Bellydance - The Art of the Drum Solo

She has no rhythm. Watch her when she's doing simple 4/4 movements. She doesn't hit the beat. All her drum solos are canned and have probably been spoon fed to her, as she does the same thing every time. This is the routine she calls an "improvisation" at every show.

I give this DVD two stars because I learned one combination from her, and learned two moves by watching her take lessons from the real stars for thirty seconds. Incidentally, the music they chose for the Cairo sequence sounds Turkish to me...but I wouldn't commit myself either way. This DVD is worth renting or borrowing if you can get your hands on it, but until they start selling them used for four dollars, go buy something else.

This DVD is one of the longer ones for beginners (It says 71 minutes but I think its only 60 minutes worth of instruction.) And there is a bonus music CD too.

First, there is a stretching section. Next comes the teachig section, each bellydance step is paired with a lesson on different kinds of drum beats by the male drummer. (I haven't heard this information anywhere else. Important if you get deep enough into this dance style)

The second half of the video teaches a choreography. And it's broken down very well. Each step you learn is taught along with the next step so that you learn how to transition from one move to the next. There is a dance at the end with some of the steps you learn but the full choreography really isn't done at the end--exactly as it was in practice and most videos I have do. This was a major misstep in my opinion--and this is where it loses one star.

I bought this dvd based off of the other good reviews and I must say out of all the other belly dance dvds that I have this is my #1. It really broke down the rhythms of the music and it was easy to follow. I was having a hard time with choo choo shimmy's but after watching this dvd I was FINALLY able to get it. This is a great dvd and it comes with a bonus cd of Issam's music. (I didn't know that). This is the best choice for learning moves that are in sync with the music. The performance is like poetry in motion!

This was a nice video, the explanations were excellent and Sonia and Issam worked very well together. the bonus CD was fun too.

Not only is the instructor a talented dancer, her drummer also reviews different beats - important if you'd like to choreograph a dance in the future.