::more than somewhat::

A Buddhist monk who belly dances? It isn’t every day that you get to see that! But that’s just what Canadian-Combodian artist Nath Keo does. And much more. He’s an author, singer, songwriter, model, and belly dancer. It’s wonderful to see a talented, joyful personality in someone whose beginnings have been so difficult. Although Nath Keo today has the same gross sense of humor that all guys have (burping in his bloopers), he was born in a refugee camp on the border with Combodia, with starvation, violence, disease and fear being a part of everyday life. Until he immigrated to Canada, life not particularly easy. But hear about it in his own words:

This mini documentary, incidentally, is also on the second DVD.

Before I bought Nath Keo’s first instructional video, I didn’t even know men belly danced. A friend recommended his DVD because she said he had so much grace and fluidity and I had been clamoring for suggestions on videos that show you how to dance with fluidity and sensuality. She was right. He certainly dances a lot better than a lot of women do! Excellent muscle control combine with strength to make his movements look powerful and precise while still being smooth as treacle. Nath Keo’s rapid-fire shimmies are to die for.

Versatile combinations

On both his DVDs, Nath teaches short but very versatile combinations. Sixteen on the first and 10 on the second. In my opinion, these are the type of combinations that make up the bulk of a dance. So, they’re not grand and dramatic and don’t stand out from the dance – they make up the dance. Ansuya’s combinations, for example, will stand out from the rest of the dance and spice it up – that is how she intended them to be. But the combinations on these videos are the main movement flow. I’m not very style savvy but I’d say they’re sort of beledi-like.

Detailed instruction

Nath is entirely relaxed and natural in front of the camera. He’s so at ease it feels like he’s  with you while he teaches. And he teaches really, really well. His explanations are clear, precise and yet detailed.  First, he demonstrates the combo. And then he gets into a detailed run through of the footwork, hip work and weight changes, muscle work, and finally, arms, hands and nuances. He likes using analogies for his arm work. Like telling someone one to watch out because he’s coming out of the kitchen and serving. A lot of the instruction is with him facing the back (class style) and you are encouraged to do it along several times.

No practice with music

But amazingly enough, he doesn’t dance the combos to music on the DVDs at all. That’s one of the strangest things about both these videos. There are no practice sessions with music. I guess it could be argued that the level of dancers the videos are aimed at will not really need to have too much spelled out. They’ll know what to do with the combinations and how to set them to different pieces of music. Still, I find a bit of an incomplete thing.

DVD 1 16 Combinations

The first video, which is the one I’d recommend for intermediate dancers, has a warm up in which Nath explains and demonstrates some of the stretches he thinks are useful. Like with many DVDs, this is not a complete warm up. You’ll need to use something else to et the blood flowing. These are meant to be added to a warm up and used regularly to build strength.

The combinations on this video are typically 8 count and are repeated in each direction. He uses a lot of forward hip twists, inward pulls with psoas muscles, or sits, abbreviated grapevines, (if I can call them that), simple turns and prominent arm work. All the combinations have a strong similarity in style. A few are variations of each other. In fact, I would have preferred greater variety. I’m not sure these would all string together in a choreography because they’re too similar. They’re probably best used to fill in with other moves. They’re definitely nice to have in your repertoire – it’s quite a lesson in nuances.

The extras on this video include a photo show (Nath Keo was a cute kid), a collage of performances (not complete ones) and bloopers.

DVD 2. 10 Combinations

The combinations on this video are not only fewer but simpler. So, I’d recommend this one for beginners. But overall, I have to say I’m disappointed in this sequel. There are some combinations that are a mere 2 counts. And many are variations of each other or builds on each other. If it weren’t for Nath Keo’s detailed breakdowns and explanations, the actual combinations would be one section on a DVD, going by the amount of content you’d find on DVDs today.The style is very much the same as the first set of combinations. I must say I also paid more for this second video.

The extras on this video include the mini documentary, a photoshow, the same performance collage as on DVD 1 (not fair) and bloopers.

