Foundations of Bellydance: East Coast Tribal

Call it what you like, I will always think of this as “East Coast II”. I’ll call it that for the purposes of this preview and will call the first one, East Coast Tribal Bellydance,  East Coast I.

From the start, I can’t help comparing. Both East Coasts are meant for beginners. Having been there, I think that actually both are for advanced beginners. It took me some years to get anywhere near that certain look Sera creates in East Coast I. And it was very hard work indeed. Well, I think that in many ways, East Coast II is a step up or a companion video to East Coast I. I have to say at the outset though, I’m such a fan of Sera’s and of this particular style of dancing, I don’t terribly care who it’s meant for and how it relates to the first video. If she were to create ten videos, I’d want the lot and that is the truth. And that’s even when the only difference were a change in costume. I’d still want them. I just love the elegance with which Sera and her Solstice Ensemble move – like art in space.

There’s an absolutely huge description of East Coast II on the World Dance New York website. So I won’t bother going into what the contents are. You have everything detailed there, including the time for each section. I’ll put down instead, my first impressions.

This time we open with a whole lot more Solstice girls. They look a shade less funky than the first group and are not as beautifully costumed, but they all move beautifully. Many dancers will be happy to know that they’ll see all body types here.  Not everyone is stick thin.

This time the warm up is fast fast fast. Absolute beginners will have a tough time with that. You have to have done some warm ups and be familiar with some concepts like the flat back, lunges, etc. And all the safety issues associated. The warm is also more like a dance on this video. One should watch it a couple of times before dancing along, because of that pace. Also you should note where to look during each move because that’s very much part of each position. Don’t approach it with various injuries to the knees and back because there are level drops. It’s a lot of fun.

The movement meditation will remind you of the second segment of East Coast I. It’s really an extended version of that where you use continuous flowing full upper body circles to go into an empowering meditative dance trance. It’s very relaxing and massage-like. I particularly like that part.

After this, the format is quite unique. Each section that follows is a drill, a technique refresher, a workout and a combination at the same time. Oh, and did I forget to say, also a massage because most sections are made up of nice full body stretchy moves. They use full range of movement.

The arms section (which is the first drill-combo-practice-whatever) starts with serpentine arm moves. We practice different positions and arm and hand flexibility. Sera’s armwork is graceful right to the fingertips. As with the first DVD, freeze at any point and you’ll find a sculpted pretty picture because Sera’s form is absolute perfection.

The upper body strengthening drill-combo is a solid little workout for the torso with large range circles and controlled pops. This is where you get nice and flexible.

There are two combos that focus on hipwork and let me tell you, both are very upbeat indeed. The first combo is short but intense and packed with a lot of movements to practice. It’s hugely fun, again. It’s the one I got first time. The second combo is full of shimmies

A third hip combo is all about the smooth moves. Horizontal eights too, though they’re not so frequently seen in tribal fusion.

The whole lot of these combos goes and becomes a choreography, just as with the first East Coast. The style is very much the same except the combos here are all more upbeat. The combos are demonstrated, drilled and finally danced un-cued as one choreography to similarly funky music.

Finally there’s a  tribal fusion performance by Sera followed by another that is not the usual dark fusion but more oriental in style. .