Product Description

A bellydance drum solo is actually a duet: Together a dancer and a drummer create a unique piece of performance art. For the dancer the drum solo is a uniquely exciting experience demanding a profound understanding of rhythmic patterns and a wide vocabulary of bellydance moves and accents all necessary to enable her to interact at will with the music created by the drummer.RHYTHM WORKSHOP: Raquy breaks apart eight popular bellydance rhythms: baladi saiidi maksoum masmoudi ciftetelli malfouf ayub & semai. Acclaimed as a percussion performer instructor and composer Raquy teaches us how to recognize each rhythm. Then Jenna a star dancer instructor and choreographer demonstrates effective dance combinations for each of the 8 rhythms. Accompanied by Raquy and Carmine Jenna then also demonstrates the unique art of drum solo improvisation including the above rhythms.CHOREOGRAPHY WORKSHOP: Jenna takes you step-by-step through THREE bellydance drum solo choreographies; beginner intermediate and advanced. Each instructional session takes place before the mirror enabling you to follow Jenna as if you were right behind her in the studio. On screen a beat counter accompanies choreographic demostrations. Choreography breakdown sections separate each dance into numbered combinations and provide titles naming each move. The "Learn and Practice" section offers a step by-step breakdown of each combination and a presentation of the choreography "from the top" with practice repetitions inserted so you can follow Jenna and learn the steps in real time.The DVD also contains a warmup sequence recommended before learning or practicing and Jenna's famous Shimmy Drills: the Shimmy Layering Drill and her 3/4 Shimmy Drill. The drills are fun mini-exercise routines to help you learn and build on the art of the shimmy one of the most colorful and vibrant bellydance moves.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54046 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-10-16
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Colour, DVD-Video, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 5.00 pounds
• Running time: 85 minutes

Synopsis
Rhythms and dance combinations for drum solos.

Review
Jenna and Raquy have put together a great instructional DVD for all but the highest level of dancer. I am at an intermediate level, and I have plenty to work on with this DVD. Jenna's technique is very technically clean, and her emotive style is natural and pleasant. She is natural with the viewer, and also with her dance. You have seen the other videos with other great dancers that can't speak or their dance comes across herky-jerky on screen. Jenna is encouraging without talking down to the viewer or being repetative. I loved the shimmy layering drills and will get a lot of practice to clean up my technique, the REALLY simplified way that Raquy teaches how to identify different rhythms (an A-HA moment here!), the different levels of drum solo work, with the additional improvisational drum solo (or duet as they like to say) That is very inspirational. The warmup is a good basic one that gets the job done without being tedious. I have paid a LOT more for different bellydance instructional DVD's and this one is the cheapest, as well as one of the best. If Jenna came out with more, I'd be all over it in a HEARTBEAT! --amazon.com (US)

Review
If you want to learn how to dance to different drum rhythms, this is a great dvd. they break down the different types of drum beats and the choreography step by step. beginners can use this as well as experienced dancers, but if you have never done bellydancing before, you will want to start with a basic moves tape or dvd such as veena & neena, since this one does not break down the components of each move (like how to do an upward chest circle or snake arms, for instance). the performances are inspirational. you get a lot here. definitely one of the best dvds i've seen. highly recommended. --amazon.com (US)