Belly Dance Your Way to Fitness

Overall Rating: (on a scale of 1 to 5 stars) This instructional video is geared to beginners, and teaches basic moves suitable for people who have been studying belly dancing for less than 6 months. Although the title mentions "fitness", the teaching is structured as a belly dancing class, not as a fitness workout.

To purchase this video from Amazon:

Item	Amazon.com in U.S.	Amazon.ca in Canada	Amazon.co.uk in United Kingdom
DVD Edition	NTSC All regions	NTSC All regions	Not offered
VHS Tape Edition	NTSC	Not offered	Not offered

(Amazon's claim that the DVD version is Region 1 is wrong. Amazon doesn't offer a way for sellers to indicate that their DVD's support multiple regions, so they're forced to pick just one. I have personally tested this DVD and found it to enable all regions.)

Have you actually watched this video yourself? If so, offer your own opinion in the poll below! Otherwise, click the "View Results" button to see what worldwide users of shira.net think of it.

The above poll includes responses submitted since April 13, 2003.

This instructional video offers a beginning-level belly dance class suitable for students who have been studying belly dance for 6 months or less. It teaches a variety of basic moves, and at the end puts them together into a practice session. Although the word "fitness" appears in the name of the video, it is not structured as a fitness workout.

The video opens with Amira doing a 2-minute nightclub-style performance wearing a skin-baring costume. Her style is very flashy, both in costuming (slits in her circle skirt open to bare her legs all the way up to the belt) and in style of moves that she chooses to do. Amira has a good ear for the music and synchronizes her movements well to it. Her bright smile and high energy level come across as someone who loves to dance.

Following the performance, the instruction begins. Six assistants, all dressed in matching costumes, help Amira demonstrate the moves. The instruction is divided into 6 segments, as follows:

1. Preparation
2. Arms & Shoulders
3. Upper Body
4. Lower Body
5. Basic Walk
6. Fun & Fitness

Segment 1 teaches breathing exercises to warm up. Segments 2 through 5 teach elementary belly dance moves. Segment 6 leads a practice session, which starts with everyone dancing together in unison as Amira calls out which step to do next, and then gradually transitions into free-form dancing in which everyone is improvising as she pleases.

The video is very well organized, with excellent production quality. The camera changes angles about every 4 seconds, which is a bit more often than I prefer, but within acceptable limits. These angles do a good job of showing the appropriate body parts to see what is being taught.

You Will Probably Like This Video If

• You have been studying belly dance less than 6 months.
• You either have access to a teacher, or you have already worked with a different "basic moves" video and now you'd like something to help you practice and build on what you have learned so far.
• You would like to work with a video that uses Arabic music.
• You'd like a video that offers some help in assembling basic moves together into a simple dance.

You Probably Won't Care for This Video If

• You've never belly danced at all before, and you're looking for a video to help you learn without a teacher.
• Your body image isn't comfortable with the idea of baring a lot of skin just yet, and it would make you uncomfortable to work with a video whose instructor does.
• You're interested solely in Egyptian style dancing.

This review is based on the DVD edition of this video.

Summary

Feature	Available on This DVD?
Regions Available	1
Fast-Forward Through Introductory Screens	Not needed, intro is very short
Pause	Yes
Chaptering	Yes
Menu, Sub-Menus	Only one top menu, to start the class
Fast Forward	Yes
Skip to the Next Break	Yes
Rewind/Reverse	Yes
Slow Forward	Yes
Zoom	Yes
Alternate Sound Tracks	No
Other Extras	No

Chaptering & Sub-Menus

There is only one menu, the main menu for starting the instruction. However, the segments of instruction are well chaptered, so it is possible to find the desired chapter with a few taps of the "skip forward" button on the remote. The chapter divisions include:

• Chapter 1 - Performance.
• Chapter 2 - Segment 1, Preparation
• Chapter 3 - Segment 2, Arms & Shoulders
• Chapter 4 - Segment 3, Upper Body
• Chapter 5 - Segment 4, Lower Body
• Chapter 6 - Segment 5, Basic Walk
• Chapter 7 - Segment 6, Fun & Fitness

What I Liked

• Amira Mor explains the moves well. For moves that students often have difficulty learning, she offers multiple explanations.
• The set is attractive and well lit.
• Sound quality is excellent.
• The instruction is organized very well. Amira groups the moves together logically, and the video makes it very easy to identify which ones will be taught next.
• Amira uses well-known Arabic songs for the background.

What I Didn't Like

• Camera angles shift from one to another just a little too often, which I found distracting when I was trying to study how Amira was demonstrating a certain move.
• Amira's 6 assistants all have body types very similar to her own. It would have been helpful to have more variety in the heights and figures of the assistants, to help students of varying body types see someone "like them".

• Hip Articulations: 3 moves (hip shimmy, pelvic shimmy, hips up & drop)
• Hip Undulations: 1 moves (hip circle)
• Traveling Steps: 2 moves (basic walk forward, basic walk back)
• Rib Cage Articulations: 4 moves (chest lift & drop, V chest, waist side to side, rib cage forward & back)
• Rib Cage Undulations: 3 moves (waist circle, chest circle, undulation)
• Arms: 6 moves (wrist circle, shoulder circle, snake arms, butterfly arms, cobra arms, shimmy shoulders)

If you'd like to read my reviews of other videos by Amira Mor, choose from the list below:

• Behind the Veil
• Belly Dance Your Way to Energy

To purchase this video from Amazon:

Item	Amazon.com in U.S.	Amazon.ca in Canada	Amazon.co.uk in United Kingdom
DVD Edition	NTSC All regions	NTSC All regions	Not offered
VHS Tape Edition	NTSC	Not offered	Not offered

(Amazon's claim that the DVD version is Region 1 is wrong. Amazon doesn't offer a way for sellers to indicate that their DVD's support multiple regions, so they're forced to pick just one. I have personally tested this DVD and found it to enable all regions.)

Or, contact Amira Mor as follows:

Amira Mor International Entertainment Co.
P.O. Box 101
Closter, NJ 07624
U.S.A.

Phone: (+1) (201) 348-2126
E-Mail: contact@AmiraMor.com

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