Sunrise_glow

And which ones should be avoided.

lizaj

ooo that's a minefield. I'd take people's advice on what they like and gather if they don't mention one it's best left. Otherwise it's a minefield.
Of USA instructors there are some excellent ones. I know a lot of American dancers like Jenna. I think there are good titles in the IAMED and Cheeky Girls collections I am sure the North American forum members will recommend.

To be avoided though are cheap rip offs often from the Far east and Ebay and VCD that you can't play.

Sunrise_glow

But are there videos that teach bad technique or some that are based on lack of experience? Is that even soemthing to be concerned about?

gisela

I think that "praise god through bellydance"-dvd should be used with caution. Not because of the subject, which is to each their own, but because of the "bellydance" content which was,judging by the trailer, a bit hmmmm...



I second the dvd's from cheekygirls production. Nicely produced and good material.

Aziyade

The answer to your question totally depends on what style you want to learn and how far along in your dance education you are.

If you want to learn Egyptian style and you've been taking class for a few years -- enough experience that you can learn from watching and can actually see all the nuances in the dancer -- then I would fully recommend Shareen el Safy's videos, Raqia Hassan technique videos, any of the Yousry Sharif workshop videos, and Faten Salama's workshop videos. Hadia's original video releases are great for intermediates -- volumes 1-5. The Little Egypt workshop videos are a mixed bag, but I love the Dina technique ones. Also, the new(ish) series Masters of Egyptian Choreography is great!

For EVERYBODY, no matter what skill level, I would recommend Ranya Renee's Baladi dvd set and her Modern Oriental dvd.

The best learning tools are really performance dvds though, once you hit a certain point.


Where are you in your journey and what direction do you want to take?

Ariadne

Yes, what style are you wanting to learn?

I would avoid video's aimed at a non-professional audience, especially anything aimed at "fitness". Shira.net has some great reviews on different video's. When I first became interested in dancing and couldn't find an instructor I used her list as guidance.
Belly Dancing: Shira's Video Center

lizaj

There are bad baddies out there ..sometimes the dancers are well-meaning, sometimes deluded,some are "old-hat", some are badly produced.
Go with recommendations. Problem is if we name baddies and they get to read our comments we get flack...it's happened here and on Bhuz.
I second getting performance DVDs also and not just new ones, get the legends on film and sit back and enjoy ..and learn.

Sunrise_glow

Right now I'm not sure, I want to try a few styles before I commit to anything. I'm really into certain gothy music right now, but I'm not really goth. But I may want to try my hand at goth belly dancing.
On the other hand I like to bd to non traditional music and I like to throw my own concoction of other types of dances as well.

Jujube

Sadie's Complete Bellydance Guide is the best beginner DVD I've seen, if that's what you're looking for. It is lengthy, goes through basics, adds some nice little combinations, and does a choreography at the end. She works in front of a mirror, so you can see her front at her back simultaneously, which is a really, really nice way to do it.

Aziyade

There are 2 schools of thought here:

- The first one says dance to any music you want, putting any movements in that you want, and just generally doing your own thing.

- The second one says you should get a firm grounding in a particular Middle Eastern style (since that IS where belly dance comes from) before you start trying to make "fusions" or dance cocktails.

I'm definitely an adherent of the second school because I believe that without the firm knowledge base, and an understanding of Middle Eastern music, you will never be able to successfully "fuse" anything and your dancing will look less like what we identify as "bellydance" and more just like wiggling to some random song.


TRIBAL STYLE:
Now if you think you might want to go the Tribal route, you REALLY need to get Fat Chance Belly Dance videos. Fat Chance Belly Dance - American Tribal StyleCarolena started Tribal (you could argue Jamila did, but I won't.) So studying Fat Chance videos is the perfect educational background for any of the ITS or Tribal styles that came after.

A lot of the original movements in ATS were inspired by Jamila Salimpour's method, so I could recommend buying her 4-volume Archive series. DVDJamila05 - Jamila Archive Series (Individual DVDs also available)

If I were your teacher I would tell you to study some actual Egyptian ethnic dance as well, since that's what inspired Tribal. Something that should be required for ALL dancers, not just Tribal ones, are Aisha Ali's video documentaries "Dances of Egypt" and "Dances of North Africa." You will see the actual ethnic dances in the culture, and you can see what they look like before they are stylized into stage art. http://www.aisha-ali.com/araf/index.html

Get a firm foundation in Tribal and ethnic dance before you go blending hiphop or Tai chi or Flamenco into it. Your audience will thank you

Shay -- thoughts?


AMERICAN ORIENTAL:
They're a bit dated, but Delilah's 3-volume set is a great start to learning American Classic style. Belly Dancing Videos and DVDs: Dance Instruction by Delilah and Visionary Belly DancingMaybe Shira will pop in with some of her favorites. There are specialty videos out there for ALL aspects of Classic style -- from floorwork to veil to cymbals to balancing to taqsim to drum solo. When you get to that point, we can guide you further.


TURKISH STYLE:
Ooh -- not much in the way of video. Artemis Mourat made a Turkish dance instructional, but it's more like staged Romani dancing. Artemis home pageIt's a GREAT video, but a little different from the old-school Turkish I always identified as "belly dance." Sarah Skinner has a dvd out called "I Love Turkish Bellydance" but it's really just a skirt dance video and I don't think I'd recommend it. Modern Turkish style seems to be copying Egyptian style, and nobody seems interested in making an instructional video for it. Tanyeli has a Turkish-language instructional video called "Gobek Danse" but it's very very beginner, and very very NOT good. If you want to learn Turkish style your best bet is to take a workshop with Artemis Mourat or Eva Cernik or Elizabeth Strong.


LEBANESE STYLE:
I think we have ONE video on the market for Lebanese style and that's Meissoun's. DVD - Libanesischer Tanz-Stil mit MEISSOUN


Other recommended:

Aradia's dvd gives you a small overview of Lebanese, Turkish, and Egyptian styles. Amazon.com: BellyDance "Oriental Dance By Aradia"-combinations for Egyptian, Lebanese and Turkish Oriental Dance: Movies & TV It's not in depth by any means, but it's a nice back-to-back sampler.

I really recommend Ranya Renee's baladi dvd though -- no matter what style you end up specializing in. She covers the relationship between the dancer and the music, fundamental movements, everything. Bellydance New York City - Ranya Renee & Company - Belly Dance Classes and Peformances This is a great introduction to Egyptian style too, if you don't have that much experience with it. (Shareen's and Raqia's videos can be pretty challenging for a newbie.)