Bellydance Live, Part 1:
Introduction to Music & Rhythms

Overall Rating: (on a scale of 1 to 5 stars)

This video does something I haven't yet seen any other belly dance video do: it discusses the different types of musical instruments and rhythms used in Egyptian music, shows what they look like, and offers suggestions on how to dance with each. Keti is assisted by an orchestra of musicians who play a variety of instruments.

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This video consists of three major areas: two performances to Egyptian songs, a section on Middle Eastern instruments, and a section on Middle Eastern rhythms. For the instructional segments, Keti wears a short top, leggings, and hip scarf, and features one or more musicians on-screen with her. For the performance segments, she dances in full Egyptian-style bedleh costumes.

The video opens with the same compilation clip that opens the other four videos in the Bellydance Live series, which shows snips from each of the five videos. This creates a level of consistency across the five videos, like a weekly television series that always opens with the same introductory screens.

Following this, Keti performs a 5-minute Oriental dance number to the song Bahlam Beek in full red and white bedleh accompanied by an orchestra.

Next comes the instructional part of the video that focuses on Middle Eastern instruments. Each instrument is introduced with its name on the screen so you can see how these unfamiliar foreign names are spelled. Keti offers a few comments explaining the nature of the instrument and how it is played, and the musician plays some sample free-form taqsim music on it so you can listen to what kind of sound that instrument makes. In most, but not all cases, Keti then offers some recommendations on how to dance to that particular instrument and demonstrates as the musician continues to play. Instruments featured in this section include:

• Kawala (bamboo flute)
• Nay (a different type of bamboo flute)
• Trumpet
• Accordion
• Qanoon (sometimes spelled Kanoun)
• Tabla (Arabic drum, often called dumbek)
• Sagat (finger cymbals)
• Tabul (bass drum, played with sticks)
• Reque (tambourine, sometimes spelled riqq)
• Mizmar (horn, similar to oboe)

My favorite instrument demonstration in this section was sagat. Most belly dancers learn how to play finger cymbals from fellow dancers, rather than learning from musicians who specialize in playing them. The man who demonstrated finger cymbals for this video was very proficient, and it was a delight to listen to the many sounds and rhythms he played. It was enjoyable to hear finger cymbals played by somebody who could make them sound like a musical instrument in their own right. As I watched his technique, I also picked up a few ideas!

In the instrument section, Keti's instruction focused on how to dance to free-form taqsims (instrumental solos) played by each instrument. She offered suggestions on which body parts and moves to emphasize in conjunction with each instrument. This section ends with some suggestions on dancing when multiple instruments are playing together as a group.

The next section on Arabic rhythms was about 11 1/2 minutes long. A group of three percussionists assisted her with live demonstrations of malfuf, masmoudi, baladi, Saidi, fellahi, and maqsoum. For each instrument, Keti offered some opening comments about its structure and how to dance to it, then proceeded to demonstrate as the musicians played a sequence of it.

Following the rhythms instruction, Keti performs another solo, this one to the song Harana Ayounik. It lasts about 4 minutes.

As with her other four videos in the Bellydance Live series, Keti offers a few closing comments to bring everything together, then ends the drum solo video with the same closing compilation clip that appears on the earlier four videos in the series. Just as with the beginning, it provides a sense of consistency and closure, like the closing credits at the end of a series television show.

You Will Probably Like This Video If

• You have a passion for Egyptian-style music and dance.
• You'd like some education on Egyptian music, including the instruments and the rhythms.
• You're a fan of Keti Sharif and you would enjoy a video featuring two of her performances.
• You're an intermediate or more experienced dancer who already has some knowledge of how to improvise to free-form musical solos, and now you'd like some ideas on how to refine your technique.

You Probably Won't Care for This Video If

• You're a beginning dancer, and you don't yet know enough to improvise to free-form solo music.
• You're already quite knowledgeable about Egyptian musical instruments and rhythms.
• You're not enthusiastic about Egyptian-style dancing and music played by full orchestras.

What I Liked

• I very much liked the time spent showing and explaining each musical instrument, including a demonstration of what it sounds like. Many dancers know very little about the instruments used to play Middle Eastern music, and this provided an excellent introduction.

What I Didn't Like

• The camera spent far too much time zoomed in on very tight close-ups, showing only the stomach and hips.
• The qanoon was filmed almost entirely from its edge. I was wishing for a camera angle that would look down at it from above, to show a better view of its overall structure.

If you'd like to read my reviews of other videos by Keti Sharif, choose from the lists below.

Instructional Videos:

• Bellydance Live, Part 2 - Classical Bellydance
• Bellydance Live, Part 3 - Folkloric Dance
• Bellydance Live, Part 4 - Modern Bellydance
• Bellydance Live, Part 5 - Tabla Solo
• A-Z Bellydance
• Secrets of the Centre
• Jewel of Arabia

Workout Videos:

• Body Quake Elements (2005)
• World Dance Aerobics

In addition, the following opinion polls are available featuring other videos by Keti:

• A-Z Advanced Stage
• Body Quake (original 1998 version)

Contact Keti Sharif as follows:

Phone: (+61) 412747447
Web Site: http://www.ketisharif.com
E-Mail: keti@iinet.net.au

Or, if you prefer, you can order from her U.S. distributor, International Dance Discovery:

International Dance Discovery
P.O. Box 893
Bloomington, IN 47402-0893
U.S.A.

Phone: (+1) (812) 330-1831
Web Site: ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/IDD/dzinetoc.htm
E-Mail: IDD@compuserve.com

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