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Diosa's review of the video
- Belly Dancing The Sacred Shapes™ with The Goddess Dancing™
"Belly Dancing the Sacred Shapes" by The Goddess Dancing
You can now take Anita-Cristina, Cathy, and
Karen of the Goddess Dancing home with you!
The Goddess Dancing has produced an
instructional DVD/video for beginning and intermediate belly dance students,
"Belly Dancing the Sacred Shapes." This video is a helpful tool for both
teachers and students. The video is a "stand alone" piece of work, meaning that
belly dance students can use it to learn the basic dance moves on their own.
From a teacher’s perception, I feel it will help students refine movements they
see in my classes. It also gives students a different perspective on individual
movements. The video provides a way to see how belly dance movements look on
different dancers.
The overall quality of this production is
very impressive. Unlike other instructional videos I have seen over the
years, the sound quality, graphics and visual effects, and the lighting and
filming of this video all enhance the viewer’s experience. The set design is
beautiful, and the lovely costumes will give students ideas on what to wear.
The video is about 60 minutes long. The movements covered are organized into
about 10 minute sections of the video. The student can focus on one or two
sections at a time or use the whole video as a dance workout.
One aspect of the production that works very
well is that the movements are narrated as the dancers are demonstrating them.
The dancers and the narration are in perfect harmony. As each movement is
demonstrated, the lead dancer smiles as if encouraging the viewer to
participate. It is obvious to viewers that Anita-Cristina, Cathy, and Karen
enjoy belly dancing together. I’m sure this adds to the fun level for viewer.
The Goddess Dancing uses a "goddess"-based
vocabulary for the name of each movement in the video. Each term is very well
explained so that someone who has never taken a belly dancing workshop can
easily follow along. In fact, using terms relating to the earth and the goddess
add to the meaning of each belly dance movement.
I feel women of all ages, shapes, and sizes
will feel good about themselves dancing with this video. All women can find new
ways of expressing themselves with the style of movements presented on it. I
recommend this video for students to refine their basic movements, which are an
important stepping stone to moving on to more complex movements and layering.
- reviewed by Teresa
Vangeli (Diosa)
Reprinted with permission:
This review originally appeared in Middle Eastern Dance in New England,
November/December 2003.
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