Tags: Belly dance videos, Dance Diary by Mala
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There are totally wonderful DVDs lined up for release over the rest of this year. I can hardly wait! Everything else has been in a slump, but not belly dance videos. We’ve just never had it so good before. Here’s what I’m desperately looking forward to:

Nadira Jamal’s Improvisation Toolkit

This set sounds like a treasure that’s too good to be true! If you’ve seen Nadira’s Taktaba podcasts, you’ll know that she has a way of breaking down everything so that it makes sense. Taktaba 1 was about repetition and alternation, 2 about long-term repetition of moves, and 3 was about timing patterns and how to play with them. Each of these helps with how you improvise. I think the new Toolkit is a natural evolution of these episodes. It’s to be a full exploration and practice with improvisation. And it’s going to be very beginner-intermediate friendly. The first volume, Movement Recall, should be out right about now. This is what it will be about, as Nadira says, “Without choreography, you have to think of movements on the fly, but still leave enough of your brainpower free to focus on other aspects of your performance. Your movement vocabulary is like a big tote bag: the more you put in it, the more time you spend digging around for your keys! But some purses have special pockets and compartments that make it easy to find your things. You put the items you use most often in the easy-to-reach outside pocket, so you don’t even have to think about where they are. You can just reach in and your keys will be where your hand expects them to be. You put the rest of your belongings into the other compartments of your purse. Even though they aren’t in that handy outside pocket, you can still find them quickly, because you know exactly where to look.”

Combino-graphy with Bahaia

In this soon-to-be-released video, Bahaia explores similar concepts to those taken up in Nadira Jamal’s Improvisation Toolkit. How to understand your space, direction, timing, repetition, variation, sequence movment and more, She feels that students have lots of technique drills and choreography but there’s very little guidance on how to create dance. This is what she gives you in her new video. I’m looking forward to it as much as to Nadira’s videos as I’m totally sure each will bring something exciting to work with in improvisation – a struggle for so many beginning dancers. This video is from Michelle Joyce’s Cheeky Girls Productions.

Body Motion: Modern Dance

After working for a good solid long time with Asharah’s strength and isolations workout, I am totally addicted. I love all the challenging exercises and the ability to push a little further each day. I’m hoping this 2-DVD set will take my strength and flexibility a bit further. And maybe give me some stamina and new movements. I haven’t done many jumps and spins and turns since I dumped jazz and ballroom classes over four years ago. I would love to recapture a little of that if I can.  Here’s what this set has to offer, according to the Cheeky Girls Productions site: “Body Motion is a full body workout that uses Modern Dance techniques to sculpt, shape and tone your entire body. Level 1 introduces you to basic foundational movements that focus on contracting the abs and developing strength and control. Level 2 is for experienced dancers who are looking to fine tune their technique, enhance their balance and to continue their training.  You will notice a change in your legs, arms, shoulders, buns and abs right away because each DVD is structured like a real dance class.” Yes yes yes!

Neon and Raquy’s Bellydance Rhythms Workout

I’m hoping this DVD will help with being able to improvise a little with drum solos. The preview isn’t up yet, but here’s what Neon says on her Tribe: “it has two 40-minute flows – beginner (very beginner) and intermediate. Live drumming includes base doumbek to make it easier for beginners to hear the “skeleton” of the dance rhythms. The “sound track” (it’s actually played live) designed by Raquy, NYC, is the same for both flows, so there are two versions of the dance combinations for every variation of the rhythms. The rhythms are ciftetelli, baladi, saiidi, maksoum, masmoudi – 4 variations for every rhythm, 20 beginner dance combinations and 20 intermediate dance combinations, each repeated as a drill: beginner – slow 12 times, fast 8 times; intermediate – slow 8 times, fast 12 times. There is a detailed breakdown of every combination in the Tutorial section (like in “Luscious”), plus voice cues during the flows. There is also a breakdown of the rhythms done by Raquy, where she explains the “skeleton” of each rhythm.”

1-2-3 Drum Solo with Bahaia

This video looks like a drum solos-made-easy kind of instruction, and it looks good. From the trailer it looks like one would learn a simple, confident style and moves for drum solos in general. That sounds good to me! I love drum solos and I think that audiences in India relate to them immediately. Can’t hardly wait for this one either!

1-2-3 Bellydance with Bahaia

I also look forward to this video because the trailer looks so doable and because Bahia dances so beautifully and looks like she teaches as well.

