a short performance vid at the end of her practice session --
inspiring! A very similar-in-nature performance is shown on this YouTube video clip of a
Rachel Brice's performance.
Thank you, Rachel! We appreciate the hard work that went into making this DVD.
You did a good job, this is very useful, and a real benefit to the dance community!
DVD referred by Sabira
A Great Core Fitness DVD
Click on the image above to go directly to Amazon and learn more about this DVD!
Gerson Kuhr's Core Training for Belly Dancers.
Thank you, Gerson! I love your DVD, recommend it to all my dancers and dance associates,
and actually include your DVD as part of my Beginner's package (it's that good!).
DVD referred by Gerson, Amustela, and Nimeera
A GreatBasic Instructional DVD
Kathryn Ferguson's Introduction to the Art of Belly Dance.
Thank you, Kathryn! I love your DVD, recommend it to all my dancers and dance associates,
and love to practice with it myself!
DVD referred by Alay'nya
Dear Ones -- editing done up through here as of Dec. 21st, 2008 -- will
be adding in the links to recommended INTERMEDIATE DVDs and CDs as soon
as possible. Please come back soon! (The next one to go up will be the
link to some of the better instructional DVDs.)
Want to try something new? Amazon is offering its "unbox" service that lets you download videos!
What a great way to access something new if you're on travel and can't make class, or snowed in during this winter!
Visit
to visit Amazon and select from their great offerings of "unbox" DVDs!
Recommended First CD for your collection -- Warm-ups at home, plus
a beautiful veil piece!
*Beyond the Sky
by Brian Keane and Omar Farouk Tekbilek
-- Our "warm-up" CD (cuts #1 - 6), and we also work with "Sweet Trouble"
(Cut #11) for veil improvisation. Very musical, very beautiful, a
little hard to get (now officially out of print), but you can always
find a copy. (The link to the right takes you to Amazon, which is usually a good source!)
Click
on
CD
referred by Alay'nya
*Source of Fire
by Hossam Ramszy
-- "The Magic in Your Eyes" (Cut #1) is a great practice piece for learning
hip drops and other basics; it has been our "first etude" for years!
Click
on
CD
referred by Alay'nya
My core CD collection for teaching Beginning through Early Intermediate classes
emphasizes the following CDs. An asterisk (*) is in front of the ones that I use most often for most
beginner classes. Purchase roughly in the order listed; ultimately, you'll want them all!
Strictly Belly Dancing, Vol. 2
by Eddie "the Sheik" Kojak
-- absolutely retro but still lovable, especially Cut #2 for the most beautiful short chifti-telli, which is a core piece
for our intermediate classes. We are building an entire choreography for Cuts #1 - 5 just to work with this Chifti!
*The Art of Belly Dance
by George Abdo
-- again retro, again still lovable, several very usable cuts, especially for beginners who want a first dance
piece that is about 3 1/2 minutes long; a couple of good choices here. I also teach zills with one of these pieces.
*Mystical Garden
by Omar Farouk Tekbilek
-- very beautiful; we love Cut #4 (a Sai'idi rhythm originally recommended by Anahid Sofian); use it frequently to
teach step-touch with double hip drops along with rhumba step and undulating turns; Cuts #5 and #7 are also lovely for
veil work; this is a little more for the Intermediate students, but so pretty that you'll want it in your collection early.
*The Masters of Belly Dance Music"
by various artists
-- "Layali" (Cut #2) is a new find; we're loving it, and it has a nice, moderate tempo that is very easy to work with, especially for
your first year in belly dance.
Less frequently, we'll also use the following CDs, which are more typical for our Advanced Beginners / Early Intermediat classes.
Secrets of the Eye
by Hossam Ramszy
-- "El Hob Halal" (Cut #3) and "Aazab" (Cut 6).
Baladi Plus
by Hossam Ramszy
-- Cut #2; for practicing double-drop walking shimmies.
Dream Dancer
by Light Rain
-- "Beautiful Friend" (next-to-last cut) - for cooldown, also work with arms and hands, and some turns-into-poses.
Kali Ma
by Desert Wind
-- Chifti Telli (Cut #16, along with some of Cuts 15 & 17).
Gaia, Earth Goddess
by Desert Wind
-- "Miserlou" (Cut #13).
*The Mask and the Mirror"
by Loreena McKennitt
-- "Marco Polo" for both veil and candle dance.
DVDs/Vids for Practicing At Home - Advanced Beginners
Once you've established a decent basic vocabulary, your
next goal is typically to do various combinations that lead to a whole dance.
I recommend using videos/DVDs in combination with either the same or similar music,
so that you can practice first with the vid/DVD and then just alone with the music.
For this reason, all of the vids/DVDs that I recommend in this section are coupled
with a good matching CD.
Precise Small-Movement Step Combinations with Classic Egyptian Rhythms
This is a good technique-building set. Even more, it gives you a grounding in "what
movements" to do with "what rhythms." It also introduces a "classic" rhythmic
sequence for Raks Sharqi, or Egyptian-based dance. Note that not all the rhythms
covered in Hadia's vid are in Hossam Ramzy's CD, nor vice versa, but there is
really a great overlap. These two work very well with each other!
Hadia's
Oriental Dance Raks Esharquie Vol. III
Hadia of Montreal, Quebec,
does a very competent job of demonstrating the different techniques,
and gives sufficient time for each movement and/or combination.
"Oriental rhythms with live percussion for masmoudi, maksoum,
chifti-telli, khaleegy, beledi, saiidi, felahy, malfouf and karsilama.
Each rhythm receives a detailed breakdown, application of appropriate
finger cymbals and dance steps and transitions from one rhythm
to the next. The grand finale features a complete dance routine
performed to a typical rhythm progression."
