Unless, ofcourse, something extremely serious is on.

How funny is it that we’re both such dance video fiends that we had these lying around and unused?

Put away that mirror, rack up your favorite tunes and just dance, sister, dance!

Tami don’t you EVER feel that you aren’t “good enough” because that simply isn’t so. The “powers that be” don’t pass judgement on our skills, they just celebrate the fact that we’re dancing.

Don’t limit yourself to five minutes of dance time (I HATE to use the word “practice” – it sounds too much like work!!). It’s really not enough time to get into what you’re doing. Clock watching will also interfere with your ability to relax and enjoy the dance. Turn the clock to the wall and you’ll be surprised at how fast time flies – especially when you’re not trying to achieve a specific “dance goal”.

I’ve finally given up concentrating solely on trying to master isolations since all that got me was frustrated and feeling like I should probably give up bellydance altogether. Doing combos has done more for my isolations than only working on one specific move for 30 minutes at a time ever did. Luscious and Love Potion are loaded with excellent combos. I adore both of those dvds.

I agree with Mala’s suggestion to create a special dance space – even if it is only a tiny corner of your world. Fill it anything and everything that inspires you. I find that my little “oasis in the basment” makes dance time something special.

I hope that helps a little!

Grimes is not loud and screechy, not at all. She’s sassy rather than perky. Actually, I just put up a review of it on Amazon — check it out there.

So, I just had a look at it. Unfortunately I don’t like it one bit! I’m not thrilled with the instructor and the constant shouting, but other than that, I think I just intensely dislike this dance. Phew!

In the process though, i discover that it’s about as intense than the other cardio DVDs going around. Maybe a bit less, actually. There are also non dance cardio and aerobics ones and I’ll be getting into one of those soonish. I actually almost got hold of the MaDonna Grimes one. Is that loud and screechy?

You won’t believe this but i’m also exploring cardio DVDs! And this is because a) I want to get thin and b) I want to have better strength for a lot of the bellydance work, like floorwork, dropping to the knees, turning without losing my balance and so on. With some pilates, I’m finding all these are being positively impacted and I’m really keen on taking that forward. I’ve got hold of a few cardio videos and am going to ease into those too!

I have Samba Reggea as well, but haven’t looked at it. Actually, I don’t like samba – or rather, the stuff they wear for it. That includes the headgear and everything. But I must check it out. I can probably now also tackle the Shakra workout. Do you have that?

I need to design a program for myself! I’m trying to attack things on so many fronts, it’s confusing.

1. I want to do yoga for flexibility (but am the least motivated for this)
2. I want to continue pilates and take it up to some more challenging moves, including light weights because the motivation after seeing initial results is very high. I love the strength in the core!
3. I want to do cardio because that’s really the only way I’ll lose actual pounds. And this will give me stamina to do the other things.
4. I want to exercise with the stability ball because even a little of that makes a difference and the exercises are amazing and relaxing at the same time. Plus I have two whole fitness balls! One too big for me and one a bit small for me. At least i find it too small though it’s the recommended size. I love the fitness ball!
5. I want to continue with the elementary ballet conditioning I’ve begun. I’m working with a lovely lovely video called Element Ballet Conditioning and have half reviewed it. I love the stretching and the grace and everything.
6. I want to bellydance and have so many videos i want to get to! All very different from one another! Anasma, Sarah Skinner, Autumn Ward, more Sadie!

Life is tough.

I’ve also been trying to get back to dancing, but I’m taking a slightly different tack. The thing is, I really want to lose some weight (or at least stop the gain of weight!), and I find I’m not motivated to start doing a video if I think at all that I’ll be bored. So, in the past few weeks, I’ve found myself really enjoying dance/cardio workouts. The four I’ve used recently are:

Rania’s Belly Abs
MaDonna Grimes’ Urban Street Heat
Marie Forleo’s Cardio Dance Blast
Quenia Ribeiro’s Samba Reggae Workout

As you can tell, these range from pretty cheesy and fake dancing done for cardio purposes (Forleo and Grimes), to a fusion of dance moves and workout moves (Rania), to just all-out intense dancing (Ribeiro). Still, I’ve found I enjoy the cheesy videos too, and they’ve helped me get my endurance up to the point where I could keep going through all 53 minutes of the Samba Reggae workout. (Which, by the way, is some kind of intense.)

Since I’m not necessarily light on my feet or good at really quick movements, I find these videos help me with that aspect of dancing. I certainly plan to go back to more traditional bellydance DVDs (and in-class instruction!), but for now, these videos have the double motivation working for them — my desire to dance and my desire to keep fit. And, since the styling is really secondary, I find that I’m not as self-critical when I do them.