Sadie’s new pop-lock-shimmy videos
I’m not sure what the story is with this set of DVDs having the same (intended) name as Michelle Joyce’s immensely popular Pop Lock and Shimmy, but I will probably end up getting these. For on e, I’ve found Thrillin Drillin and Slow and Sultry to be fantastic videos and I continue to work with them slowly. Sadie’s drum solo is beyond me and it may well be that this new set will veer in that direction as well. But I still want it to see if it has any detailed stomach work and drills. The only sad thing is the prohibitive likely cost of these. They will be close to $40, I’m sure. So deeply unfair when there equally content-rich videos are now in the $14 range! If I get hit to hard by the recession – I may forget about these.

Belly dance Crash Course

Though this is a basics video, I’m waiting for mine to arrive because I’d welcome a new, flowing drill of the basic movements along with a bunch of sweet, simple combinations. Much like Neon’s Luscious, which gives me endless pleasure to just do along. I’m also eager to see if this will be a good new option to recommend for those absolute beginners who keep asking for recommendations. That would include my brother-in-law!

These are in order of awaitedness — for me. Some actually tie. October and November 2008 are good DVD months!

Tags: Dance Diary by Mala
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Of late, no other videos are as eagerly awaited as those from Michelle Joyce. Dancer, producer, fitness instructor Michelle has got her finger right on the pulse of what the belly dance learner wants. And she gives it to them in a fairly amazing turnaround time.

I’m a complete beginner at zils (belly dance cymbals) so I’m in no position to analyze rhythms and how they should be taught. I have danced a little with zils – just jumped right in, so to speak, and began playing the beledi rhythm while successfully moving around. But I wasn’t exactly in control. So. I’ll take a new-to-zils look at this video, which my belly dance friends tell me is right up there with Drills Drills Drills and Pop Lock and Shimmy, Michelle’s top selling DVDs.

To begin with, there is something deeply satisfying about the menus on Michelle’s videos. There’s isn’t a moment of ambiguity as you first start up the video. At one glance you can see what’s on offer and how it’s all laid out. And it always looks good, giving you a sense of logic, completeness and neatness. Explanations and practice are separated, different chunks are clearly indicated and you can get to any part in just a click or two. It’s with Michelle’s videos that I’ve realized how the menu gives an instant and powerful message to the user.  It’s a message that often determines the mindset of the learner for the entire time the video will be used or remembered.

The menu on Killer Ziller is backed up with good solid content. After the introduction and positioning of the video, Michelle, who happens to be looking particularly nice on this video, spends some time telling you about the cymbals, how to wear them and keep them on, how to strike them, and so on.

Tapping it out

Then we go straight on to understand 14 different zill playing patterns that correspond to common drum rhythms. Michelle explains the breakdown of the pattern that the two hands will be playing by getting you to tap it out on your stomach along with her. This is a clever way of going about it as the sensation will help you “get it” better. You speak out the counts and the right-lefts as you tap. You use this method to go through all the patterns. On the bottom of the screen, the rhythms and counts for the patterns show up. You could choose to go through all the rhythms and do several rounds of that until you are familiar with the lot. Or you could replay each separate chunk depending on which you choose to work with.  For me, this tapping trick really works because it’s the natural way I’ve approached rhythms. In fact I’ve found I “know” many of the patterns already, perhaps from hearing them often in music. In fact I find I can play the zills almost immediately. It’s just dancing with them that’s a big challenge.

Killer Ziller Driller

The main section of this video that drills the patterns takes you through what you learnt in the previous section but this time with zills. Here of course, you discover that playing the zills doesn’t come quite as easily as tapping your tummy. I managed the easier ones immediately. The super fast ones are another story. On screen, Michelle holds up the zills so tthat all you see is the hands playing them. You also see the name of the rhythm, the pattern, the patter-strike counts and the rights and lefts count. You have to watch the screen to see when patterns are changing. Here again, you use your rewind to practice a particular rhythm more. Or skip to one that you want to work with. This section uses one method of playing – which is fair enough. Some instructors apparently alternate the dominance of the hands going right left right and then left right left so that both hands are equally strong at playing. But Michelle sticks to one dominant hand – and this is a big relief to me because that’s the way I was playing “naturally” when I fooled around with the zills before. Radio silence is maintained for this whole section and all you hear is the drumming and the zill sound. I particularly liked the different patterns for the beledi rhythm.

