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.
good morning mala, sabah el nour (may your morning be enlightened
)
thanks for pointing attention to this guy!!
i think he s really good, his costumes are great, too.. and how good to see a dance artist caring for spiritual aspects of life and balancing the ego.. very likeable!
actually, as for male dancers, i ve been puzzled by how some Western teachers apparently tell their students the dance is a feminine thing only and men “physically cannot do it”. ?! ever watched tito?? I like to reply to them
thing is, not only do, depending on the county you re in, I know from Lebanon and Egypt, men dance greatly on festivities, and their also circling, shimmying etc, they do not feel “unmanly” at all.
secondly, there is a long history of male performers. much like in early modern Europe, where in opera eunuchs would sing female parts and men play female roles in theatres, in some Maghrebine countries, especially Morocco, women were long prohibited from performing publicly, and boys in disguise would dance the oriental style.
I d think Arabia has invented the drag queen, what an irony!
You know a smattering of Arabic, do you Dina?
I lived in Egypt when I was young, but sadly don’t remember much of my once fluent Arabic.
Yes, Nath Keo looks like a very very nice person. Confident, relaxed, fun, sort of together. And sensitive.
Different cultures do indeed view male dancing differently. Here in India, we have some men doing Indian classical dancing. And men of course flood Bollywood dancing. But everyone will still be surprised at the idea of male belly dancing.
My brother in law is most captivated by belly dancing, ever since I “performed” at his house a few months ago. He was just tickled pink, really, and spent the rest of the evening in my coin belt trying to get figure eights.
Ya well, I know too little given part of my family is Jordanian
It s on my list to study.
I ve invested energy in Turkish mostly, as my future in-laws are from Turkey and speak very little other languages..
Hi Mala,
Without having seen Vol 1 may I just say that I really liked Vol 2. I liked the way that he very clearly explained not only the combinations but also where your hands and arms are positioned.
Volume 1 is really good. Each combo there is different and all explained well. I did a review of it long ago and even then people agreed that his explaining power is really good.
Until I read your review, I hadn’t even realized that he never dances out the moves that he has taught. Strange! I do love his movements, and learned from both DVDs, but I did mention to Nath that I and likely others expect to see a performance at the end which incorporates the moves taught in the DVD. Sadly, this was not done in No. 1, and as you mentioned, the same montage of clips was shown at the end of No. 2. I felt a bit cheated.
AND the price was more for the second video. I think that was a bit unfair. It’s very unusual to not show any of the moves to music on a dance instruction video — but to carry that mistake into a subsequent video is rather odd. But I think most of all I feel cheated about many of the combos being short and just minor variations of each other. Since it isn’t aimed at beginners, I’m sure intermediate dancers can figure out how to take a move into a circle. I would actually de-recommend the second video. I would however, definitely still recommend the first one.