Bellydance DVD Review: meaning of movent

I finally got inspired to move, well let me rephrase that.... I was really cold one day and decided I needed to move in order to not freeze over. I decided to try out a dancer I have not personally seen or really heard of. This DVD is called meaning in movement by Alimah. A cheeky girls production, which I tend to like their DVDs as the sound is good, there are good mirrors, no crazy up close shots, just the dancer in a mirror following along to what the teacher is saying. I love that. Listen up other bellydance DVD producers- we don't need bells and whistles we just want good solid dancers and teaching!

Ok off my rant. So the DVD is nicely divided into sections. The concepts part was really interesting. Same with flow. She then teaches combos you can put together to make a choreography.

Definitely has a different style and I have seen things that I have never seen put together so I enjoyed that. She is very descriptive. However there were times where I felt as if I was in a drama/musical theater class. Her intonations in her voice reminded me of a drama teacher. She brought her violin. However, she does explain great concepts to add depth and texture to your dance choreography. Her dance vocabulary is very different than what I have been taught. You won't hear arabic 2 or anything of that such, so that was a bit different. She also does not break down the specific moves. This is not a technique driven sort of DVD, it is definitely a bit more conceptual. Her combos do not have counts to the music.

Now, I am by no means bashing this DVD by any means. Actually, I felt this was a bit of a fresh air compared to the other DVDs out there. It makes you think of moves differently and how to dance differently based on descriptions. I would actually recommend this to an advanced intermediate/advanced dancer looking to really be a better dancer. I have always felt the difference between a good and a great dancer is the emotional connection you have with the music and with the audience. That is how you increase your ability as a dancer. You have to have emotion as you dance, the DVD addresses that. She has a very signature music and dance style. Though I will say that there were other performances on the DVD and I felt as if they all began to look the same as it seemed as if she did the same thing but maybe in different ways. And if you ever wanted to see a rainbow zebra costume (oh yeah) check out the performances section. I did like the choreography. I feel it has potential for the future for me to adapt to a group choreography. And BTW I loved the outtakes on the DVD.

So this DVD is a keeper, for the advanced dancer, who doesn't need counts and already knows proper technique and moves.

Cheers,
Lauren