Four combinations

Four increasingly difficult combinations put the zill playing into action. Now this is where I think another section of simpler moves would have been in place. Perhaps playing zills with just some isolations where you’re otherwise static , with some arm work, and with some exceedingly simple common travel steps. This would probably have helped those who have a particularly difficult time moving at all while playing zills.  On this video though Michelle has put in a big excerpt from Drills Drills Drills which is a grapevine drill which uses zills on top of the grapevine travelling step with layered isolations. This is a real smart addition and it would work very well for new zill players to do this section first, actually.

The combinations are quite a treasure and very intelligently created. Even from Level 1 you are going to have to keep track of many things. Some footwork, turns, moves, arm work, claps and zills. Even in the first combo, you will vary zill patterns. Nice meaty challenging combinations! Michelle recommends getting familiar with the dance part of the combination totally before using the zills. And yes, the combinations are danceable without zills altogether if one wants to use them elsewhere. Each combination is explained in its own separate section and then practiced in the next section.

The hike in difficulty in the second combination goes up because of more zill pattern changes. There’s also more arm work. I find to my horror that the control over zills goes off a bit when you raise your arms and bring them down again and that’s something I have to figure out. The actual dance moves are a little simpler but there’s a lot of stuff to keep track of as you change zill patterns. The third combo is tough with more traveling steps, changes in the speed of moves, and grapevines with arabesques. The zills change with every segment of the combination. There are four zill patterns.  The fourth and final uses Arabic walks, pivots, eights, hip drops, turns, a spot of choo choo shimmy, and chasse. It’s a long combo with lots and lots to do. I think it has 5 or 6 zill pattern changes. Phew.

Grapevine drill

The combinations give way to the grapevine drill from Michelle’s earlier video, drills Drills Drills (highly recommended). This, as I mentioned, would be a good one to do before the combinations. It’s a brilliant layering drill in itself.

I’ve no doubt that I’d select this video to learn zill playing. I’m instantly comfortable with it. If I find I can’t do the combinations with zills at first, I may drill with components of those combinations (like a step-touch travel step). I also really look forward to learning the combinations and using them elsewhere. They’re very much the sort you can use and are very versatile.

This video has been received very well by the belly dance video group of which I am a member. Almost everyone loves it. Only those who’ve used other methods altogether find it difficult to switch. Some of the suggestions are that the pattern-tapping breakdown section should include a with-music section. Another is that there should be an explanation of how the pattern count fits into the rhythm’s own count and how it relates to the dooms and teks. Frankly, I feel this bit would confuse me thoroughly, so I’m glad it isn’t there.

Overall, How to Become a Killer Ziller is an excellent video. Direct, un-confusing, easy to work with.

Tags: Belly dance videos, Dance Diary by Mala
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If you’ve wanted to spice up your tribal fusion repertoire with pretty hand moves, here’s an instructional video for you from Australia. Shameela, who apparently has Indian ancestral roots, dances and teaches a fusion style, which is a mix of tribal fusion and Indian dancing. On her very first instructional video, she teaches a complete 24-combination choreography to Solace remix, “Darban Jooth Na Boley”, which of course should be “Darpan jhoot na boley” or the mirror doesn’t lie. (The song title has been carelessly spelled to begin with.)

Eyes of the Buddha, before I get lost in details, has been created with feeling and an obvious love for the dance. Somehow, it comes through that her heart is in the right place. There’s a sincerity and gentleness you can feel.

Anyone who knows me will know that I can’t stand Bollywood (except for the occasional really good movie) and can’t handle that dancing style. I also mostly dislike Indian moves inserted into bellydancing and find it a force fit. But I’ll try not to let that bias me. And hey, fusion is fusion.

So, yes, it takes 24 whole combinations to get through this complete choreography. The tribal belly dance aspect of the dance isn’t too difficult or demanding. For comparison, it’s not as tough as Aubre’s Tribal Essence moves or as any of the tribal fusion pieces on WorldDance’s Fantasy series. There’s not that much ticking and tocking or subtle stomach work. I’d say it’s probably the same difficulty level as Sahira’s Arabian Spices.

But what could be challenging is the hand and arm work, which is also what this whole choreography is really about. The hand moves may not be difficult to execute, but unless they’re done with infinite grace, it’ll look terrible. That’s because this choreography is all hands and temple poses. Actually I’ve never seen such a hands-centric belly dance choreo before.

The intricate hand work in this dance is made up of “mudras” or hand gestures from Indian and Buddhist concepts. Every combination has one or more of them. In fact some of the combinations are named for these mudras. Oh, each combo has an exotic name. Kundalini Serpent, Flaming Lotus, Mandala Spin, and more. Shameela can’t pronounce them the way they would be in India and I had to read them to figure out what she was saying. But no matter. That doesn’t detract from the dance. Shameela teaches the combinations at a comfortable pace, showing you the hand moves close up and never omitting to show the moves from the back as well. You also see a demo of the combo and practice it with music. The teaching is fairly intuitive and you’re left in no confusion. She wastes no time and yet doesn’t sound clinical, like some instructors do.

So what you will see when you reach the video’s menu is an introduction, where you get to know the feel of the dance, a warm up with lots of the mudras and then the 24 combinations, all divided into chunks; 1 to 3, 7 to 9 etc. Once done with the teaching, you see the choreography performed my Shameela and a partner. It’s rather pretty when done by two people. There’s also a full costume performance.

Specaking for myself, I’d probably not do this choreography in full but would choose to work with individual combos and moves.  I like the hand and arm work to be more natural and spontaneous so I don’t want the entire dance to be made of these. A little less deliberate would suit me more. I also thoroughly dislike those squat-like moves in Indian dancing and the windshield wiper arm out to one and then to the other side that is also part of anything that borrows Indian classical dance moves. There’s also a move where she extends her leg back and up and grabs her ankle to lean out and reach with a hand move. That, to me, breaks the flow. But separately, I very very much like many of the combinations and can see them mixing well with other tribal fusion combos. For example, Sharon Kihara’s. But this is totally my opinion alone and I know that others who’ve bought this video really love the whole choreography. I’ll be working with individual combinations, which I find very pretty. Overall, I think this DVD counters the overly dark and Gothic overtones of tribal fusion with delicate, feminine, decorative moves.

The production quality of the video is passable. A bit dark where there are performances, but otherwise, fine. The sound quality is a little low in places too.

You can get the video on Shameela’s website indrabellydance.com.

Tags: Belly dance videos, Dance Diary by Mala
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I’ve got to hand it to my colleagues. They get more and more creative each day. Roshun cannot ever resist a hot chocolate fudge sundae, but he’s got a healthy conscience. What does he do? Get on the treadmill to assuage his terrible guilt. He’s absolutely convinced he’s neutralized the thick creamy ice cream he ate. He convinced himself so thoroughly that he repeated the exercise a few hours later before going home to look innocently hungry.

Tags: General by Mala
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Jillina’s workout is meant to get you fit while you learn to belly dance. It lets the beginner start slow and work upward to faster and more complex movements. For the already-dancer, it’s a warm up and drill. There’s no separate technique section, so a beginner will need to spend time on the detailed mechanics of belly dance isolations and movements elsewhere – but work them out here.

Shape Up n’ Hip Out is rather well conceptualized. Which is why it has many, many strengths.

But before we get to those, here’s a description of what’s on the DVD:Jillina introduces belly dancing and the programme briefly and causally. Here the sound seems a bit low, for some reason. But only here. I would have been more impressed with an introduction which took up exactly how the dance and fitness will tie up. Or some tips on where to learn the basics in detail. This was just off the cuff  – a bit like it’s part of some interview.

The programme on this video is divided into three neat chunks. Well, five if you count the warm up and final cool down. The warm up is slow and calm. With a group of four other dancers, Jillina leads you through stretches, reaches, bends, and lunges. And then it’s on to the first workout chunk – Slow & Smooth.

This is the section that’s obviously the most beginner-friendly. You go through the basic chest and hip circle, eights, camels, hip bumps, snake arms, hip lifts and drops. There are no real safety tips here and that’s another reason a beginner should not barge into this programme without the support of classes or a more detailed basics video.

In this, and each of the other sections, Jillina works with one set of moves and then adds another chunk. This slowly ends up in a nice long sequence of about 18 minutes.

The next segment is Rhythm Hips. The speed picks up, obviously. You start with a chunk of moves and add on more and more chunks. You work with medium hip circles, hip drop-kicks, hip bumps and touch-lifts, chest lifts, camels, extends, shoulder shimmies in a grapevine, twists, and eights. You use your arms throughout and this really adds to the intensity of the workout. You also travel – regular steps, circles, grapevine – and that too intensifies the workout.

The Turbo Hips section is where things get tough. Now you handle shimmies, extends with shimmies layered, a fast hagalla, choo choos, and more. You move move move. If anyone’s looking for a good cardio belly dance session – try this for several rounds. That should do it.

Each section, by the way, has a with-instructions and with-music-only option. Try both for an extended and solid workout!

A gentle stretchy cool down takes you to the floor to relax and rest your back and thoroughly worked muscles. Nice cool down. In fact I’m going to adopt it for other workouts.

Now there’s a whole bunch of performances on this video. Quite a treat of them, in fact. Six. The first is in her Pop Choreo style. She sizzles. It has a drum solo-ish segment. The second IS a drum solo — on top of a drum! So there. That’s beyond incredible. There’s next a performance by Heather Quinn. She does a veil piece to some very dramatic music and then a drum solo. She’s very graceful. Then a wings item from Louchia Tchoukri. I don’t much like them so I can’t quite say whether it was nice or not. They all look the same to me. Then a dancer named Ahava does a pretty Egyptian piece which I think is challenging in its slowness. It’s one of those emotive, tense ones. And then finally a joyful performance from Denise Arias. Very lively and yet very graceful. And then! She goes into using double swords! Quite stunning.

A behind-the-scenes section ends this action filled video.

Multi-level
One of this workout’s strengths is that it actually can be used by different levels of dancers. For a beginner, it’s not okay as the only introduction to belly dancing, but it would make a good add on to other basic videos or classes. Here’s what a reviewer on Amazon said: “If you’re looking to learn how to belly dance at the same time as you get your exercise though, this video probably will disappoint you. To fully understand how to perform a specific exercise from this video, you do have to know at least the basics of belly dance before you start so that you can concentrate more on the exercise than what exactly it is you’re trying to do.” There are no break ups of moves and no detailed explanations and safety tips. You just get right into it. For the advanced dancer, the whole programme makes one giant drill of standard moves. You can use it to build speed, stamina, and exercise.

Dance along
I was able to pick this video up and start right off on it. Many workouts need to be watched several times before you figure out what’s what. I’d put Jehan’s Ultimate Fitness in that category. Also Jenna’s drills on all her videos. But with this one, you just start right off. Perhaps the Turbo section should be watched once, but the rest of it is easy to follow along. There’s plenty of patterned repetition, so even if you miss something once, you catch up on it next time.

Choices
I like that you can choose your intensity and activity level as well as the length of workout. All you have to do to extend any section is to do both instruction and music options and you have longer workouts.

Dance moves
Another nice thing is that the workout moves are also danceable. You can take any of the moves and put just mix them all up for a rousing dance session. Except for a big plie she does with a deep breath in and out, the rest is not really “workouty.? It’s danceable.

There are other strengths too! The workout has unbroken flow and momentum. It’s not over the top with the usual cardio instructor noises. For belly dancers, it’s familiar! It’s a good guided workout for when you feel you absolutely must put in your hour or so of dancing but are preoccupied with other things and don’t want to do anything complicated.

But it isn’t that nothing at bothers me about it. I find the calling out of the moves a little off. She may say “take it back” but not be moving backward. I look and then find she probably meant tuck back for an undulation. I strongly believe workouts and drills should be created to be look-free. If you’re busy sweatily moving around at top speed you’re not going to be able to keep your eye on the video all the time. You get to know it once and then you use the music and call out of moves to focus on the workout itself. In this video, I find that a bit difficult. Very often I had to stop and say huh? And go up and look carefully. But the pluses outweigh the negatives.

Tags: Belly dance videos, Dance Diary by Mala
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